Chocolate Pie

 🌸 🌸 🌸 Chocolate Pie

The pie combines a crunchy hazelnut-chocolate base, a rich and silky chocolate cream (ganache) in the middle, and a shiny chocolate topping sprinkled with roasted hazelnuts.

Since it is an extremely rich dessert, you can choose the classic baked version of the shortcrust pastry or the quick no-bake version.

 

Crispy Hazelnut Shortcrust

Ingredients:

• 170 g white flour

• 50 g ground roasted hazelnuts (for a deep flavor)

• 30 g cocoa powder (real, bitter)

• 100 g cold butter (cut into cubes)

• 60 g powdered sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 pinch of salt

 

Procedure:

In a bowl, mix the flour, ground hazelnuts, cocoa, powdered sugar and salt.

Add the cubes of cold butter and quickly rub in with your fingers until you get the texture of sand or crumbs.

Add the egg and quickly knead the dough into a ball. If the mixture is too dry, add a teaspoon of cold water. Wrap the dough in foil and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.

Roll out the chilled dough (easiest between two sheets of baking paper) to a thickness of about 4 mm and place it in a pie pan (diameter 24–26 cm). Press the edges well against the pan and pierce the bottom several times with a fork.

Cover the dough with baking paper, sprinkle dry beans or rice on top (for blind baking) and bake for 15 minutes at 180 °C. Then remove the paper and weight and bake for another 8–10 minutes. Let the base cool completely.

 

Rich Chocolate Cream (in the middle)

Ingredients:

• 200 g good-quality dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa)

• 100 g milk chocolate (to balance the sweetness)

• 250 ml sweet cream

• 40 g butter (room temperature)

• 1 tsp vanilla paste

• 1 small pinch of sea salt (brings out the chocolate flavour)

Method:

Finely chop both chocolates and place in a bowl.

Heat the cream in a saucepan until just simmering (do not boil).

Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 2 minutes, then use a whisk to gently stir from the centre outwards until you have a completely smooth, shiny cream.

Stir in the softened butter, vanilla and a pinch of sea salt. Stir until the butter is completely melted.

Pour this warm cream into the cooled baked dough and place the pie in the refrigerator for 2 hours to firm up.

 

Shiny chocolate topping and sprinkles

To achieve a perfectly flat, mirror-like and shiny surface, as seen in the picture, pour a thin layer of liquid topping over the pie at the end.

Ingredients:

• 80 g dark chocolate

• 80 ml sweet cream

Procedure:

Heat the sweet cream and pour over the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth.

Let the topping cool slightly (so that it becomes lukewarm but still nice and runny).

Gently pour the topping over the already set middle cream and tilt the baking pan slightly on all sides so that the topping is evenly distributed over the entire surface.

 

Decoration: Before the topping hardens, sprinkle the top of the pie with coarsely chopped roasted hazelnuts.

Place the pie in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

Before cutting it, leave it at room temperature for 10–15 minutes, and dip the knife in hot water and wipe it before each cut – this way the pieces will be completely clean and sharp.

 

Enjoy!

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