Now what?

Without the surprise pie ingredients inspiring my pies, it was tough to choose one to bake on Friday. I was bothering my friends for ideas, and finally one caught my attention. Chocolate pie. Simply, chocolate pie. Nothing fancy, just a dense, rich chocolate custard with a fluffy meringue to contrast.

Because I like chocolate.

Again, same ol' pie crust, blind baked, and let it cool while you're making the custard and meringue. Also, turn the oven down to 350F after the crust is done.

2 egg whites
pinch cream of tartar
4 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa (or 1 1/2 squares baking chocolate)
5 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter

Start with the meringue. They're pretty finicky. Make sure the bowl and the beaters on the mixer are VERY clean. Any amount of fat that might be there can foil your attempt to make a nice foam from the egg whites. Equally, when you separate the eggs, try not to touch anything. Oil on your skin can kill the meringue too. Beat the whites with the cream of tartar until it foams up. Keep beating and very slowly add the sugar. When you get stiff peaks, you're all done. Cover it and put it someplace relatively dry and cool.

Then the filling. If you have a flour sifter, sift the flour and cocoa powder together. Cocoa is particularly fond of forming little chunks that refuse to combine into liquids. Then add the sugar and salt, mix 'em up. Beat the egg yolks into the milk and mix those into the dry stuff as well as you can. Cook on medium heat while stirring until it thickens. Then simmer and stir for another sixty seconds. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla until fully combined. Pour the custard into the crust.

Give the meringue a little 30 second beating. This will blend any sugar that hadn't dissolved fully in the first go around into the meringue. The sugar is the part which prevents the water from falling off of all the bubbles (which is what would make your meringue fall in on itself or shed a layer of water between it and the custard).

Then bake the whole deal (you're just cooking the meringue here) at 350F for fifteen or twenty minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.

Yummy pie. However, next time, I think I would either double the recipe or one-and-a-half it. The meringue was particularly thin (which is also due to the fact that I was too hasty with it...) and the chocolate layer, while rich and delicious, could have been more substantial. You can't have too much delicious, right!?