Pie #03- Chocolate Nut Pie with Dried Fruit January 17, 2010

January 17, 2010

At Christmas time, my dear friend Kim, gives our family an amazing chocolate bark candy topped with dried fruit and nuts. Soon after mentioning my idea of the pie project to her, she found this tart/pie recipe in Bon Appétit that reminded her of the holiday treat she knows I love.

I have to admit, I have been looking forward to making and eating this one even though it does contain raisins. After pie #2, bet you all never thought I could make another pie with raisins in it again, or at least so soon.

The recipe has been modified just slightly from its original form in the magazine, mainly the name (it was referred to as a tart) and the fact I used my mom’s pie crust.

Chocolate Nut Pie with Dried Fruit

Ingredients:

• Jan Mom’s Pie Pastry Crust (See Pie #1) for recipe
• 1/4 cup raspberry preserves
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup assorted nuts (pecans, almonds, and pistachios), toasted and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup dried fruit (golden raisins, cranberries, and apricots)
• 1 pinch of Kosher salt
• 1/3 cup toffee bits (such as Skor)

Preheat oven to 400°.  Make Jan Mom’s pie pastry shell as noted for Pie #1. Pierce crust all over with a fork. Bake as directed 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Spread preserves over bottom of crust.

In a saucepan, bring cream to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and add chocolate chips and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in chopped nuts, fruit, and corse salt.  Spread chocolate mixture in crust.  Sprinkle toffee bits over top.  Chill until set, about 2 hours. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Personal Notes:

• My crust wasn’t completely cooled when I placed the preserves on the bottom of the pie.  It was definitely on the hotter side of warm.  I also used a little more raspberry preserves (more like a 1/2 cup) since I love raspberries so much.
• Also, I got so excited I forgot to bring the cream to a boil before I added the chocolate chips.  Although it took the chocolate longer to melt, it did not appear to make a difference.
• After the pie had cooled and I went to cut and serve it, I found I could lift the whole thing, crust and all out of the pie plate.  I placed the intact pie on a cutting board and went at it with a long, sharp knife. No wonder Bon Appétit referred to it as a tart.  It was so dense.

My Rating:

Wow, wow, wow all I can say is WOW!  I loved it!  I loved the texture of the crunchy nuts and the sweet soft fruit together in the dark chocolate bite. This pie for me is a definite 9.5!  The flakey crust took a backseat to the wonderful flavors mingling together in the chocolate filling. I would make this again and again….