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Chocolate Almond Pie
From Dorothy McNett's recipes at www.dorothymcnett.com. A perfect dessert for Valentine's Day, filled with a great selection of sensory ingredients such as dark chocolate, raw sugar, vanilla, almonds and garnished with chocolate covered cherries or other fresh fruits. Casanova would have loved this! The aroma of almonds supposedly arouses passion in women.
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup very cold water
3/4 cup sugar (raw sugar)
pinch of fine sea salt
1/2 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup cornstarch
4 eggs
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla paste
1-2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw almonds
heavy whipping cream for topping
chocolate covered cherries or strawberries
First make the crust: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In food processor with steel chopping blade in place, whirl together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and process just until the butter has been cut into small chunks. Add the water and process just until the mixture wants to form a ball. Roll out on a floured pastry cloth and lift into a 9 inch pie pan. Pierce the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork, and place a piece of parchment paper on the crust. Scatter about 1/2 cup beans into the shell over the parchment paper, or use pie weights made just for this purpose. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until set and browned and crisp. Remove the parchment with the beans and set the shell aside to cool.
Make the filling by whisking in a batter bowl the sugar, salt, cocoa powder, and cornstarch to blend. In another bowl combine eggs and milk and whisk to break up the eggs thoroughly. Whisk into the dry ingredients. Cook in microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk well. Cook another 2 min., and whisk, repeating in 1 minute intervals until the pudding has set. (Usually takes just 1 minute more) Whisk in the vanilla, butter and almonds. Pour into the cooled pie shell. Cool. When ready to serve, dollop on the whipped cream and garnish with chocolate curls or chocolate covered fruits, if desired.
Recipe created 1997-04-14.
