French Silk Pie

Ingredients:

For crust:

• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) chilled, salted butter
• 1/3 cup pecan halves
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
•  1/4 teaspoon salt

For filling:

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) room temp butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• Whipped cream for serving 
• Chocolate curls for serving

Directions:

1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees, butter a 9 inch pie plate, set aside. Grind pecans in a food processor, or chop very finely with a knife. In a medium bowl, combine flour, pecans, sugar, and salt. Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press firmly into prepared pie plate. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

2. Make the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add melted chocolate and the vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating at medium speed for five minutes after each addition. Pour filling into cooled pie crust. Cover with plastic wrap, and transfer to the refrigerator to cool for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

3. Just before serving, top pie with whipped cream, and decorate with chocolate curls.

Preparation Method:

The method that I used for making the pie crust was the biscuit method. I did this by combining the dry ingredients in one bowl and then after it was all mixed I cut in the fats which was the butter. This recipe does not call for any liquids, however the dough was a little dry when I was making it so I added in some water, about a tablespoon and a half, not all at once, but gradually. This pie was made with a pie shell. This means that first the pie crust is baked, then the filling is added. This method is most common with cream pies and lemon pies. It is extremely important to know which kind of baking method to used for your pie, since this could mess the pie up if done wrong. 

Critique:

This french silk pie was extremely delicious. The crust was buttery and flaky and perfectly cooked so the sides were a little brown but not overdone. The aroma of this decadent pie was sugary yet sweet. The appearance of the crust was light brown, just done to perfection. The chocolate moose was smooth and made the pie look some kind of fancy. The chocolate curls on the top are just like cherries on top of ice cream. The texture was mixed just perfectly. The crust was falling apart in my mouth and mixed perfectly with the smooth texture of the chocolate filling, and the lightness of the whipped cream on top. Although all of these were amazing, the best part of the pie was the taste. The flaky crust was buttery and delicious. This went along perfectly with the richness of the filling, it bursted with sweetness in my mouth. The sweet taste of whipped cream pulled all of the tastes together. 

Assessment:

This recipe was absolutely amazing and I would make it a million times over again. It was sweet and rich and savory all at the same time. Although I have had the frozen Marie Calenders French Satin Pie, which is very similar, I think this pie definitely tops any of those frozen ones. For some reason, homemade pies always taste better than store bought ones. I learned that if you want your recipe to be done correctly and turn out delicious, you have to improvise if something doesn't work out the first time.