Friday, May 2, 2008

no insects were harmed in the making of this pie.

So I should have expected that neither grasshopper pie recipe would be perfection. One was too gummy and a crust that wouldn't come out of the pan, but had a much more complex flavor. The other had a light, fluffy texture and a pretty good crust (although my pie pan was a 10" rather than a 9" so it didn't reach all the way up the sides), but the flavor was meh.

So this is the combination of these recipes, which if you're a chocolate mint fan, should make you very happy.

Grasshopper Pie

crust
1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate wafer cookes (Famous Chocolate Wafers TM are worth tracking down)
8 T melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375. Combine crumbs and butter in a 9" pie pan, press it as thin as humanly possible over the bottom and sides (if there's extra, discard it - you just don't want to have too little). Freeze for 20 minutes. Transfer to oven, bake for around 10 minutes, until just set. Remove from oven; set it aside to cool completely.

filling
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup clear creme de cacao
1/4 cup green creme de menthe
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh peppermint leaves (optional)

garnish
fresh whipped cream (add a little sugar and/or vanilla, as desired)
bittersweet chocolate curls (use a room temp best quality chocolate bar and a vegetable peeler to get long shavings)

Bring 1/2 cup heavy cream and peppermint leaves to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat; let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain it into a small bowl and toss the mint leaves. Cool. Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups cream until stiff peaks form; cover and refrigerate.

Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl; set aside. Pour liqueurs in a heat-proof bowl, and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Let it soften for several minutes. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in another bowl. Add mint cream to the gelatin mixture, whisking until thoroughly combined. Set this bowl over simmering water, whisk constantly until the gelatin is dissolved and the liquid is hot to the touch (around a minute). Whisking constantly, pour hot mixture into the egg yolks. Return all the mixture to the heat-proof bowl, and set it back over the simmering water. Whisk constantly over the heat until thickened and hot (150 degrees). This will take around 10 minutes and your arm will get tired (if you're really talented you can read a book or magazine or something while you whisk). Once it's thickened, place the bowl in the ice water bath. Whisk it until it's even thicker - like pudding (this should only take a couple of minutes). Remove from the bath; add around a third of the whipped cream, whisking until it's incorporated. Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream, and spoon it all into the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, at least an hour or over night.

When serving, add a dollop of whipped cream and chocolate shavings to each slice. I'm a little grasshopper-pied out at the moment, but I'm thinking of Gail Gand's tiny gems and how fabulous miniature versions of this pie would be. Maybe a dollop of the pie mixture on a single chocolate wafer, topped with a bit of cream and a single chocolate curl? A little too big for a single bite, but I bet they'd be a messy hit anyway.