Milk Chocolate Pudding Pie with Marbled Meringue

Happy PiDay friends! AKA – my definition of the best day of the year…. who else is with me on this one?

Seriously, I wish everyday could be Pie Day.  It just really seems like the most appropriate thing to make happen in the world to make everybody a little bit happier… scratch that, a lot happier – don’t you think?

Mhmmmm…. so can you tell I love pie or what?

I love Pie Day not only because pie is delicious and I would pretty much be content to just eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner all day, everyday; but also because it gives me the perfect excuse to bake a nice. Big. Fat. Pie. Yaaaaaasss!

Now I know what you’re thinking…. “what kind of strange human being needs an excuse to make a pie?” – And I would totally be asking the same question, so allow me to explain….

Basically because it is just Cole and I, we sometimes find it hard to justify baking an entire pie for just the two of us. I mean don’t get me wrong – we could eat an entire pie to ourselves, no questions asked. But sometimes Cole likes to try and keep the baked goods consumption to a somewhat “reasonable” level.

I know – Sometimes I think he’s just downright crazy, but sometimes I guess I have to side with his rational, healthy, balanced way of thinking…. sometimes…. 😀

But then there are days like Pie Day, which allow all rationality and healthy thinking to go fluttering straight out the window… These are my favourite kind of days, because these are the days where things like this Chocolate Pudding Pie with marbled Meringue come into my life and just make everything that much more amazing.

I would like to say that the idea for this pie hit me in a beautiful “aha” moment – but in truth, the idea for this pie really came from me having a bunch of rando left over ingredients in my frigde, like egg whites, some whole milk, and a bunch of leftover milk chocolate from Christmas still sitting in my pantry.

Side note – this is for real, this is how much chocolate we get at Christmas time – enough that we literally can’t finish consuming it all until Spring {which is saying a lot because as you know, I am a serious Chocoholic}.

So anyways, this pie basically came together as a way for me to use up all of these random left over ingredients, and truth be told, I really wasn’t expecting it to be anything special. But oh boy was I happy when it turned out to become my new all-time favourite chocolate pie…

This pie is literally da bomb. Everything from the flaky chocolate cookie crust, to the rich, velvety, smooth chocolate pudding to the sweet marshmallowy marbled meringue…. this pie is honestly pure chocolate perfection.

The recipe for the chocolate pudding is adapted from my all-time favourite homemade chocolate pudding recipe from Joy the Baker, and if there is one thing I can tell you about it, its that it will soon be your favourite to – It is literally the perfect pudding recipe and it pairs flawlessly with the meringue.

Seriously this pie is heaven, and you need to make it happen…. like right now.  So here is the recipe lovelies and I hope you enjoy <3

P.S – Cole and I had zero troubles polishing off this bad boy, and I’m sure you won’t either.

Chocolate Pudding Pie with Marbled Meringue

Things you need…

Chocolate Cookie Crust
2/3 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp espresso powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Milk Chocolate Pudding
1 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 cups whole milk
3 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped
2 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla

Marbled Meringue
4 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cocoa powder

**Milk Chocolate Pudding Recipe adapted from “Homemade Decadence”, Chocolate Pudding **

 

How to make…

Chocolate Pudding
Make your chocolate pudding first, because you will want to give it enough time to chill before filling your pie.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together brown sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt until combined. Next, whisk in once cup of the milk until the mixture is smooth and then whisk in the remaining milk. Set the saucepan over medium low heat and cook, continuing to whisk regularly until thickened – this will take about 10 minutes. Bring the mixture to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low, continuing to cook and whisk constantly for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla. Pour the pudding through a fine mesh sieve into a heat proof bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface. Place the pudding in the fridge to cool completely – this will take about 2 hours.

Chocolate Cookie Crust
While you are waiting for your pudding to chill – make your crust.

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and brown sugar to combine. Add in the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Next, add in the egg yolks and vanilla, and pulse until the mixture has just come together, being careful not to over work.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to chill for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 400F degrees and set out a 9 inch fluted tart tin with a removable base.

Once the dough is chilled, remove it from the fridge and lightly flour a work surface. Roll the dough to into a rough circle that is about 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick. Gently ease the dough into your tart tin, and fit the dough into the tin using your fingertips to gently press into all of the grooves. Use your rolling pin to roll over the top of the fluted tin to easily remove any excess dough.

Use a fork to dock the base of the dough and then cover with plastic wrap to refrigerate for another 20 minutes or so.

Once chilled, line the dough with parchment, and fill the shell with baking beads. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, and then remove the baking beeds and turn the oven temperature down to 350F and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes or until cooked.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before filling.

Marbled Meringue

Bring a pot of water to a gentle boil.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the egg whites and sugar to combine. Place the bowl over top of the pot of boiling water and whisk the egg whites to dissolve the sugar. This should take about 4 minutes or so, but you can check to see if the sugar is dissolved every so often just my rubbing some of the mixture in between your fingers – it should feel smooth and not grainy.

Once the sugar is dissolved, place the bowl in the stand mixer, add in the corn starch and whip on high until soft glossy, peaks form, being careful not to over-whip. This will take about 5-10 minutes. You should be able to remove your whip attachment and have the peaks hold a nice meringue curl.

Place two heaping tbsp of the meringue into a small separate bowl, and whisk in the 1 tbsp of the cocoa powder, until smooth. It’s okay if the whites deflate a bit, as this is just to make that nice chocolate meringue swirl.

Assembly
Pre heat your oven to broil at 500F degrees

Pour the chilled chocolate pudding into the pie shell and spread the filling to the outer edges of the pie shell. Next dollop the meringue over top of the pudding, and smooth out the top with an offset spatula, leaving about a one inch border around the edges {if desired}.

Next, dollop small amounts of the chocolate meringue around the top of the white meringue. Use a knife to swirl the chocolate meringue around until you have achieved your desired swirl appearance.

Place the pie onto a baking sheet and place on the centre rack of your oven under the broiler for about2 minutes or until lightly toasted – keep a close eye on your meringue because it is very easy to burn.

Once toasted, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to chill for about an hour before serving.

Now cut yourself a nice largeeee piece and enjoy!

Happy Pie Baking!

KP xoxo