Playing in the Mud: Mississippi Mud Pie

It seems like only yesterday that I was pounding out mud desserts in my childhood friend’s backyard. I’m not sure if I loved playing the mud because I was never allowed to it at my house or whether our mud pies reminded me of my real favorite dessert, the Mississippi Mud Pie.

Traditional Mud Pies fall into two camps – a pie with ice cream or pudding filling or a dense cake or brownie-like dessert. The key ingredients being chocolate and whipped cream. I love the ice cream version, particularly with chocolate that has a hint of coffee. While ordinarily I’m not one to mess around with chocolate desserts, as part of getting my feet wet in pie making, I tried out this recipe in the new Martha Stewart Pies and Tarts cookbook (see recipe at the end of the post).

The pie is of the pudding filling persuasion and I found it fairly easy to make. I only needed Mr. F’s help while trying to transfer the filling into the pie crust since I selected a bowl that was too heavy. Another added bonus is that only the crust uses the oven and rest is made on the stove keeping your home relatively cool.

I did make a few adjustments. The recipe calls for pecans in the crust and on the top but my family has a strong aversion to nuts in baked goods so I skipped the nuts in the crust. Also, for the part where you are supposed to strain the pudding mixture through a sieve, I used an old colander with small holes. It seemed to work, removing any lumps from the pudding filling.

The result was creamy and rich with a great cookie crunch but not overpowering or sweet. A perfect chocolate dessert for the summer. I recommend using a good cocoa since most of the flavor comes from that ingredient. The pie got rave reviews particularly among those who don’t like sweet desserts.

Mississippi Mud Pie

From Martha Stewart’s New Pies and Tarts Cookbook

Ingredients:

For the crust
25 chocolate wafer cookies (6 ounces) broken into pieces
½ cup pecan halves
4 tbs unsalted butter, melted

For the filling
2/3 c sugar
1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 c cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
2 ½ c milk
4 large egg yolks
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For the topping
½ c heavy cream
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
Coarsely chopped pecans, for garnish

1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, grind wafers and pecans until fine crumbs form. Add melted butter; process until combined. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Bake 8 to 10 minutes; transfer pie plate to a wire rack and let cool completely.

2. Make the filling: Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Slowly whisk in milk. Cook over medium-high, stirring constantly, until bubbling and thick, about 7 minutes (about 2 minutes after it comes to a boil).

3. Whisk egg yolks in a medium bowl until combined. Whisk in milk mixture in a slow, steady stream until completely incorporated. Return mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat stirring constantly, just until it returns to a boil, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into bowl. Stir in vanilla and butter, 1 piece at a time, until completely smooth.

4. Pour filling into crust. Press plastic wrap directly on surface of custard; refrigerate 4 hours or up to 1 day.

5. Make the topping: Just before serving, in a chilled bowl, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread whipped cream over pie, and sprinkle with pecans.

World’s Best Hot Fudge Sauce

With summer right around the corner, I’m taken back to Sunday family outings to a sandwich and ice cream shop with the most amazing sundaes. While I think the ice cream was good, what really stands out in my memory was the hot fudge. In today’s foodie world, its all about the ice cream – slow churned, local, organic, exotic flavors – but when it comes to sundaes all you need is really good hot fudge. Bad hot fudge can leave you sharing your fountain dish with your brother.

Surprising really good hot fudge isn’t hard to make. Who knew?

My favorite recipe is from Maida Heatter’s New Book of Great Desserts adapted slightly by a good family friend and amazing chef, Joanne Donsky. You’ll want to eat this straight of the jar its so good.

1 c. heavy cream

6 Tb. Unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2/3 c. granulated sugar

2/3 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed

Pinch of salt

1 c. strained Dutch-process cocoa powder (this can be found at any supermarket – Hershey’s even makes this kind of cocoa)

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Put the cream and butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Stir until the butter is melted and the cream just comes to a low boil. Add both sugars and stir for a few minutes until they are dissolved. (The best test is to taste until you don’t feel any undissolved granules in your mouth. But be careful – it will be hot!)

2. Reduce heat. Add salt and cocoa and stir briskly with a whisk until mixture is smooth. Add vanilla. Remove from the heat.

3. Optional Extra Step: Put the mixture through a strainer to make it smooth.

4. Serve immediately over ice cream.

Do ahead: Put sauce in a straight-sided glass jar and refrigerate until ready to serve. Remove the top of the jar and microwave the sauce until hot.

Makes 2 cups, enough for 6 to 8 servings.