Well looky there. You would think my four month, two week old baby bump would have a little something to do with two pie recipes in a row wouldn't you? Oh wait - I haven't told you I'm having a baby? How rude of me. I'm having a baby!
This little bundle of joy and purveyor of sleepless nights arrives in early September and I couldn't be more excited. Though I do miss my wine. There I said it.
Anyway I've been a little busy between gestating and my day job and SXSW (which I am SO glad is over. Who knew how much a little vino could help you survive that two week shit storm of culture, music, technology and lack of cabs?)
But back to the pie. This chocolatey-nutty-salty-gooey-marshmallowy delight was actually no fault of my little fetus. It was my hubby's birthday this past Monday and he requested a rocky road pie. I had never made a rocky road pie so I did a quick google search thinking I'd be golden. Not so simple. The recipes with the best ratings were rocky road ice cream pies which basically consisted of - you guessed it - pouring softened rocky road ice cream into a graham crust and freezing it. I have nothing against easy recipes but I felt compelled to put forth a little effort. After all the poor guy's birthday was already on the worst day of the week (Monday) and with me being knocked up and all I was too tired to do anything more festive than an early dinner with friends. I owed the man a decent pie.
Suddenly a pie from my past came to me in a vision (since getting pregnant I have these really vivid food memories that hit me out of nowhere like a ton of bricks.) This time it was a pie my mom made often growing up which was hands down the most divine, ridiculously addictive pie I've ever tasted. I hadn't thought of it in years. When I tell you the recipe you're going to laugh: one store bought chocolate graham cracker pie crust + 1 tub of Cool Whip mixed with a giant almond hershey bar that's been melted. Freeze and serve. That's it. I'm telling you though - it is the devil himself.
I knew immediately I'd be swapping out my childhood Hershey bars for my husband's favorite (XOXO Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt and Almond) and since I didn't have any Cool Whip on hand I improvised the rest. What came out was a ludicrously decadent, slightly more sophisticated homage to my mom's recipe.
The husband was happy, the baby bump was happy and despite the lack of cocktails and the fact that we were in bed by 10 it wasn't such a bad birthday after all. Happy Happy Belated Birthday my sweet husband! Next year I promise to paint the town red with you. Or at least to handle diaper duty...
Rocky Road Pie with Chocolate Wafer Crust and Marshmallow Creme Topping
Ingredients:
1 store bought Oreo or chocolate graham crust
2 (3.2 oz) bars of XOXO Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt and Almond
1/2 cup of semi sweet chips, plus extra for garnish
2 pinches sea salt or kosher salt
Splash of coffee or vanilla extract
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds (can up this if you want more almond to filling ratio)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/3 heaping cup confectioner sugar
splash of vanilla extract
1 (7 oz) tub Kraft marshmallow creme
Directions:
Break up the bars into small chunks and put in a medium microwave safe bowl. Add in 1/2 cups semi sweet chips and microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is just melted and smooth. Stir in the salt, coffee or vanilla, sliced almonds and set aside.
Add the heavy cream into a standing mixing bowl and mix on high until stiff peaks form. Pour in confectioner sugar and vanilla extract and blend until incorporated. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture just until well mixed but don't go overboard as you don't want to deflate the whipped cream too much.
Pour into the prepared graham shell, cover and refrigerate for at least four hours. Before serving, carefully pour the marshmallow creme out evenly over the top of the pie (using clean fingers is the best tool for distributing it evenly - it tends not to play well with utensils.) Decorate with semi sweet chips and serve. Pie will keep up to five days in the refrigerator if well covered.
