Scharffen Snap Pie

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Snap Pie, originally uploaded by chrisfreeland2002.

My grandma used to make the best chocolate cream pie. My grandma made great pies period, but her chocolate was my favorite. I had been looking for a good chocolate cream pie recipe and found one in the Feb 2008 issue of Food & Wine - Chocolate Cream Pie. The whole point of the article was to take a dish and make 2 versions; one upscale, one down home. Hmm....what a novel concept. Their upscale chocolate cream dessert was a chocolate souffle with vanilla creme anglaise. Nice and all, but I wanted an upscale chocolate cream pie. So, I took the basic recipe and twisted it up a bit to make Scharffen (Berger Chocolate Cream Ginger) Snap Pie.

Follow the recipe, making the following additions and substitutions.

-Use ginger snaps instead of chocolate wafers in the crust. I think the combination of ginger & chocolate is really nice, and a bit unusual.

-Steep the whole milk used in the filling with a vanilla bean. Take a 2-3 inch section of vanilla bean and split it down the middle. Add it to the 2 cups whole milk in a pan. Bring just to a simmer, cover and steep off heat for 20 minutes. After steeping, remove the vanilla bean pod and scrape the tiny seeds into the milk and stir. Strain the milk to remove any solids and continue using in recipe as instructed.

-Use really good chocolate. I used Scharffen Berger, which is fantastic. There are really so many good chocolates on the market now that finding one isn't hard; finding one you like is...but what a fun taste-test!

-The recipe calls for 4 ounces semisweet and 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate. I used 2 ounces semisweet, 2 ounces bittersweet, and 1 ounce unsweetened. I threw in the bittersweet because I like a darker, stronger chocolate flavor.

The pie turned out really, really well. I'll definitely be making this one again.

Chris Freeland
cfreeland27 (at) gmail.com

Spiced Chocolate Sheet Cake

I have a no-fail Chocolate Sheet Cake recipe that came to me from my Aunt Kay, who had an over-the-top personality and could make a mean Texas Sheet Cake. I took her recipe and added in cardamom and cinnamon to warm it up a bit. This cake can be made several days in advance and continues to get better each day. It freezes well, too. It really is the best chocolate cake recipe ever, I think.

Spiced Chocolate Sheet Cake
1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
4 T Dutch-processed cocoa (regular is fine if you're in a pinch)
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (Use a strongly spiced one like Vietnamese Cassia)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Butter and flour a sheet pan.

Melt butter, shortening, cocoa and water in saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Cool slightly off heat. Sift remaining dry ingredients in a bowl. In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk and vanilla. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients until just combined. Batter will be thin. Pour into prepared sheet pan and bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. While cake is warm ice with:

Chocolate icing
4 T Dutch-process cocoa
1/4 cup cream
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 box powdered sugar

Sift powdered sugar into a large bowl. Melt cocoa, cream and butter in saucepan, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over sugar and beat to smooth consistency. Let cool slightly and beat again. Pour over cake with both are still warm.

Chris Freeland
cfreeland27 (at) gmail.com