Categories: Christmas, Fall, Pies, Thanksgiving, Winter, sweets
Ingredients
- Your favorite 9-inch deep-dish piecrust (or make our Foolproof Piecrust)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon fine yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2teaspoons vanilla extract
- Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (optional)
Directions
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Heat the oven to 400°. Shape the piecrust edge into a high-standing rim. Line the crust with a sheet of aluminum foil, gently pressing it into place. Pour about an inch of dry rice or dried beans onto the foil to weigh it down. Place the crust on the center oven rack and bake it for 15 minutes.lower the heat to 325° after prebaking.
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Put the butter in the top of a double-boiler set over, but not in, slow-simmering water (or place a heat-safe glass or metal bowl in a similarly sized pot). Scatter the chocolate over the butter without mixing and let it stand until the chocolate and butter have melted, about 6 minutes. Whisk the chocolate mixture until it’s smooth, then remove it from the heat and set it aside for 10 minutes to cool.
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In a large bowl, use your hands to combine the sugar, cornmeal, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, lightly beat together the eggs and yolk. Add them to the sugar mixture, along with the milk and vanilla extract, and whisk together until they’re evenly blended. Then whisk in the chocolate mixture until smooth and pour the filling into the piecrust.
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Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake it for 35 minutes. Rotate it 180 degrees, then continue to bake until it puffs up and forms a thin crusty layer, about 20 minutes more. Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool for at least 1 1/2 hours. Serve it slightly warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if you like.