My old photo of Earl’s Chocolate Pie was in desperate need of a makeover, and in some ways so was the recipe. It's one of my favorites. It gets 5 stars for convenience, texture and affordability, and I love that it's a chocolate pie with evaporated milk because I usually keep a can of that on hand.The only problem I have is convincing people it will be rich and chocolate-y enough with only 3 tablespoons of cocoa. It is! The 3 tablespoons of cocoa goes along way, and combined with the rich whipped cream topping there's a nice balance.
The improvements I've made to Earl’s Chocolate Pie were inspired by my friend Emily's Turtle Pie. I followed her lead by sprinkling the pie with toasted pecans and drizzling chocolate and caramel syrup over the top; which also gave me an excuse to some new caramel syrup recipes! This one from Food Network is great. I chilled it and squeezed it out of pastry bag. For something like caramel apples or brownies, you'd want to use a sauce that gets a little firmer, but this caramel mixture was perfect for drizzling.
As for the crust, I used Rose Levy Berenbaum’s recipe because it sounded interesting, but use whatever recipe you want. I’m still on the fence when it comes to all-butter crusts vs. shortening. I like the idea of an all-butter crust and butter definitely tastes great, but crusts made with Grandma Ruth’s or Crisco recipes get the “It’s so flaky” comments.
Here's the new and improved recipe. My next attempt is going to be a lightened version. I'm going to make a a fat free brownie pie crust by baking No-Pudge brownies in a glass pie plate, using the filling as directed, and topping with light whipped topping. With those changes, the pie really will be lower in fat.
Recipe
New and Improved Earl's Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 1 baked 9 inch crust use your favorite recipe or buy one and bake it
Filling:
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder Rodelle Dutch works well
- 3 tablespoons flour
- Small pinch of salt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon room temperature unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
Whipped Cream
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Sonoma Crush
Garnish
- ½ cup toasted and chopped pecans
- Chocolate Syrup
- Homemade or store bought caramel syrup
Instructions
- Bake a 9 inch pie crust using your favorite homemade recipe or refrigerated or frozen dough.
- In a large saucepan (I use a 3 quart All-Clad metal), whisk sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt, egg yolks, evaporated milk and water together. Put the saucepan over medium heat and stir for about five minutes or until mixture thickens and big bubbles start to form on the surface. From the time the mixture starts bubbling and boiling, continue stirring for an additional 1 ½ to 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and pour into a glass bowl. Quickly whisk in the butter, then whisk in the vanilla. Put a piece of buttered parchment or wax paper over the top and let cool at room temperature for about an hour. Note: At this point you may think the filling seems to thin, but it will set when you chill it. Pour the slightly cooled filling into the baked pie shell and chill for several hours or until very cold.
- When the pie is chilled, beat the cream until peaks start to form, beat in the sugar and vanilla until peaks are stiff, then put cream in a pastry bag or heavy duty zipper bag with the end snipped off and pipe it over the top. Sprinkle the toasted and chopped nuts, then drizzle with caramel syrup and chocolate syrup.
Sue says
The pie looks delicious. I think that caramel sauce sounds useful for a lot things.