"The only thing better than a chocolate cream pie is one in a wonderful chocolate cookie crumb crust. If a person has a craving for chocolate, I don’t see the point of going halfway, y’all."

Serves - 8

Includes - Conversion chart

Crust:

1 2/3 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (from
about 30 wafers, such as Nabisco Famous
Chocolate Wafers)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

Filling:

1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
7 ounces semisweet chocolate
finely chopped
3 tablespoons cold butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping and Garnish:

1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate curls (See tip at bottom)

Directions

Makes 8 - 10 servings

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. To make the crust: In a medium bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, melted butter, and sugar
until they form an evenly moist, crumbly mixture. Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom and
up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until the crust is fragrant and firm, 7 to 8 minutes. Set aside
to cool.
3. To make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt.
Whisk in the whole egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of the milk until thoroughly combined.
4. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk to a boil over medium high
heat. Remove from the heat. Whisking constantly, very slowly pour the hot milk into the egg
mixture. Keep whisking so that you don’t scramble those eggs. Return the entire mixture to the pan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, 3 to 5
minutes. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and let sit for a minute. Add the butter and vanilla
and whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
5. Pour the filling into the cooled piecrust and smooth the surface with a small spatula. Cover
the surface entirely with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Make sure the plastic wrap
is right up against the filling.
6. Place the pie in the fridge until thoroughly cooled and set, about 2 hours.
7. Just before serving, make the topping: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk
attachment, or using a handheld mixer, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla at medium-high speed
to form medium peaks. Spread the whipped cream over the pie. Sprinkle all over with chocolate
curls and serve.

Tips.
Chocolate curls are such a pretty and easy way to gussy up a pie or cake. To make yours, hold a block of chocolate with a paper towel (so your hand doesn’t melt the chocolate) and use a vegetable peeler to scrape along the edge to create long, curly strips. Use a skewer to gently pick them up (the heat of your hand could melt them) and place them on the pie.

Create chocolate curls by running a vegetable peeler along a slightly softened block of chocolate as you would along a carrot or potato.

From PAULA DEEN'S SOUTHERN COOKING BIBLE.  Copyright © 2011 by Paula Deen. Published by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Reprinted with permission.