Chocolate Mousse Pie

This pie was so fun and easy to make.

Why so fun?  Well, I got to beat the heck out of the graham crackers in a zip top bag.  I guess you could just put them in a food processor and push a button.  But, what’s the fun in pushing a button?

Then I got to pipe whipped cream.  I love piping those pretty little scallops!

You can see that I left the crust a little bit thick.  This is by design.  Since the chocolate mousse is so rich, I really like a thicker crust to balance it out.  The contrast of smooth to crunch is just fun in your mouth.  And of course the creamy whipped cream doesn’t hurt either!

Give it a whirl and tell me what you think.

 

Chocolate Mousse Pie

Graham cracker pie crust:

1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup white sugar

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup powdered sugar

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups heavy cream

Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter or margarine, and cinnamon until well blended . Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 375 degrees F for 7 minutes. Cool.

In large bowl, combine cream cheese and cocoa. Beat well until smooth and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. In medium bowl, beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form; fold into chocolate cream cheese mixture.

Pour into cooled pie crust. Cover and chill until firm, 4-5 hours.  Decorate with whipped cream if desired.

Pumpkin Pie

This is the pumpkin pie that we had for Thanksgiving dinner last night.  After a heavy dinner of turkey with all the fixin’s, I was really happy with this light and fluffy pie filling.

I know, light and fluffy aren’t exactly the words you think of when you say pumpkin pie, but this filling was more like a mousse than a custard.  It was the perfect ending to a decadent and bountiful meal.

I also served this with a maple whipped cream, but we ate it so quickly that I totally forgot to take a picture of it!  Trust me though, it’s worth the extra effort to make it.  The maple flavor is a great partner to the warm pumpkin flavor.

 

Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 cup half-and-half

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 piece pre-made pie dough

Pumpkin Pie

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Maple Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp powdered sugar

Place all the ingredients into a cold bowl of an electric mixer.  With the whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft peaks form.

 

Perfect Pie Crust

So, I got a really good arm workout today…………..making pie crust.  I don’t have one of those fancy shmancy food processors, so I had to cut in the butter and shortening by hand.  It does make me feel better about eating the pie later, knowing that I’ve already worked off some calories!

Who knew that baking could be a workout?  All the more reason to stay in the kitchen and avoid the gym, ha!

 

Here’s what your ingredients should look like once it’s all incorporated.

 

 

Press the dough together with your fingers, then dump it out onto a sheet of plastic wrap.

 

 

Form the shape of a circle.

 

 

Wrap the dough up with the plastic wrap and flatten it.  You should see bits of butter and shortening in the dough like this.

They’re like little goldmines of flavor and flakiness.

 

 

After letting the dough rest in the fridge a bit, roll it out between two sheets of plastic wrap.  This is the most ingenious way to roll out the dough.  There’s no mess on your counter top, your rolling pin or on you!

Gone are the days of flour everywhere and then having to use a spatula to get the dough off your counter top.  Love it!

Here you can see the before and after rolling out the pie crust.

 

 

Remove one side of plastic wrap and take the dough in your had and flip it onto a glass pie dish.  If it’s not centered, it’s okay.  Because the other sheet of plastic wrap is still attached, just pick it up and move it where you want it.

Tuck the excess dough under itself and crimp the edges with your fingers.

My pie crust is ready for its pumpkin pie filling!

 

Perfect Pie Crust

From Paula Deen

Makes: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

3 tablespoons granulated white sugar

1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cold

12 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice water

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the shortening and break it up with your hands as you start to coat it all up with the flour. Add the cold butter cubes and work it into the flour with your hands or a pastry cutter. Work it quickly, so the butter doesn’t get too soft, until the mixture is crumbly, like very coarse cornmeal. Add the ice water, a little at a time, until the mixture comes together forming a dough. Bring the dough together into a ball.

When it comes together stop working it otherwise the dough will get over-worked and tough. Divide the dough in half and flatten it slightly to form a disk shape. Wrap each disk in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. On a floured surface roll each disk out into a 10 to 11-inch circle to make a 9-inch pie.