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21.10.2014

3 ratings, avg : 5.00
6-8

My blog birthday dessert! A chocolate pie with a crunchy cookie crust, a heavenly layer of creamy chocolate custard (made super easily in the slow cooker) and a fluffy topping of whipped mascarpone cream. And somewhere in all that there's some ouzo!

A couple of weeks ago it was The Foodie Corner’s birthday. Yup, it’s one whole year old! Where did that year go? Of course I’m talking about the original, Greek version, not these pages here which are still fairly new. I’m very happy with where I am at the moment, I feel that I’ve made significant progress with the blog and it’s all starting to come together. I even met someone the other day who knew the blog before me! She said she thought I looked familiar when we met and then realised who I was. I can’t even describe how thrilled I was.

Slow cooker sales are moving slowly but steadily, which is all I could hope for in a market where nobody knows what they are! Seriously, very few people in Greece have ever heard of these wonderful gadgets, and I’ve made it my personal mission to introduce as many as possible to this convenient way of cooking. It’s a slow process but it’s happening. On Sunday I even participated in an exhibition with a little table of my own, beautiful flyers and an ad in the catalogue! How about that? It was really busy and I got to tell loads of people how fantastic slow cookers are.

So I bet you’re wondering why this recipe is in the slow cooker category. Or maybe not because I gave it away in the lead paragraph. Well, custard. Chocolate flavoured. From scratch. And easy, oh so easy. Did I mention it’s sort of lightened up? There is no cream in it. Just evaporated milk which makes it wonderfully creamy. All you need to make this (um, apart from the ingredients) is a pudding basin, or any bowl that’s heatproof and fits in the slow cooker stoneware. You could even use ramekins and make individual custard pots; this stuff is eat-plain-with-a-spoon worthy. The other day I had a huge bowl of chocolate custard with a chopped banana mixed in, and my mum tried it with a pear as well. Yum. Or, you can make this pie. Yes, make this pie.

I say pie, but maybe you want to call it cheesecake because it has a crushed biscuit (cookie) crust. Or silk pie (not sure why people call it that, maybe it’s the silky chocolate layer?). Whatever. It won’t be around for long enough for its name to make a difference. The cream on top? That’s also pretty special. It’s got mascarpone in it. This is most important if you are making the pie in Greece, where good old double cream is not available. Whipped double cream would probably be fine on its own, but the mascarpone does add a wonderful richness to the single cream we have here. And last but not least, the twist on the custard ingredients. Ouzo. Instead of vanilla extract. Wait, what? Yup, ouzo. It actually goes really well with chocolate. You can’t taste it, so don’t worry if you don’t like it – hey, I’m not the biggest fan of the stuff – it just adds something that I cannot describe. Trust me. So, when are you making it?

Ingredients

For the slow cooker chocolate custard
100 gr dark cooking chocolate
1 1/4 cup evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
3 Tbs sugar, divided
1 pinch salt
3 egg yolks
1 Tbs corn flour
1 Tbs ouzo

For the biscuit/cookie crust
300 gr chocolate biscuits
100 gr butter, melted

For the whipped cream topping
200 ml full fat cream, cold
100 gr mascarpone cheese

Some chocolate or hot chocolate powder to garnish

Show me more ideas and suggestions

If you don’t like the idea, replace this with 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract. However, you really can’t taste the ouzo so it’s worth using it just to shock people when you tell them what’s in it!

Step 1

For the custard: In a microwave proof jug add the chocolate, evaporated milk and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Heat in 30 second intervals mixing in between until the chocolate has melted. Add the salt.

Step 2

In a large bowl beat the egg yolks till slightly fluffy (no mixer needed). Add the sugar and corn flour, beat some more and then add the ouzo. Bring the hot milk mixture near your bowl and temper the egg mixture. Basically you add tiny amounts of hot milk to the eggs while whipping continuously so they don’t cook. Start with one tablespoon, then another, and keep going till the egg mixture starts to warm up. Then very slowly in a thin stream, pour the milk into the eggs with one hand while beating with the other. When all the milk has been added, transfer the mixture to the pudding basin. Place the basin in the slow cooker and create a water-bath by pouring boiling water into the stoneware till it comes halfway up the sides of the basin. Cover the basin lightly with foil (so the condensation doesn’t fall back into the custard), put the lid on the cooker and leave on low for about 2 1/2 hours. Check after 2 hours because your cooker might run a bit hotter. The custard should thickly coat a spoon. Carefully take it out of the slow cooker and let it cool.

Step 3

For the base: Crush the biscuits in a food processor and mix with the melted butter using your hands. Press the mixture into a pie dish (mine is 21cm and the crust was quite thick) bringing it up the sides, and place the dish in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Step 4

For the whipped cream topping: Whip the cream till it forms stiff peaks and add the mascarpone. Whip till incorporated.

Step 5

To assemble: Spread the chilled custard on the cookie crust and then spread the whipped cream topping on top of that. Grate some chocolate over the pie to garnish, or sprinkle with hot chocolate powder.

3 ratings, avg : 5.00

So, what do you think? Leave me a comment!

4 Comments

  • Reply
    05/02/2019

    Hi Eleni, I like this website and here I found a huge number of useful recipes and I made a Chocolate Pic and it is nice and very tasty.

    Thanks

  • Reply
    05/06/2020

    Hi Eleni,
    I just found the website and it seems to me very useful and recipes are described properly, I will follow your tips. Thank you.

    • Reply
      05/06/2020

      Hi Maria, thank you so much! I’m glad you like the blog, let me know if you have any questions about anything!