just dreamy

Not long ago I Instagramed a picture of The Mast Brothers Chocolate Cookbook that I received as a birthday present and I have been drooling over it. Seriously, when I was analyzing each recipe, my mouth literally salivated and I had to get into my chocolate stash immediately. This book is for die-hard choco-holics.

Mast Brothers Chocolate is a New York based company that makes high-quality chocolates and personally partners with the cocoa farmers. I've seen their chocolate sold at various boutiques and the packaging alone has lured me in. I've only had the pleasure of sampling their chocolate but alas, have not purchased any for myself yet. It can be pricey, so I used my favorite standby for this recipe.  

I made this for a dinner party and everyone loved it. The soft, lightness of the whipped cream complimented the silky, rich ganache. The crust was good, but I think you could make your life easier and buy a pre-made cookie crust (or make your own with crushed up chocolate wafers) and then then you'd have a nice crunch to compliment the rest of the pie. I'll probably do that the next time I make this.

Tomorrow I'll post a recipe on how I stabilized this whip cream... especially perfect if you're traveling in the heat and don't want it to separate! 

Mast Brothers Chocolate Ganache Pie

Recipe Adapted from The Mast Brothers Chocolate, a FamilyCookbook

Serves 10-14

Recipe Notes-

- I substituted the original topping, which was a meringue, for whip cream because I was concerned about my pregnant sister-in-law eating raw egg whites (the egg whites are whipped with sugar and then lightly browned on the top, so their not technically cooked). Also, I like the idea of the cold, frothy whip cream complementing the rich ganache.
- As I said above, if you like a crunchy texture and don't have much time, buy a pre-made chocolate cookie crust (or crush up chocolate wafers mixed with butter to create your own cookie crust) and then fill it with the ganache and top with whip cream! The crust here is good, but not my favorite because I was hoping for it to be crisper. I can't wait to make it again and use a cookie crust. 

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2 Cups all-purpose flour

½ Cup cocoa powder

3 Tbs. granulated sugar

1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 Egg yolks

¼ Cup ice water

For the ganache:

1 Cup Heavy Cream

7 ½ oz. Dark chocolate, chopped

5 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature

For the whip cream:

1 ½ Cups Heavy cream

2 tsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 oz. Dark chocolate (for chocolate shavings as a garnish), optional

Directions:

For the crust:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar and butter until flaky.

2. Add the egg yolks and ice water just until doughy.

3. Turn the dough out onto plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate the disc for at least 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350° F. In a 12” pie plate, press the dough in the bottom and up the sides. Bake the crust for 20 minutes and let cool completely on a wire rack.

For the ganache:

5. In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Place the chocolate in a large, heat safe bowl and pour the cream over the chocolate.

6. Let the chocolate sit and melt for 1 minute.

7. With a spatula, stir in tight circles from the center outward. Cool mixture to 108°F, testing with an instant-read thermometer. Add the butter and combine until fully incorporated.

8. Pour the ganache over the cooled crust and refrigerate for 2 hours.

For the whip cream:

9. Pour the cold cream in a large bowl, or stand mixer, and turn the mixer on low, until small bubble begin to form, then increase the speed to medium. Add the sugar and vanilla and whip until soft peaks form.

10. Spread over the chilled ganache and using a vegetable peeler to shave curls all over the whip cream.