Chocolate Mousse Pie
Submitted by rebabecky
Showstopping chocolate mousse pie with brandy-soaked chocolate-dipped cherries, a cookie crust, and a filling loaded with 12 oz of chocolate, coffee, and whipped cream.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
20 minREADY
4 hrsThis is not a weeknight pie. This is the pie you bring out when you want gasps at the dinner table. A full cup of brandy goes into this thing, split between the mousse filling and the homemade cherry cordials perched on top.
The filling is seriously luxurious: 10 ounces of unsweetened chocolate plus 2 ounces of semi-sweet, beaten with butter, egg yolks, brandy, and coffee, then lightened with meringue and folded with whipped cream. It chills overnight into something impossibly dense and silky.
And those cherry cordials? Maraschino cherries soaked in brandy, frozen, then dipped in melted chocolate. They harden in seconds and look absolutely professional.
Kitchen Tips
- Freeze the brandy-soaked cherries solid before dipping; the cold makes the chocolate set instantly on contact
- The chocolate mixture will seize up and get very stiff after beating in the butter, which is expected. The coffee loosens it back up
- Beat one cup of egg whites into the chocolate first to thin it, then fold in the rest gently to keep the mousse airy
- This must chill overnight. Don’t rush it. The flavors meld and the texture sets properly only with a full night in the fridge
Ingredients
Directions
Soak cherries in ½ cup brandy and place in freezer. Melt 5 ounces semisweet chocolate over hot water. When cherries are frozen, dry on paper towel and quickly dip, one at a time, into chocolate, swirling around by stem until completely covered. Chocolate will harden almost immediately. Place on waxed-paper- lined rack in refrigerator until ready to use.
To make crust, grind wafers in blender until crumbs are very fine. Combine melted butter with crumbs and pat onto sides and bottom of buttered 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 325F 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Meanwhile, to make filling, combine egg yolks, 1½ cups sugar, vanilla, salt and ½ cup brandy in top of double boiler. Place over simmering water and beat until pale yellow and thick, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from water and set aside. Melt unsweetened and 2 ounces semisweet chocolate in top of double boiler over hot water. When melted, remove from water and beat in softened butter, a bit at a time. Gradually beat chocolate into egg yolk mixture until smooth. Chocolate mixture will congeal and become very stiff. Beat in coffee. Beat egg whites (at room temperature) into soft peaks. Gradually beat in 3 tablespoons sugar until stiff peaks form. Beat 1 cup of beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to thin, then carefully fold in remaining beaten egg whites until thoroughly incorporated. Whip cream until stiff and gently fold into chocolate mixture. Pour into prepared crust and chill overnight in refrigerator. Garnish with cherry cordials.
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