Chocolate Mascarpone Pie
Yields 10 servings.
By Dennis W. Viau; modified from a recipe in a restaurant trade journal.
Chocolate Mascarpone Pie might be high in calories, but they are delicious calories. If you make your own mascarpone (there's a recipe on this web site—see Basics in the Recipe Archive), you know that it is made from heavy cream, which has four times the fat of half and half. So a little goes a long way.
This recipe uses an 11-inch (28cm) tart pan. Adjust for a smaller pan.
Ingredients:
Crumb Crust:
½ tablespoon butter
1¼ cups (10 oz./284g) chocolate cookie crumbs (see below)—about 25 chocolate sandwich cookies
3½ tablespoons sugar (or all the creamy filling from the cookies)
5/8 cup (148ml) butter, melted, but not hot
Filling:
6 to 7 ounces (170 to 200g) white chocolate
24 ounces (680g) mascarpone
6 to 7 ounces (170 to 200g) semi-sweet chocolate, melted (more for garnish)
½ teaspoon almond extract
Optional: Whipped heavy cream for garnish
Directions:
Optional: Melt the white chocolate, place in a piping bag, and shape leaves or other designs on parchment paper. Refrigerate to set up. Or you could just decorate the top with white chocolate morsels or shaved white chocolate.
Heat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Butter an 11-inch (28cm) tart pan or pie pan with the ½ tablespoon of butter, or line with parchment paper.
Crush the cookies into crumbs. The best way is in a food processor, but you can put them in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin or mallet. Leave the cream filling in the cookies, if present. Add the sugar if not using the cream filling. Add the melted butter. Combine until well mixed. This can be done in the food processor as well. Press the crumb mixture into the pan, covering the sides and bottom evenly. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool, or refrigerate.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. (Set a bowl over a pan of boiling water.) Remove when melted.
In a large bowl combine the mascarpone, melted chocolate, and extract. Mix well until homogeneous. Spread the filling in the pie shell, distributing it evenly and smoothing the top.
Decorate the top with the white chocolate shapes or morsels. You could even pipe designs on top.
Refrigerate 1 hour.
Cut and serve chilled. Optional: A large dollop of chilled whipped cream can be placed on the side. Using a microplane grater, shave some extra chocolate onto the empty plate. Add a slice of pie and the whipped cream. Then shave more chocolate over the whipped cream.
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