Monday, March 1, 2010

French Silk Chocolate Pie AND Tiramisu



Indulge much? Why yes. We do.

I'm warning you now: you should not make either of these recipes. They are too good. You will like them too much. And you will crave them.

First up: French Silk Chocolate Pie. If you think the "French Silk" pie you pick up at Village Inn or the Sara Lee freezer version is really French Silk, you are sorely mistaken. You will be ecstatically surprised to discover how rich and delicious and EASY a homemade French Silk pie can be. And, like me, you will never go back to the fake stuff. My friend Miriam (who guinea-pigged and recommended this recipe to me) suggests multiplying the recipe times 2-1/2, because otherwise the filling will be too shallow. With my pie pan, I probably could have done just a double-up and it would have been perfect.


There was almost too much filling. Almost. However, since it was the most delicious pie filling on earth, we managed. I was concerned, as I went along, that the filling was going to turn out grainy. But, I stuck with it, following directions to the letter, beating the mixture for 5 minutes after each egg addition, and it all came together beautifully.


Creamy. Smooth. Not too fluffy, but chock-full of flavor. Yes, there are raw eggs in this pie. And yet again, nobody suffered, so I stand by the notion that average grocery store eggs are not as scary as people would like you to believe. But, if you want to use pasteurized eggs as extra insurance, that's probably not a bad idea.

Now: Tiramisu. Holy mother of god. Or the Italian version of such an exclamation. Again, I have to say, the stuff you think is Tiramisu at "Italian" restaurants? Not so much. This is rich, thick (as opposed to fluffy), creamy, oh so good.


And not difficult at all. I have heard lots of people report about their Tiramisu turning out runny or soggy, or various other problems. Not this one. I followed some of the advice I found here (specifically the part about how to dip and arrange the ladyfingers) and then just followed the recipe to the letter, and it turned out perfectly.


The children liked it, even though there is a little bit of booze in it. The adults liked it. A lot. I used Marsala wine as the recipe suggests in the mascarpone mixture, so the flavor ended up reminding me a little bit of my Aunt Dorothy's Wine Cake (which calls for Sherry). But depending on your liquor tastes, I think it would be just as delicious with spiced rum, kahlua, or brandy.


TGIP Rating--French Silk Chocolate Pie--KEEPER. Maybe a once-a-year treat? It's addictive.
--Tiramisu--KEEPER. I will try it with homemade Ladyfingers, when I take on that baking project, but frankly, I don't have high hopes about the homemade version having enough substance. Guess we'll see!

Next up: A TOP SECRET project. Hopefully not an epic fail. Some occasions really call for an epic success.

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