Chocolate Chess Pie...

There are many pies that I would call my favorite; nevertheless, there is just not enough space in the bloggersphere to give my complete list here. But one pie that has gone the way of the old Southern culture, like RC Cola and a moon pie, is the Chess Pie. A particularly sugary pie characteristic of a filling composed of eggs, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Somehow the chess pie has not really become a darling of our new nouveau foodies and made trendy.

That's all for the best, really. Chess pie isn't supposed to be trendy. It's supposed to remind us of grandmother's house, taking us back to a simpler world with a simple dessert. I know that every time I have a slice, a pure satisfaction comes over me as I slowly eat my way through the buttery custard and crust,while remembering wonderful childhood memories.

But we all know those times have changed. And even our palettes have changed. So, below I offer a makeover of this southern classic. This recipe has long been a family favorite. And with its rich, gooey filling, this pie is a choco-holic's dream!



Chocolate Chess Pie

Ingredients:
Butter Pie Crust (see below)
~ Or pastry for a single-crust pie
2 cups sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup milk
½ cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare Butter Pie Crust; set aside.

For filling, in a large bowl, combine sugar, cocoa powder, cornmeal, flour, and salt. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into sugar mixture until smooth. Stir in pecans.

Pour filling into pastry-lined pie plate. Bake about 1 hour or until filling is set and crust is golden. If crust begins to brown too fast, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F and cover edge of crust with foil. Cool pie on a wire rack. (Filling will fall slightly during cooling.) Chill within 2 hours. If desired, serve with whipped cream.

Serves 8 to 10
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Butter Pie Crust

Ingredients:
½ cup salted butter
1 heaping tablespoon sugar
1 cup flour (unsifted)

Mix the butter and sugar together in a bowl with a spoon. Do not cream! Place the butter and sugar combination on a flat surface and add half a cup of the flour and lightly mix to combine the ingredients. Add the other half of the flour and knead just until a dough begins to form. Do not roll out the dough.

Press the dough into a glass pie dish (you can use metal, but glass performs so much better and cooks more evenly) using your knuckles, so the dough doesn't stick as much. Place in the refrigerator until ready to pour in your pie filling and bake.

Makes one single crust

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George’s notes:

• No one is really sure where the name comes from, but there are some neat theories about it. But here in "The History of Chess Pie" many ideas have been outlined.
• The pie seems to have no relation to the game of chess, which has led to much speculation as to the origin of this term. Some theorize that the name of the pie traces back to its ancestral England, where the dessert perhaps evolved from a similar cheese tart, in which the archaic "cheese" was used to describe pies of the same consistency even without that particular ingredient present in the recipe.
• There is also a theory that the word "chess" pie comes from the piece of furniture that was common in the early South called a pie chest or pie safe. Chess pie may have been called chest pie at first because it held up well in the pie chest.

I want to thank everyone for your thoughtful comments & prayers for my mother. Her surgery was very successful and she is doing extremely well. Mom is a fighter and a difficult individual to keep down, so she will be back on her feet in no time.

Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and know that she truly appreciates each & everyone of you for your kindness. I am still in Florida, but will post when I can. ~ George