I've always been told that when someone cooks it for you, it just tastes better... and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's true, at least in this specific case. Good friend, Heather Arrington, made this Chocolate Pie for our office, and let me tell ya... it was good!
Everybody, put your hands together, and please welcome... Heather Arrington!
I grew up eating some of the most amazing southern foods. One of my all-time favorites is chocolate pie. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas my Uncle Gary would bring the famous pies warm out of the oven for everyone to enjoy. As I have grown up and found a love for baking I wanted to learn how to make this famous and delicious pie. This past Thanksgiving I mentioned to my dad that I wanted the recipe for this chocolate pie. In my mind it was a family recipe handed down from many years on some old piece of notebook paper, but I quickly discovered that the recipe came from the Autryville Cookbook.
For those who have never heard of Autryville, NC it is a small town in Eastern North Carolina with one light, lots of great people (some are my family) and many yummy recipes. My dad’s mother was an Autry and grew up in that part of NC. As a child I loved going there to visit my dad’s aunts and uncles, see all the tobacco and cotton fields and eat some good food. Little did I know at the time, many of those recipes were part of a collection that were added to the Autryville Cookbook.
I hope you will find a love for this chocolate pie from Autryville, NC!
Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of milk
3 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
5 tbsp. flour
½ stick of butter
3 tbsp. cocoa
1 pie shell – *(I use the store bought kind, but you can be brave and try to make your own! ☺ If you use the store bought kind, follow directions and pre-bake pie shell accordingly.)
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
As I mentioned, I use a frozen store bought pie shell. I find it works best to bake the pie shell while you are cooking the pie filling. They typically get completed about the same time.
For the pie shell, you will want to use a fork and poke hole all throughout the pie shell before you bake it. This will help it was puffing up too much.
Using a double boiler you will want to cook the ingredients as follows:Mix sugar, flour, cocoa, milk, butter and vanilla and add to double boiler.
In a separate dish you should separate two egg yolks and one whole egg. Beat well with a folk and add to the double boiler. Make sure to save the egg whites since we will use those for the meringue.
Now you are ready to turn on the burner and get the pie filling going! Be sure to continuously stir the ingredients so it does not stick or burn. Be patient as it can take upwards of 15 minutes to get the pie filling thick enough to be ready to pour in the pie shell. You will notice the filling starting to get thicker and harder to stir after about 10 minutes. Keep stirring well at this point because it can burn very easily towards to end.
Once you think the filling it thick enough, remove from burner and add to pre-baked pie shell.
Now you are ready to make the meringue.
Beat, in mixer, two egg whites and 4 tbsp. of sugar until thick enough that the meringue will stand in peaks. I often add a small amount of vanilla to the meringue just for taste, but this is optional.
Cover pie with meringue. Do not smooth the meringue over the pie, score it some before putting in oven. This will make the meringue brown and look picture ready for your table!
Brown in 350 degree oven for about 10-15 or until meringue has a light brown tint. Remove from oven and serve. If you like warm pies, you are in business.
If you prefer your pies to cool before eating, this pie tastes just as fabulous at room temperature. I often let mine sit about 6-8 hours before serving because I think the pie tastes best at room temperature after sitting for a while. Just my personal preference!
I hope you find this recipe easy to prepare and yummy to eat! It has become one of my favorites!!
-Heather Arrington
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