Eat*Drink*Cleveland: Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Calling All Chocolate Lovers: This Pumpkin Pie is for You

Is anybody else as excited as I am that it's officially Thanksgiving Week?? Knowing that Turkey Day is only 3 days away makes this Monday MUCH easier to deal with.

In addition to getting ready for the big day, I'm hosting a Thanksgiving After-Party for my family on Saturday, so I've been trying to finalize the menu and get my shopping list ready. This year, I've been thinking more about dessert than normal. Thankfully my Mom is bringing pumpkin pies (so good!) so that necessity is taken care of. Pumpkin pie is my absolute favorite!

While I love the classics, someone's I want something different. There are a lot of variations of pumpkin pie out there. And thanks to Chef Michael Symon, you can make a chocolate version to satisfy all the chocoholics and non-pumpkin lovers out there. He shared this recipe on Thanksgiving at Bobby's this weekend and it really caught my eye. If it tastes half as good as it looks, we may have a new tradition.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Recipe courtesy of Michael Symon

Pie Crust:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into small pieces

2 to 3 tablespoons ice cold water

Filling:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

One 14-ounce can pumpkin puree

One 12-ounce can evaporated milk

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

Pinch salt

Shaved chocolate, for garnish

For the pie crust: Combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until coarse, with small marbles of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the ice water, then pulse until crumbly and the dough holds together when squeezed. (If too dry, add another sprinkle of water, but do not over mix.) Transfer the dough to a plastic bag, press into a disk and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Roll out the dough on floured surface, then press it into a deep 9-inch pie plate. Trim the edges to leave 1 inch of overhang, fold it under and flute the edges. Cut a piece of parchment or nonstick foil to the size of the pie plate and use it to line the pie crust. Fill with pie weights and bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights and return the pie dough to the oven to dry out, about 8 minutes.

Lower the oven to 325 degrees F.

For the filling: In a double boiler, melt the semisweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate and butter, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, light brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture. Set the pie plate on a baking sheet and pour the filling into the crust. Bake until the center of the pie has just about set but still has a slight jiggle, about 1 hour. Let cool completely before serving. Top with chocolate shavings.

Yield: 8 servings

Active Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 3 hours

If you missed the show this weekend, you can still catch it Monday, Nov. 24 and Wednesday, Nov. 26. For all of the featured recipes, click here.