The Chocolate Pie Contest

The idea for this pie contest grew from my husband Andy's ongoing pining for the legendary chocolate pie he used to get at the Lincoln Del, which closed in 2000.

Lincoln Del Bloomington

The legendary chocolate pie

I set out to try a series of recipes in an attempt to recreate his memory of the Lincoln Del's pie.  Obviously, there would be challenges with this task.  Who really remembers what a pie was like when you haven't eaten it in over 15 years?  There are published recipes that call themselves versions of the Lincoln Del chocolate pie, with a few variations, but I wasn't confident they'd be the best.  I also had some other chocolate pie recipes I'd collected over the years I thought should be tried.  I started by asking Andy what he liked best about the Lincoln Del pie.  His critical-to-quality criteria were the texture of the chocolate filling (he described it as somewhat dense and firm) and the deep chocolate taste.  Of course, he also reminisced about the ridiculous 2.5" layer of whipped cream, but indicated a more modest layer of whipped cream would be sufficient.  He didn't care about the crust- it was only a vehicle to contain the chocolate filling.

We discussed how we would establish pie objectivity for this contest.  I wasn't about to make and eat multiple different chocolate pies simultaneously, so we needed a way to rate the pies and track data over months.  Unless you're a highly trained food scientist, eating pie is a rather subjective experience.  How were we going to assess each pie so we could determine the best one?  Would we attempt to grade density on a 1-10 scale?  How would we reliably rate density in a sequential rather than parallel process?  Ultimately we accepted that there was no easy way to establish complete objectivity, and since this was pie and not nuclear fusion, we were pretty likely to have a good outcome anyhow. 

I made up a little spreadsheet and got cooking.  Along the way we learned that melted marshmallows in a chocolate pie are not a good idea.  I also took us down a chocolate cream pie detour, which triggered an important discovery: the texture Andy is looking for is more of the whipped butter texture- not the cream pie/custard texture (although the kids were big fans of the cream pie detour).  It turns out whipped butter pies are more in the "french silk" genre, and I needed to broaden my recipe search terms.

A chocolate cream pie in May

Once we figured this out, we changed course and quickly zeroed in on the ultimate winner. We officially ended the contest and declared a winner with The Best French Silk Pie recipe.

The winner!

Andy declared that this was the pie that most closely approximates all of the wonders of the old Lincoln Del pie, and that he no longer had to suffer with chocolate pie despair.  You might ask why Andy scored this winning pie a 4.7 out of 5 and not a 5/5.  He maintains a philosophy that if you ever give a perfect score, the cook could become complacent and have nothing left to strive for.

Date made	Recipe title	Score out of 5
4/25/2014	Lincoln Del Chocolate Pie copycat recipe	4.5
5/25/2014	Hershey Bar Pie	4
6/13/2014	Gourmet Magazine Chocolate cream pie	4.3
3/5/2015	Penzey's Chocolate Bavarian Cream pie	3.5
5/1/2015	Chocolate cream pie made w/ sweetened condensed milk	4.25
5/11/2015	Pioneer Woman French silk pie	4.4
8/22/2015	King Arthur chocolate ice box pie (made and served by my mother, who knew nothing about the ongoing pie contest)	4.2
9/13/2015	The Best French Silk Pie	4.7

The winning recipe was from Avery Cooks:
The Best French Silk Pie
 You'll see this recipe has a 30 min beating time with intermittent egg additions- I wouldn't attempt it without a sturdy stand mixer.  The recipe is here with its Oreo crust, Andy prefers a standard crust (see my no-roll recipe below).

The Best French Silk Pie

Yield: one 9-inch pie, 8 generous servings

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 4+ hours or overnight, for setting up

Ingredients:

Crust
20 Oreo cookies, finely crushed (I use chocolate-filled Oreos rather than white-filled, and regular rather than Double-Stuffed)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
6 ounces dark chocolate, at least 72%, chopped (Trader Joe’s Pound Plus 72%, or unsweetened baker's chocolate may be substituted)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (I use salted butter and omit the pinch of salt)
1 1/2 cups ultrafine sugar, also called baker's sugar (I’ve used granulated and it’s been fine)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso granules, optional but recommended
pinch salt, optional and to taste
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Topping
2 cups freshly whipped cream
3 to 4 ounces dark chocolate (72% or higher) roughly chopped, for sprinkling

Directions:

Crust - Preheat oven to 350F 

1. Add Oreos to the canister of a food processor and process until finely ground, 1 to 2 minutes on high power; set aside.
2. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
3. Add melted butter to canister of food processor and process until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
4. Turn crumbs out into pie dish and using your fingers, hard-pack the mixture to create a crust, making sure to cover sides of pie dish.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, or until just set. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Filling - In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate, about 1 to 2 minutes on high power. Stop after 1 minute to check and stir. Heat in 15 second increments until chocolate can be stirred smooth; set aside to cool.

1. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, sugar, and beat on high power until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping as necessary to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mixture should be very pale, almost white; the lighter and fluffier the better to ensure sugar is well on its way to being dissolved and incorporated fully.
2. Add the vanilla, espresso granules, optional salt, cooled chocolate, and beat on high power until incorporated and mixture is fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, remove paddle attachment, switch to whisk attachment, add 1 egg, and beat for 5 minutes on high power.
4. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the second egg, beat for 5 minutes on high power. Repeat process with remaining eggs. Eggs are added 1 at a time, spaced 5 minutes apart, for a total of 20 minutes active whipping time. After 20 minutes, make sure your mixture is smooth, silky, fluffy, with zero traces of graininess. Continue beating until you're satisfied with the smoothness because this is what your pie will taste like.
5. Turn mixture out into crust, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 4 hours (overnight is better) for pie to set up fully.

Topping - Add the whipped topping/cream, smoothing it lightly with a spatula.

Sprinkle evenly with chopped chocolate before slicing and serving. Pie will keep covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.

My no-roll pie crust

I do not like to roll out pie crust. I just don't. I've been cooking for 30+ years, and this fact has not changed. I'll rise to the occasion a couple of times a year because a few people in my family are pie crust purists, but for basic, single crust purposes, this is my go-to approach. Salty, flaky, easy, mixed in the pie plate, no messy surfaces or swearing. If you're a pie crust purist- keep rolling. If you, too, hate to roll out crust, give this a try.

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar (I usually omit)
• 1/2 cup oil (fresh, and mild-flavored such as canola)
• 2 tablespoons milk 

1. Mix dry ingredients together with a fork in a pie pan.
2. Make a well in the center and add the oil and milk.
3. Mix with a fork til it makes a ball.
4. Flatten and press into the pan in pie crust shape and flute the edge.
5. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden (note- I find it usually needs a little longer to get the golden brown I'm looking for- closer to 20 min)

Mixing in pie plate

Patting out crust evenly in plate

Baked crust ready for filling

August 2020 addendum:

This Magnolia French Silk Pie recipe is really delicious, and because you cook the sugar and eggs together first, it reduces the concern about raw eggs, and it reduces the potential graininess of the pie. Andy thought this could possibly tie for first place.