Chocolate Meringue Pie

Chocolate Meringue Pie 

Let's be honest, even though summer is a time for fruit pies and cobblers, sometimes you have a craving that only chocolate can fix. That was last week for me :). Back in California where my mom grew up there is a restaurant called PollysPies. They make one of the best chocolate meringue pies ever! It's not on their menu, but if you're a regular you can always ask for a slice. Anyways, since mama and I were having a hankering for chocolate, I decided I would whip up one of her favorites!  

Chocolate meringue pie is a rich chocolate pudding pie topped with a tall layer of fluffy meringue. Although this pie isn't terribly hard to make, my mom did warn me that the first time anyone makes a custard pie they usually fail, and well mothers knows best. So, in the version posted instead of having my beautiful scratch-made deep-dish pie crust, I ended up having to use a frozen one on chocolate meringue pie take #2.


Let me first confess my mistake so that no one else has to throw out an entire filled (albeit not set) chocolate pie.
When making chocolate meringue, I use the Jello Cooked Chocolate Pudding mix. This calls for 2 and 1/2 cups of milk. This has to, HAS TO, be whole milk, or the pudding will not set and you end up having to start over :/.

The second important step that many other recipes fail to mention is that the chocolate pudding needs to sit in the fridge overnight. (Again, my mama warned me, but I swore it was set within 30 minutes.. not so much).

If we keep those two crucial instructions in mind, making a chocolate meringue pie is a cinch!

So to start off the right way!
1. Prepare a 9 inch, deep-dish pie crust, (or use a frozen one like I had to), and blind bake it. I blind bake my crust at 375 degrees, crust pricked by a fork, weighted down by beans, for about 10-15 minutes. But this can vary depending on the thickness of your crust.

2. Once your pie crust is cooled, prepare the pudding mixture. You'll need:

 1 package Jello Cooked Chocolate Pudding Mix

3 egg yolks (save egg whites for meringue)

2 1/4 cups whole milk

1 Italian cup of sugar

1 tbsp brewed coffee

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp iodized salt

Whisk Jello Pudding mix, sugar, milk, and egg yolk in a pot over medium heat. Add coffee, vanilla, and salt. Let the mixture come to a boil.

3. Once the pudding mixture has come to a boil, turn off the heat, and pour through a sieve into a clean bowl. This will keep the pudding pie smooth and lump-free. Then, transfer pudding mixture into cooled pie crust, leaving some room for the meringue topping.

4. Chill chocolate pudding pie in the fridge over night.

5. (Next day) Preheat oven to 375 degree F. With your stand mixer, or hand mixer, whip up your 3 egg whites (slowly raising the power from low to medium high). Meanwhile, add 1/2 cup of sugar in increments to the egg whites, giving it time to incorporate after each addition.

6. Once the egg whites are stiff*, turn off the mixture and either spoon or pipe on top of chocolate pudding.  

*Egg white are stiff when you can dip the whisk into the egg whites, and when you pull it out they hold their shape on the end of the whisk. They will have the appearance of pillowy clouds, if they look spongey and porous you have over-beat the egg whites to the point of drying them out.  

7. Place the pie in your oven for 10-20 minutes until the egg whites are browned. Once browned, pie is ready to be served :)

Admittedly, I think I like the spooned topped better than the pipped

Nom :)