So what do you do when you spend half a day chatting to a food historian about chocolate?
Why, you come home and make a chocolate pie, inspired by a recipe from the past.
Well, that’s what Pork Belly did. And to make sure I could taste it, he made it dairy-free.
Based on a recipe from 1781, the idea for this pie – or Tourte de Chocolat to give it its proper name – came from The Copper Pot.
The original recipe is, as is the case with most historic recipes, short on detail.
Mix a little flour with a pint of cream, and chocolate in proportion, a little sugar, four eggs.
Boil it about a quarter of an hour, stirring continuously for fear it should catch on bottom.
Then put it in the paste, and the whites of four eggs beat to a snow upon it
Glaze with sugar and bake.
George Dalrymple, The practice of modern cookery.
See what we mean?
Vague.
But good enough for Pork Belly who adapted it to produce a smooth, strong, chocolatey hit, not too sweet, with a soft meringue topping.
Note: The filling can be made with just 4 medium eggs, but to make the custard a little firmer Pork Belly used the two spare yolks – which also cut down on waste! You can make a traditional meringue for the top, but we followed the 1781 recipe.
Dairy free chocolate pie
Ingredients
For the sweet shortcrust pastry
- 200 grams plain flour
- 125 grams vegan butter We like Flora, salted or unsalted as you wish
- 65 grams caster sugar
- 2 medium egg yolks
- 1 tsp ice-cold water
For the filling
- 100 grams dairy-free chocolate
- 50 grams caster sugar
- 568 mls coconut cream We use Sainsbury's
- 1 tbsp flour
- 4 medium eggs
- 2 medium egg yolks If you want a firmer custard filling
For the meringue
- 4 medium egg whites
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
Instructions
To make the pastry
- Rub the flour and vegan butter together to make fine breadcrumbs
- Add the sugar and combine
- Lightly beat the egg yolks and along with the ice-cold water, combine until the dough forms a ball. You may need a little extra water
- Wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out
- Grease a 9-inch pie tin
- Roll out and cover the pie tin. Blind bake at 190 deg C for 15 minutes. There will be enough pastry leftover for making up some jam tarts or mince pies – no waste!
To make the filling
- Combine the chocolate, 4 whole eggs and two spare egg yolks with the sugar, flour and coconut cream in a heavy based pan. Heat very slowly, stirring gently, until it starts to thicken. You don't want lumps or a burnt bottom!
- Pour the mixture into the pastry case and set aside
To make the meringue
- Whisk the 4 egg whites until they form stiff peaks
- Cover the chocolate pie filling with the whisked egg whites and sprinkle with the caster sugar
- Bake at 150 deg C for 45 minutes.
- Dust the top with a little cocoa powder if you wish. Best served still warm but will cool and cut well later
Other recipes you may like
• Bakewell pudding
• Banana, rum and raisin muffins
• Langues de Chat biscuits