Mom's Chocolate Pie
This is a special post. I baked this pie yesterday (12/23/2020) on the 2nd anniversary of my father's passing. My dad did most of the cooking growing up, but my mom would cook on her days off and would make this chocolate pie for my dad on special occasions. She used the same recipe every time. The recipe she used for the pie crust (I can only assume) and the filling are in the 1960 Better Homes & Gardens Dessert Cook Book of which I have a 1965 fifth printing copy. My mother passed away 30 years ago this coming NYE and I don't know for sure what happened to her copy of this cookbook. I'd looked for one since I started collecting cookbooks and found my copy years ago at either an estate sale or an antique store. I recognized it and knew it was the right book.
I don't believe I've ever tried making her pie, but as part of how I honor my parents on the anniversaries of their passing, I make things they liked to eat or used to make. I have memories of baking this pie with my mom and sister, but no clear memories of the ingredients or the process. I just remember as kids, my sister or I were the ones who had to do the stirring.
I started with combining the first three ingredients (sugar, salt and I used cornstarch instead of flour for my thickener) in a saucepan, followed by slowly adding the milk which I had pre-heated in the microwave and two one ounce squares of un-sweetened baking chocolate, chopped. I stirred this mixture continuously and after this mixture boiled, I cooked it for two more minutes and removed the pan from the heat. I stirred a small bit into my slightly beaten egg yolks and then stirred that into the chocolate mixture, stirring for two minutes and removing from the heat. After removing from the heat, I added vanilla and the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of butter; I forgot to add the butter for some reason, even though it was on the counter right next to the stove; in the long run, it did not seem to affect the pie. The recipe says to let the mixture cool to room temperature.
While the chocolate mixture was cooling, I made the pie crust (it did not look pretty) and baked it in my pre-heated oven. The recipe says 450 degrees! However, my oven is ancient and doesn't go that high, so I do my best, like I normally do. I baked it at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes I believe. I am pretty good at "eye-balling" doneness, so I just watched it. Anyhow, once the shell was ready, I poured the chocolate filling into the pie crust and smoothed it out.
I beat egg whites, cream of tartar and half a teaspoon of vanilla for the meringue. I don't think it formed soft peaks like it really was supposed to before adding the sugar, but I've been having a problem with my shoulder and it was hurting from holding the mixer over the bowl. I slowly added six tablespoons of sugar until the mixture was a bit stiffer. It wasn't perfect, but it spread nicely over the filling and I was able to make some little peaks on top, before putting the pie in my oven at 350 degrees (I'd lowered the temperature after doing the crust) for 15 minutes.
I was pretty pleased with how the pie looked when it came out of the oven. After cooling for quite awhile, I cut myself a little piece and the filling hadn't held up as well as I'd hoped (pictured below), but it sure tasted good. It was just as good as I'd remembered. Once the pie was completely cooled, I put it into my new Tupperware pie container and then into the refrigerator. I declare this a tasty success, because although I forgot the butter, the piecrust wasn't super pretty and the meringue wasn't the best, it tasted like my mom's. That and that it was for my dad, were what was important.
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