French Silk Pie

An all-time fav, this is best eaten the day of, slightly chilled. It is oh so yummy in a creamy chocolatey kind of way...close your eyes and enjoy a blissful moment of heavenly chocolate.

French Silk Pie is a dream come true for chocolate lovers...and yet it's so easy to make. The secret is using the freshest ingredients - eggs, butter and heavy whipping cream - as well as quality chocolate, instant espresso powder and vanilla. Whip it up with a little love and you can't go wrong...

Quality ingredients include:

Chocolate - unsweetened...melted in the microwave.

Eggs - farm fresh if you gottem.

Butter and sugar

Espresso powder, or instant coffee works in a pinch.

Whip the butter and sugar well, with love...

Add eggs, one at a time, whipping a minute or two after each addition, and pour into your favorite crust - here I used a store bought chocolate cookie crumb crust for an extra chocolate boost, but I prefer grandma's pie crust - the tender flaky crust balances the blast of chocolate and vanilla cream nicely.

Whip the cream as soon to serving as you can, and top with chocolate curls, chips or nothing at all...

French Silk Pie:

Baked pie shell, 9 inch

1 c sugar

3/4 c butter, softened (be SURE it is at ROOM TEMP)

3 squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled - I heat in microwave in 30 sec, then 10 seconds, stirring with fork till smooth

1 1/2 t instant espresso powder

1/4 t cream of tartar

1 1/2 t vanilla

3 eggs (Some people boil them a few seconds to prevent any random diseases, but I don't if they are fresh - and I've never been sick yet. I also use a raw egg when I make a Caesar salad - it's all about where you get your eggs from and noticing when you crack them - if they look strange, or rotten. In that case, even if they were "sterilized" they would still taste like crap.)

For topping:

1 cup chilled whipping cream

1 T vanilla syrup if you have it (the kind you use for coffee) or 1 T powdered sugar and 1/2 t vanilla.

Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Stir in melted, cooled chocolate, espresso powder, cream of tartar and vanilla. Beat in three eggs one at a time til mixture is light and fluffly. Pour into baked pie shell. Refridgerate three to four hous. Beat whipping cream, sugar, etc. til stiff. Top with pie with whipped cream and using a veggie peeler and chocolate bar, warmed...chocolate curls. Wha la!