Texas Chocolate Fudge Pie

The rich Texas chocolate originates from Mexico in this outstanding pie. I suppose we could call this pie Tex Mex as it all seems to blend together in origin in our great state.

 Ibarra has been making chocolate in Mexico since 1925. I love incorporating it into many of my chocolate recipes for the sweet hint of cinnamon essence it adds.

I use this same Ibarra chocolate blended into my homemade Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix during the winter months. Once you've tried it, I'm sure you will insist on it as we have.

Everything is from scratch, including the pie crust. Don't be discouraged if you've never had luck with making pie crusts, because this flaky crust is super easy. 

The first thing that needs to be done is getting the ingredients to room temperature. Especially the eggs! Since our hens are not laying much this time of year, what I do have is in the fridge. So take out what you need, which for this recipe is 3 eggs.

Ingredients

Pie Crust

1/2 cup Oil (I used Grapeseed)

Good pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups Organic Unbleached Flour

1/4 Cup Organic Milk

Filling

3 tbsp. Cornstarch

2 tbsp. flour

Good pinch of salt

2 ounces of Ibarra Mexican Chocolate - equal to 1 disc (finely grated)

1/4 cup Cocoa unsweetened

1 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 cups Organic Milk (Soy or Coconut is fine)

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Meringue

3 egg whites

2 tsp. sugar

Begin with the pie crust first. It can all be done directly in the pie plate. This is a press in pie crust. Soft butter can be used in the place of the oil if you wish. 

Just add the ingredients directly to the pie plate. Mix it together to form a ball, then press it out an pinch the edges. 

Next, dock it with a fork. The little holes from the fork across the bottom will help keep steam from forming under the crust that causes it to puff up.

Since this is a cream pie, you will need to pre-bake the crust. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Next lay parchment paper over the top of the crust. I use rice as pie weights and fill the paper with it. Foil can be used in place of the parchment. Beans could be used as a weight as well. This also assists in keeping the crust from puffing up.

Place the crust in the fridge for about 30 minutes. By doing this step, it will help keep your crust from shrinking.

While the pie crust is in the fridge chilling I begin putting the filling ingredients together.

When the pie crust is ready however, go ahead and bake it with the paper and weights in place. Bake until it is just lightly browned. Don't over bake, because you will need to bake it an additional 10 minutes in the end for the meringue topping.

To make the filling, first add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk it together to mix well.

Next, in a medium size saucepan add the wet ingredients except the butter and vanilla.

Begin cooking on medium heat (stirring constantly.) Once it starts to become thickened like pudding stir in the butter and vanilla. Remove it from the heat and pour into the pie crust.

Now is time for making the meringue. You will have really good results if your egg whites are at room temperature.

I use the whisk attachment to my mixer and begin whisking on a high speed until soft peaks are formed. Once this happens I add 2 tsp. sugar and gently fold it in. 

Spread it on the pudding and with a knife lift it up and around to make it look pretty on the pie.

Bake it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees until the meringue becomes a light golden brown. It takes about 10 minutes.

Happy Baking!

Pammy