Chocolate Espresso Cream Pie

Ingredients

  • 18 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed, about 1½ C
  • 2 Tbs butter, melted
  • 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • 3 Tbs butter
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup cornstarch
  • 2 Tbs instant espresso coffee
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • 4 lg egg yolks
  • 2 cups half-and-half cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 2 Tbs plus 1 tsp coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
  • ¾ cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
  • About 1 oz bittersweet chocolate for chocolate shavings

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Crush or grind the whole cookies, including the cream filling, to make crumbs. Tip: place whole cookies in a food processor or small grinder.
  3. Add melted butter; stir until thoroughly mixed and mixture is crumbly.
  4. Pour the chocolate crumb mixture into a 9 inch pie pan. Using the back of a large spoon or the flat bottom of a measuring cup or drinking glass, press the crumb mixture firmly and evenly across the bottom and against the sides of the pie pan.
  5. Place pie crust on a baking sheet, and bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
  6. In top of a double boiler, combine chopped chocolate and butter. Place pan over hot water (the upper pan should not touch the water.) Heat and stir the chocolate and butter together until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Set aside.
  7. In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, instant espresso, and salt. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the egg yolks and half-and-half cream. Gradually whisk the egg yolk mixture into the sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly to prevent the mixture from burning and egg from curdling, until mixture thickens & boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.
  8. Whisk the melted chocolate mixture into the sugar mixture until thoroughly combined.
  9. Spoon the Chocolate Espresso Filling into the cooled Chocolate Crust. Place plastic wrap directly onto the filling to prevent a film from forming. Let filling cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
  10. Coffee Whipped Cream: In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream until soft mounds form; beat in the coffee liqueur, then gradually add the powdered sugar, continue beating until thick and stiff. Tip: the cream will whip easier if the mixing bowl and beaters are first chilled; place in the refrigerator to chill until ready to whip the cream.
  11. Spread the whipped cream over the chilled pie filling using a rubber spatula, offset spatula, or the back of a spoon to form attractive swirls and peaks.
  12. Sprinkle bittersweet chocolate curls or shavings on top. Tip: Use a vegetable peeler to shave curls from a block or bar of room temperature chocolate.