Considered the crowd favourite for all my chocolate loving friends:1008858_693922527295971_619246650_o
The blind baked crust with a rich chocolate filling, optionally topped with loads of whipped cream has melted many hearts. And why shouldn’t it. By always experimenting a bit with the chocolate flavour of the filling it is always just the tiniest bit different. Don’t be afraid to try different brands of chocolate, add more or less of it; try adding more vanilla or why not a bit of hazelnut paste? My friends loved each and every one of them, even the one that had not completely set…

My recipe is a combination of two recipes. The first can be found on the webpage belgischechocolade.com and the second one coming from a small booklet called “Simpelweg lekker – Vegetarische keuken”.

Ingredients
Crust
225 grams (8 ounces)   flour
150 grams (5 ounces)   butter
2  tbs                               cacao powder
2  tbs                              (white) sugar

Filling
175 grams (6 ounces)   butter
350 grams (12 ounces) brown sugar
1 bag                              vanilla sugar
4                                      eggs (lightly whisked)
4 tbs                                cacao powder (sifted)
300 ml (1 1/3 cup)         heavy cream (unwhisked)
… grams                         chocolate*

Description

  • Sift the four and cacao powder
  • Use our fingertips (or food processor) to incorporate the butter, the mixture will resemble breadcrumbs.
  • Mix in the sugar
  • Add some water to form a light dough.**
  • Wrap the dough on plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees (380F)
  • Roll out the dough to fit a 23cm tart pan. Cover the dough with baking paper and weigh down with bake beans.*** Bake for 15 minutes.
  • Uncover the crust and bake for another 10 minutes.
  • While waiting on the crust to bake, make the batter for the filling.
  • Melt the chocolate Bain-Marie.
  • Whisk together the butter and sugar. Slowly add the eggs and sifted cacao powder.
  • Incorporate the heavy cream and chocolate. This is also the moment to add other flavours.
  • Take the crust out of the oven
  • Lower the oven temperature to 160 degrees (320F)
  • Pour the filling in the crust and bake for 45 minutes, or until the filling seems solid.

Let the pie cool down completely before serving, as the filling will set completely when cooled.
If desired, decorate the pie with whipped cream and chocolate.
Serving with ice cream, is always an option 😉

*As said in the introduction you can do a lot with the flavour of this pie. I’d not recommend using less than 200 grams of chocolate, as the flavour will lose a lot of depth.
**The amount of water needed depends on the butter and the desired crumble of the crust. the more moisture you add, the less your crust will crumble. Do be careful as too much water will make your crust very hard.
**I alternatively freeze the dough and then bake it without covering it up, finding it gives a lighter crust.