Sunday, November 20, 2011

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie


While I love baking and cooking with pumpkin, I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie.  I think it can be a bit boring, plus I'm not wild about the texture.  My dad really doesn't like it, and he calls it "an excuse to eat nutmeg and cinnamon." 

However, this pumpkin pie is definitely worth eating.  With three kind of chocolate, pumpkin, and cinnamon, this pie is pretty awesome.  You start with a pretty standard graham cracker crust, bake it for a few minutes, then brush it with melted bittersweet chocolate.  The pie filling is made with pumpkin, semisweet chocolate, and your standard pumpkin pie spices.  After it's baked and cooled, milk chocolate is then drizzled on top.  I wasn't super excited about it since as I mentioned, I don't really like the texture of pumpkin pie.  But this was really good - it had a mousse-like texture, and was silky smooth without being too mushy.  If you are looking for a super-pumpkiny pie though, I wouldn't make this.  The pumpkin is definitely more subtle than in a typical pumpkin pie thanks to all the chocolate.

The only problem I had with the recipe was that it made much more than I needed for one pie.  I'm wondering if maybe it was meant to be for two?  I ended up throwing out close to half of the crust mixture, and I had a lot of the filling leftover as well.  So I would suggest that if you don't want two pies, you halve the ingredients below.  Other than that, it was really easy and straight-forward, and is ideally made ahead of time.  Which makes it an ideal dessert for Thanksgiving.  Especially if you're looking for something a little different than the usual suspects.  It is still familiar enough to pumpkin pie lovers, but it has a fun twist that will make it stand out in a sea of traditional Thanksgiving desserts.


Triple-Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
adapted from Martha Stewart


For the crust:

  • 2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 oz (6 Tbs) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 Tbs granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbs packed light-brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp coarse salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3 oz bittersweet chocolate (preferably 61 percent cacao), finely chopped
For the Pie:
  • 6 oz semisweet chocolate (preferably 55 percent cacao), chopped
  • 2 oz (4 Tbs) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 can (15 oz)  pumpkin puree
  • 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
  • 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 Tbs cornstarch
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1  tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • pinch of ground cloves
  • 1 oz milk chocolate, melted
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugars, salt, and cinnamon in bowl. Firmly press mixture into bottom and up sides of a  9 inch pie plate. Bake until firm, 8 to 10 minutes.
 
Remove from oven, and sprinkle bittersweet chocolate over bottom of crust. Return to oven to melt chocolate, about 1 minute. Spread chocolate in a thin layer on bottom and up sides. Let cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
 
To make the filling, melt the butter and semisweet chocolate together in a large bowl (either using a double boiler, or in the microwave, cooking at 30 second intervals and stirring well after each).
 
In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, milk, brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves. Whisk about 1/3 pumpkin mixture into chocolate mixture. Whisk in remaining pumpkin mixture until completely incorporated.
 
Transfer pie dish to a rimmed baking sheet, and pour pumpkin mixture into the crust. Bake until the center is set but still just a bit wobbly, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pie dish on a wire rack. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 8 hours, but preferably overnight. Before serving, drizzle melted milk chocolate on top. Serve immediately.


13 comments:

Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen said...

I love regular pumpkin pie, but this looks even better! Honestly, what can't be made better by the addition of chocolate? :)

@pril said...

I shared this on my blog with a linkback to get the recipe: http://for-the-love-of-pie.blogspot.com/2011/11/triple-chocolate-pumpkin-pie.html

@pril

Melissa @ Kids in the Sink said...

Ok WHOA! I've never really been a fan of pumpkin pie either, although I love most things pumpkin. But this pie DEFINITELY looks worthy of making. Chocolate and pumpkin are such a wonderful combination. I can't wait to make this!

Made in Sonoma said...

I agree, pumpkin pie is pretty boring, but this looks great!

Cookbook Queen said...

This is definitely not a boring pie!! Looks fabulous!!

Anonymous said...

Aww yeah. This sounds awesome!

Cate said...

I feel exactly the same way about pumpkin pie!

Jessica @Sunny Side Up said...

AYKM with this? YUM!

Amy said...

This looks delicious. I love pumpkin and chocolate together, so triple chocolate can only be even better, right?

Anonymous said...

The more chocolate the better!! your pie looks to-die-for!

Laura said...

You're killing me lately, girl! This looks soooo good.

Carolyn said...

I have made a pie very much like this in the past and the pumpkin and chocolate combination is so amazing!

Anonymous said...

::drool:: Looks divine Josie!

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