French Silk Deliciousness!

I made a French Silk Pie for Joni's birthday last night. I credit this recipe to Ryan. He requested it for his birthday last year and until that point I had never eaten French Silk Pie much less attempted to make it. My first try turned out okay but it wasn't amazing. It was my own fault, I took some liberties with the recipe and added a little almond extract in place of the vanilla. I did that because when I was reading recipe reviews online several people suggested that. I discovered that I don't really like the flavor of almond extract all that much, so I nixed that. I also didn't add the chocolate curls on top and, lets face it, chocolate curls make it look more elegant and a huge part of enjoying a dessert is about presentation. Those tiny chocolate curls make it taste better (if only in your head)! 
I made the pie again for Tyler's birthday and nailed it then by *gasp* following the recipe! Last night, I made it for Joni because she is gluten free and aside from the crust, the pie is gluten free, so I guess it would be classified as gluten light. If you want the pie to be "extra chocolatey" you can also make an oreo crust. I like it either way. Anyway, it was a hit. So here is the recipe:


French Silk Pie


Crust: (Marie Callender's frozen pie crust always comes out perfectly so I rarely bother making that part homemade but here it is in case you want to)

1¼ cups flour

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup butter, chilled and diced

¼ cup ice water

1 egg mixed with 3 Tbs. water

Filling:

1 cup butter, room temperature

1½ cup sugar

4 1 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate, melted

2 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

⅛ cup powdered sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

Crust:

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, one tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Sprinkle counter and rolling pin with flour. Roll dough into a large circle (about 14“ around) Place crust in a 9” pie pan. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Brush the edges with egg/water mixture.

Prick the pie crust all over with a fork; this helps prevent it from puffing up. Place a layer of tin foil on the crust and add some pie weight or dry beans to keep it down. Bake the crust in a preheated 425°F oven for 12-15 minutes. After 8-10 minutes, you can remove the weights so that the crust browns a little.

Filling:

Cream butter in a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in the sugar with an electric mixer until light colored and well blended. Stir in the melted chocolate, and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating 5 minutes on medium speed after each addition. Spoon the chocolate filling into a cooled, baked pie shell.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Whipped Cream:

In a large bowl, whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Top chilled pie with whipped cream and garnish chocolate curls.

*This is not the actual picture of the pie I made. My pictures just don't look as pretty as the ones I find on Google Image. I am such a cheater!*