About a million years ago I read (a now out of date) mystery, Gastronomic Murder, by Alexandra Roudybush (look for this book. I got a second-hand copy recently. Try the library. That’s where I got in back in the day. At that time, I couldn’t afford to buy books and the local Boston library was my savior.

This pie is more than supreme. It’s so good that one time when I was baking it, my toddling daughter Sara, who at the time had never tasted chocolate or anything made with sugar (yes, I was one of those parents) somehow sniffed it out and found a drip of the filling on the floor (yes, I am one of those sloppy cooks.) When I turned around, there she was: licking the drip up from the floor. Thus, Sara’s love affair with chocolate.

WARNING: Only make this for those you adore. It’s a heck of a lot of work

Crust:

2 squares baking chocolate
2 TB butter
2 TB hot water
⅔ cup confectioner’s sugar
1 ½ cup ground almonds or flaked coconut (I have always used almonds)

Melt chocolate & butter in double boiler. Mix hot water and sugar. Stir into double boiler mix. Add almonds or coconut and mix well. Grease very well a 9” pie plate and press in mixture along sides and bottom evenly. Chill till hard (about one hour.)

Filling

1 envelope gelatin
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 ⅓ cup milk
2 tsp instant coffee
½ cup heavy cream
3 eggs separated
3 squares semi-sweet chocolate
½ tsp vanilla or almond extract
pinch of cream of tartar

Mix gelatin, ½ cup of sugar, salt, milk, coffee, in double boiler. Add chocolate and cook over boiling water until chocolate and gelatin are melted.

Remove from heat and stir until mixture is blended. Beat egg yolks slightly & pour into chocolate mixture; stir quickly, return to heat (double boiler) & cook for five minutes until mixture thickens. Pour into bowl & add extract. Chill until mixture begins to jell & mounds slightly when gently heaped with a spoon.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until frothy. Add sugar (a little at a time) & bear until stiff. Fold into chocolate mixture.

Whip cream until thick & glossy. Then fold into chocolate mix.

Pour into pie shell and leave in refrigerator until firm. To detach from pan, heat slowly over burner.

This recipe is part of book club collection (available to book clubs and at events) The Comfort of Food