Chocolate Custard Cream Cheese Pie

Maybe just because it was New Year's Eve and everyone who tasted it was a little drunk, but this pie is one of the most ridiculously delicious things I've ever tasted. And everyone who scarfed a slice seemed to agree.

It's chocolatey, with a cream-cheese bite, and a texture midway between cheesecake and gelato. Pretty amazing. And it wasn't too difficult to prepare.

The recipe's from Ken Haedrich's book Pie, and, slightly adapted by me, is as follows:

Graham Cracker Crust

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (food processor would probably be the smart way to do this; I used my hands to crumble them, with very idiosyncratic multisize crumb results. I choose to think of them as artisanal crumbs)

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Big pinch salt (what does "big pinch" even mean? nevertheless, it worked)

6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, butter a pie pan.

2. Combine cracker crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl; mix briefly with fingers. Add butter and incorporate well, mixing first with a fork, then with hands, rubbing thoroughly to dampen crumbs evenly.

3. Spread evenly and loosely in pan, pressing into bottom and side. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes.

4. Put in center rack of oven and bake 7 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Here's mine (note the artisanal crumbling, and resulting holes in the crust. This worried me but did not noticeably impede scrumptiousness):

Filling:

2/3 cup granulated sugar

4 large egg yolks

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups cold heavy or whipping cream

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted (I've never sifted a thing in my life, so I ignored the sifting)

12 oz full-fat cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 Tbsp Kahlua (I actually used a hearty splash of iced coffee, with some bourbon)

1. Prepare the crust, then refrigerate it. While you're at it, chill a medium bowl and mixer beaters for step 4.

2. Combine granulated sugar and egg yolks in the top of a double boiler set over, not in, barely simmering water. Whisk nonstop as it cooks until it's thick and creamy, about 8-9 minutes. Scrape into a medium-sized bowl (or do as I did and just swap out the bowl used for the top of the double boiler) and let cool, stirring occasionally. Wash and dry the top of the double boiler if needed.

Here's my custard mixture, cooling:

3. Melt the chocolate chips in the top of the double boiler set over, not in, barely simmering water. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Stir briefly.

(Here's my step 3. As you can almost see, my double boiler setup is a saucepan and a metal bowl.)

4. Use a chilled medium-size bowl and chilled beaters (I warned you up in step 1), to beat the cream with an electric mixer until it's holding soft peaks. Add confectioner's sugar and beat until stiff but not grainy. Refrigerate.

Photographic demonstration:

5. In a large bowl, use the mixer to beat the softened cream cheese until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and the custard mixture and beat on med-high speed until the mixture is light and creamy, 1-2 minutes. Add about half the whipped cream and fold it carefully into the mixture until evenly combined.

Here I am, folding:

 6. Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell, smooth the top with a spoon, and refrigerate at least 4 hours. (I refrigerated nearly 24 without ill effect)

7. Just before serving, beat Kahlua or other flavoring into the remaining whipped cream, then garnish.

Here's my pie and whipped cream, packaged for travel:

Happy New Year folks, and may 2012 be full of pie for each of you.