Death By Chocolate Pie
No dessert celebrates the holidays, friends, and family quite like a pie! Equal Exchange’s chocolate supply chain coordinator, Laura Bechard, can attest to that. She grew up in the pie business and from an early age was rolling out pie dough, crimping crusts, and piping whipped cream at her family’s restaurant. The Norske Nook is a quaint family-style restaurant with several locations in Wisconsin. It thrives on the small-town crowd and its regulars who enjoy it for the comfort food and warm coffee. Over the years, it has gained quite a reputation for its stellar, homemade pies, and now attracts tourists and travelers who go out of their way to make a pit stop for pie.
A few years ago, the Norske Nook began using Equal Exchange’s Organic Baking Cocoa because restaurant owner Jerry Bechard noticed that it adds a richness and depth to their chocolate pies that couldn’t be tasted with conventional cocoa powder.
One of Laura’s favorite recipes from the restaurant unites her love of pies with her passion for sustainably sourced chocolate: Death by Chocolate. The chocolate cookie crust, chocolate cheesecake base, and chocolate pudding make a delectable triple threat.
Death by Chocolate Pie
This decadent pie is a chocolate lover's dream. Organic baking cocoa and chocolate chips give it a depth of flavor.
Ingredients
For Crust:
2 cups (or about one package) chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed fine
¼ cup butter, melted
For Chocolate Cheesecake Layer:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup Equal Exchange Organic Bittersweet 70% Chocolate Chips
For Chocolate Pudding Layer:
1 cup (one large package) stovetop chocolate pudding mix
3 cups milk
For Topping and Garnish:
3+ cups whipped cream or whipped topping
Chocolate syrup, optional
Instructions
Mix crumbs and butter together and press into an 11” pie tin
Preheat oven to 290°F
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth
Add sugar, cocoa, and vanilla extract
Mix until blended. The mixture will be thick. Add one egg at a time. Stir in chocolate chips
Pour into the chocolate cookie crust you prepared. Leave about one inch of space. If your pie tin is smaller than 11”, you may have filling left over!
Put in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes
Let cool completely before putting the pie together
Put the chocolate pudding mix and milk in a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring continuously until pudding is thick and boils in the middle
Pour into a container and refrigerate until cooled and set
When everything is cool, layer the pie! Mound chocolate pudding on top of crust and top with whipped cream or topping, piping it around the edge
Drizzle chocolate in straight lines in the middle of the pie, if desired
Sprinkle shaved chocolate on top
Enjoy!
Learn more about the Norske Nook and check out their cookbook available for sale online.