BLACK BOTTOM PIE
Ingredients:
Crust:
10 Holland Rusks or melba rounnds (1 cup)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk
Filling:
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 1/3 cups milk
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipping cream
Topping:
1/2 cup whipping cream
Directions:
Crust: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Break the dry bread into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground or crush in a plastic bag. Pour the butter over the crumbs and pulse until the mixture is sticky. Turn it out into a Pyrex pie plate and gently press it evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the dish with your fingers. Bake for 5 minutes.
While the crust is baking melt chocolate chips with the milk in a microwave for 1 minute at full power. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Spread the chocolate mixture over the warm crust and let it cool completely.
Filling: Stir the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a saucepan. Gradually pour in the milk. Heat to a simmer stirring continuously so the custard will be smooth and thick. Stir some of the hot mixture into the egg yolks in a bowl, stir vigorously, then turn the egg mixture into the saucepan. Return the custard to a simmer and cook stirring continuously for 2 minutes. Off the heat stir in the butter and vanilla. Cover and cool the custard completely.
Assembly: Beat the entire cup of whipping cream to soft peaks. Fold 1/2 of the whipped cream into the custard and pour it into the cooled crust. When ready to serve, cover the top of the pie with the remaining whipped cream.
