Jean Websters French Silk Pie Recipes

Steps:

• Make the crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie plate; set aside. Grind pecans in a food processor, or chop very finely with a knife. In a medium bowl, combine flour, pecans, sugar, and salt. Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press firmly into prepared pie plate. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Make the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add melted chocolate and the vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating at medium speed for five minutes after each addition. Pour filling into cooled pie crust. Cover with plastic wrap, and transfer to the refrigerator to cool for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
• Just before serving, top pie with whipped cream, and decorate with chocolate curls.

Steps:

• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Crush the crackers in a food processor or resealable bag. Pour them into a bowl and stir in the melted butter and sugar. Press into a pie pan and bake until golden and set, 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
• For the filling: In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the baking chocolate until stirrable (about 45 seconds on high). Set aside to cool.
• It is important for the bowl and ingredients to be cold for the next stage of making the filling--to get the right texture and result. In a large chilled bowl with an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
• When the melted chocolate is cooled, drizzle it over the butter/sugar mixture. Add the vanilla extract. Beat the mixture thoroughly until combined (on a stand mixer, you will be using the whisk attachment).
• Turn your mixer to a medium speed and over a period of 15 to 20 minutes, add in the 4 cold eggs, one at a time, leaving about 5 minutes between each egg addition. Once the pie filling is well mixed, pour it into the baked pie shell, scraping every last speck of it out of the bowl. Smooth out the pie filling and place the pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours (preferably longer).
• For the topping: Add the heavy cream and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip until it is stiff. Cover the pies with a thick layer of cream. Grate the semisweet chocolate over the top.

Steps:

• Cut pie crust in half. Repackage and refrigerate 1 half for another use. On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining half into an 8-in. circle. Transfer to a 7-in. pie plate; flute edge., Line shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 4 minutes. Remove foil; bake until crust is golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack., In a small saucepan, combine sugar and eggs until well blended. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 160° and coats the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the heat. Stir in chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Cool to lukewarm (90°), stirring occasionally. , In a small bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add cooled chocolate mixture; beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. , In another large bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Fold into chocolate mixture. , Pour into crust. Chill for at least 6 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate curls if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.