S'mores Pie

Just call me pie lady. I feel like all I have been making these days are pie. Which is totally fine by me, because I love pie, it might just be the perfect food. But I promise to start sharing recipes for other things beside pie, soon but not today. 

So now let's turn our attention to this magnificent pie. A s'mores pie. Everything you love about campfire s'mores in pie form without the campfire. I love this recipe because you can totally customize it to how you are feeling. Want to make it from scratch great, go for it, but there are a lot of places where you can save time and energy when making this pie.  

Let me break it down for you:

The recipe is essentially a graham cracker crust, filled with homemade chocolate pudding, topped with a meringue that is toasted. It has all of the s'mores tastes and textures just in pie form.  Graham cracker crust is essentially ground graham crackers mixed with a little butter then baked. The homemade chocolate pudding is really easy to make - it is a combination of eggs, sugar, salt, flour, cocoa powder, warm milk. This mixture is then cooked on the stovetop until thick. Chopped chocolate is added to the pudding and then spooned into the graham cracker crust. The pudding is then cooled and topped with a meringue. The meringue topping is the hard part of this recipe. Egg whites are whisked together over heat until the sugar is melted and the eggs whites are hot. They are then whipped using an electric mixer to create a marshmallowing meringue (real life marshmallows are essentially made the same way). The meringue is then toasted with a kitchen torch creating that toasted marshmallow taste we all love. 

Why it works: 

The combination of graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow is a match made in heaven. It also has some serious nostalgia flavors going on for all those years of eating s'mores. 

Tips/Tricks/Shortcuts

So there are a lot of easy shortcuts to this pie. First you can buy remade graham cracker crust. Secondly you can use store bought chocolate pudding and lastly just swap out whipped cream for the toasted meringue. Only difference there is that you can't toast it because the whipped cream will melt if you do. But it will still taste delicious.  If you don't have a kitchen torch and still want to toast the meringue, place the whole pie in an oven and broil for 2 to 3 minutes. 

One last tip, make sure you chill the pie at least 4 hours in the fridge before topping with the meringue. This will allow the pie to set. Also I like to leave my pie uncovered in the fridge when chilling because it will form a skin on top of the pie (I know that sounds gross) but it will help when you cut the pie and create those pretty perfect slices. 

S'mores Pie

  • 14 graham crackers 
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted 
  • Kosher salt 
  • 2 cups milk 
  • 3 eggs, separated 
  • 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 
  • 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour 
  • 2 Tbs. unsweetened natural cocoa powder 
  • 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until the texture resembles sand. Add butter and pinch of salt and pulse until the texture resembles wet sand. Gently press the crust mixture evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 1/2-inch pie dish. Bake until the crust is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Remove from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 3/4 cup, granulated sugar and a pinch of salt until smooth.Add flour and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. While whisking constantly, slowly pour in the hot milk, then pour the mixture into the pan. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats the back of the spoon, about 1 minute more.

Add chocolate and stir until melted. Spoon the filling into the cooled crust. Refrigerate, uncovered, until chilled, about 4 hours.When the filling is chilled, place the egg whites and the remaining 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and carefully set over a low flame on the stove top. (If you have an electric stovetop, use a double boiler) Whisk until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot to the touch, about 2 minutes. Place the bowl on the mixer and add vanilla. Beat with the whisk attachment on high speed until the meringue cools to room temperature and stiff peaks form, 5 to 6 minutes.

Mound the meringue on top of the pie. Lightly brown with a kitchen torch. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 6 hours. 

Serves 8 to 12.

 

 

 

 

Pie, DessertAmanda Frederickson1 Comment