Peanut Butter and Chocolate Silk Pie

I saw this recipe in one of my Southern Living magazines and told myself I have to try this pie sometime….soon. Well, I put the magazine away in a stack of other magazines and forgot all about it. I occasionally browse through some of my old magazines to look for things I said I wanted to make and then forgot about. So, my new thought is this….I own the magazine, it’s my magazine, so, I should be able to rip the page right out of the magazine. I don’t have to quietly rip a recipe out of a magazine in the doctor’s office and then feel badly that I took something that was not mine….after-all, God sees everything! lol So, now I just rip recipes right out and put the magazine back in the stack. Now when I have down time, I write the recipe out on a card and file in my loose-leaf cookbook for viewing later, and to make later. Awwww, the guilt is now gone!

This is a really good pie, it’s rich, but very good if you love chocolate and peanut butter. I love this pie cold, but it’s very good room temperature also. The chocolate in the pie is so soft and then you get that taste of peanut butter on top…then you have the crunch of the drizzled chocolate across the top and the crunch of peanuts in your mouth….mmmmmm so delish!

Ingredients:

1 recipe Chocolate Pastry…
3 cups whipping cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons crème de cacao or whipped cream
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup semisweet chocolate pieces, melted

Directions:

1. FOR CRUST: Preheat oven to 425F. Prepare Chocolate Pastry. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry from center to edges into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry circle around rolling-pin. Unroll into a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate and trim to ½ inch beyond edge. Fold under extra pastry even with plate edge; crimp as desired. Generously prick bottom and sides of pastry with a fork. Line pastry with a double thickness of foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil. Bake about 8 minutes more or until set and dry. Cool on a wire rack.

2. FOR FILLING: In a medium heavy saucepan combine 1 cup of the whipping cream, 1 cup chocolate pieces, 1/3 cup sugar, and butter. Cook and stir over low heat about 10 minutes or until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat. Stir half of the hot mixture into egg yolks. Return egg yolk mixture to saucepan. Cook and stir over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Remove from heat. (Mixture may appear curdled.) Stir in crème de cacao (or whipping cream). Place saucepan in a bowl of ice water; let stand 20 minutes or until mixture stiffens and becomes hard to stir, stirring occasionally.

3. Transfer chocolate mixture to a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on high-speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl frequently. In a mixing bowl beat ½ half cup of the whipping cream on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl). Fold some of the whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Fold chocolate mixture into the remaining whipped cream. Spread filling in pastry shell. Cover and chill for 5 to 24 hours.

4. Before serving, in a large mixing bowl whisk together ¼ cup of the whipping cream, the peanut butter, and ¼ cup sugar until smooth. Gradually beat in the remaining and 1/4 cups whipping cream on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl). Spread whipped cream mixture on top of pie. Drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

Chocolate Pastry Crust:

In a medium bowl stir together 1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in ½ cup shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon ice water over the part of the flour mixture; toss gently with a fork. Push moistened pastry to side of bowl. Repeat moistening flour mixture, using 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until all the flour mixture is moistened (3 to 4 tablespoons ice water total). Gather flour mixture into a ball, kneading gently until it holds together. Follow directions above on how to roll out crust.