You might be anticipating a depressing and sort of off-putting story about me never letting myself have a Thin Mint or eating pie and spitting it out. I'm sure I've done both of those things, of course, but today, I am really just excited to tell you about this chocolate pie. Grandma Ruby used to make a chocolate pudding pie that my mom still makes to this day and the chilled chocolate with cookie crust is an immensely satisfying bite. You've probably had something like it. The coolness eases the crunch of the crust, and the creamy filling coats your mouth with sweetness.
I set out to make one reminiscent of the ones I grew up, maybe slightly less sweet and using a technique I picked up with one of the kindest, most creative humans I know, Katherine Thompson. Grandma Ruby used a pudding mix and there is nothing wrong with that if you'd rather go that route, but using Katherine's method of making an Italian-style budino, this filling turns out a little denser and impressively rich with chocolate flavor. And if you start to read the filling directions and have a moment of panic that there might be some temperature checking?! And tempering?! I strongly encourage still to try this one out. Christian is a true novice in the kitchen, and he even admitted how simple the whole thing was to pull together.
This is also *unofficially* a Thin Mint pie. When I finally set out to make the pie this week, someone in our household ate over half of our box of Thin Mints, leaving me with too little to try them in the crust. I sent that someone out to the store in search of another mint cookie replacement, and it turns out, Keebler has been selling mint cookies that look and taste nearly as good as the Girl Scout favorite all along.
You'll notice my slice doesn't exactly look beautiful. There are two reasons for this. 1) I forgot to spray my pie pan and 2) It was time to watch the new episode of Last of Us, and we needed something sweet to comfort our apocalypse anxieties. It had only been two hours, but I made the slices anyway and they oozed and fell haphazardly onto our plates.
This is your permission to do the same. This pie is as delicious when it's messy as it is when it's a clean slice, so if you have a good show on deck and need a snack while you watch it, I highly encourage the premature slice.
Chocolate Pudding Pie with Mint Cookie Crust
Makes 1 pie, for you and roughly seven friends
For the crust:
3 cups crushed mint cookies (roughly 45 cookies)
1 stick butter, melted
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
For the filling:
1 cup heavy cream
1 ⅓ cups whole milk
¼ cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
8 oz chopped chocolate (I prefer a 60% or more here, but you could do as you like. Would white chocolate be delicious? I’d try it)
¼ teaspoon salt
For the topping:
8 oz mascarpone cream
1 ½ cups heavy cream
⅓ cup powder sugar
Crumbled mint cookies for garnish
Make the crust
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a pie pan with Pam spray (seriously).
In a mixing bowl, combine the crumbled cookies, melted butter and salt. I like to use my hands here because you want to make sure all of the crumbs absorb the butter. After a minute or so of mixing, you should be able to squeeze some crumbs and they keep their shape a bit like kinetic sand. Now, spread this evenly into your pie pan as you would a graham crust, going up the sides and pressing the crumbs firmly into place. Some people like to use the bottom of a measuring cup or the bottom of a glass for this, but again, I prefer my hands so I can feel if the crust is even.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes until it starts to look like it’s become its own big pie-shaped cookie and it’s slightly crisp to touch. Allow to cool completely (if you are impatient, you can always stick it in the freezer).
To make the pudding filling, whisk together the cream, milk, and sugar in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. While this is heating, it would be a good time to chop the chocolate if you haven’t or separate your eggs. You should have your chocolate in a large mixing bowl and your egg yolks in a medium-sized one. Once the cream mixture starts to bubble around the edges and a slight film forms on top—but before it comes to a full boil!—pull off the heat. Now, add a splash of the warm cream into your eggs and whisk. Add a splash more and whisk. Do this once more and then, while whisking add the rest of the cream mixture into the eggs and whisk until combined and voila! You tempered eggs and it was not a big deal!
Add this egg & cream mixture back to the saucepan. If you have a thermometer, now would be a great time to check the temperature. If it’s not quite at 180 degrees, turn the heat on medium-low and whisk while warming it up. If you don’t have a thermometer, this will be a little less precise, but doable! Put the mixture back on a medium-low heat for five minutes. Whisk the entire time, and pay attention to the viscosity, to the bubbles on the sides. When this mixture is 180 degrees, it’s slightly thicker and there are tiny little bubbles around the edges of the pan. Tiny ones, do not wait for big ones!
Once the mixture is 180 degrees—or you guess that it’s around there—turn off the heat and pour this on top of your chopped chocolate. Whisk vigorously to melt your chocolate and create a creamy, chocolate bath. Pour this into your crust and refrigerate, uncovered for about four hours.
It’s been four hours? Time to make the topping! In a large mixing bowl, whip up the mascarpone and powdered sugar with an electric mixer on low-medium speed until the texture is a little softer. Add the cream a little at a time on low until it’s all incorporated—this is just so you don’t splash yourself with cream—and then increase the speed to medium-high and whip until stiff peaks form, three to five minutes depending on your mixer.
Top the pie with the cream, decorate with some more crumbled cookies, and enjoy.
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