Miss Milton's Lovely Fudge Pie

Miss Milton's Lovely Fudge Pie - made July 10, 2010 from Sweet Serendipity by Stephen Bruce

Back in 2007, I went to New York City with a friend on a foodie trip. She went for the restaurants and I went for the bakeries and desserts. I was delighted to go visit bakeries I'd only heard about and drooled over. It wasn't my first trip to Manhattan and it won't be my last even though my staying power in the Big Apple is usually 3 days (tops). It was on that trip that I sampled Magnolia Bakery (brownies to die for), Buttercup Bake Shop (red velvet cake!), Bruce's Bakery (meh, no standouts), Billy's (banana cake with cream cheese frosting - YUM), Dylan's Candy Store (I was actually indifferent to candy), the Shake Shack (best burgers ever), and a few other places I can't remember at the moment. But I do remember having lunch at Serendipity and having their frrrrrozen hot chocolate (also yummy). Part of the fun of the trip is I either already had or later bought the cookbooks from the places I went to. The Sweet Serendipity cookbook was one of them.

No, I don't have the wrong picture up there even though the title is for a fudge pie and those look like brownies. That's because I had already packed my pie tins and they're somewhere in one of the multiple boxes in my garage labeled "Baking Pans". I don't know which one. So I used a 8" square baking pan instead. Once the "pie" had cooled, I just cut them into squares. So technically I guess this isn't a pie but more like a soft brownie. It has a very nice chocolate flavor and definitely a soft texture without being too mushy or gooey - as long as you don't overbake it. The original recipe calls for serving it with raspberry coulis but I didn't have any raspberries and I didn't bake this to serve it at a dinner but rather to try the recipe and kill time because I woke up too early on a Saturday and needed something to do. It's very easy to put together and bake so it wasn't a bad way to kill some time.

Note: although I usually try to dry up a plain chocolate recipe with some kind of add-ins like caramel or chopped up candy, the batter for this is pretty liquidy and I didn't think any add-ins would hold up well, i.e. they'd just sink to the bottom and be too jarring in the pie. So I left it plain and was glad I did. You can use this as a base for ice cream - works well with a warm pie and cold ice cream.

Unsalted butter for the pan
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
4 ounces (4 squares) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream
Confectioners’ sugar, to garnish

For the coulis:
1 pound fresh or frozen raspberries (if frozen, thaw completely)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar

1. To make the pie: preheat your oven to 325˚F. Butter an 8-inch round pie pan and line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a double boiler over hot water, carefully melt the butter and chocolate, stirring to mix. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla and sour cream together. Add the melted chocolate and mix completely. Fold in the flour mixture and stir only until the batter is uniformly brown.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, just until the batter is set and no longer jiggles when touched. Do not overbake; it should be moist and slightly gooey.
4. While the pie bakes, make the coulis: puree the berries and pass through a sieve. (If you are using fresh berries, you may wish to reserve a few to use as a garnish when serving.) Mix the cornstarch with a little cold water until smooth. Place the berry puree, the cornstarch, and the sugar in a saucepan and heat to simmer. Cool 1 minute, then cool. Chill before using.
5. After removing the piece from oven, allow it to cool completely in the pan. Carefully turn it out of the pan, remove the parchment paper, and dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm or room temperature with raspberry coulis.