Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Ah, Pie. Pie is a weird form of dessert to me. You can throw anything into a pie crust; it seems nothing is off limits. People put weird things in pie, and it makes me nervous. "What's going to happen when I cut into this thing?" is what I'm usually thinking.

I have a thing against cooked fruit. It's weirdly sour and is usually not cooked all the way through (I'm looking at you, apples). However, pumpkin pie is a mainstay at the holidays, and one I enjoy. But, it's a little boring and expected, so at thanksgiving I took this baby out for a spin.

It's rich. It's decadent. It has just enough pumpkin flavor without being just pumpkin, and has a rich, chocolatey, velvety texture and a yummy, perfect graham crust.

It had a tough time at thanksgiving competing with the 4 other desserts we had going on, so I suggest making this as a stand-out dessert, with no competition from all those bars and cookies floating around this time of year.

Oh, and did I mention this thing is pretty easy? Let's get going!

After baking the spiced crumb crust, you put a layer of chopped chocolate on the warm crust, popping it back in the oven to melt it. Genius.

In another genius move, you melt more chocolate and blend it with the pumpkin mixture. YUM.

Let this cool in the fridge, at least 6 hours or until totally set and firm. 

It was a very good pie, and again, easy enough to throw together the day before your event but different enough to impress your guests (and your mouth.)

RECIPE (adapted from Closet Cooking)
For the crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 16 crackers)- I used a mix of ginger cookies and graham crackers.
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 61 percent cacao), finely chopped
• For the filling:
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate (preferably 55 percent cacao), chopped
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 can (15 ounce) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 can (12 ounce) evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• Topping:
• 1 ounce milk chocolate, melted
• whipped cream, optional

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugars, salt, cinnamon and ginger and press into bottom of a 9 inch pie plate and bake until lightly golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.
• Sprinkle the bittersweet chocolate over bottom of crust, return to oven until it melts and spread it in a thin layer over the bottom of the crust, for about 5 min. It won't look like it has melted, but it will be spreadable.
• Melt the semisweet chocolate and butter in a double boiler until smooth and set aside.
• Mix the pumpkin, milk, brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl. Mix the chocolate into this mixture.
• Turn the oven down to 325. Pour the mixture over the crust and bake until the center is set but still jiggly, about 50-60 minutes. I had quite a bit of filling left over. 
• Let cool, refrigerate overnight.  Then, before serving, melt the milk chocolate, drizzling in a semi-artistic fashion.