Gesine’s book was such a great read, but in my mini review, I failed to mention all the great recipes. Each chapter has one. There’s an espresso cheesecake, focaccia bread, some easy to follow German recipes, raspberry meringues, crunchy clouds, real cream scones, and many other user-friendly, run-to-the-kitchen recipes including one I’m dying to make called The Devil’s Pie – a recipe representing  Gesine’s Oreo thievery.

As it happens, I did not make Gesine’s devil pie yesterday, but Emeril’s. He doesn’t have any satan references in the title, but the devil was certainly on Emeril’s shoulder when he came up with this one. The fact that the grocery list I gave Todd included “1 pint of cream plus 1 cup of cream” is proof.

The original recipe is printed on Food TV but there were some issues with the crust.   It was way too thick, so I reduced the amount and re-typed it below. Even the revised pie crust made a lot.

The reviews on the Food TV site were what prompted me to make this pie. They were all raves, except for one by a lady who thought the pie was rich. I agree with her that it was rich. Part of me want to tell you it’s too rich, but the other part is saying “Hey, it’s pie. It’s supposed to be rich.” So my advice is make it, and know what you’re in for. It’s not overly sweet, but it has a lot of cream, chocolate, and egg yolks and not many other ingredients to counter balance all the fat.

Sheesh! I’m such a downer now. No, really. It’s a good pie.

Emeril’s Chocolate Cream Pie

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream plus 1 3/4 cups
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch salt
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten in a medium bowl
4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Cookie Crust – Prepared as directed below.

Whisk sugar, 3/4 cup heavy cream, buttermilk, cornstarch and pinch of salt together in a saucepan off the heat. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil, whisking from time to time for the sugar and cornstarch to dissolve and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking at a low boil for an additional 5 minutes, whisking constantly.

Pour 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks and whisk thoroughly. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan and whisk over medium heat until thoroughly combined and very thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, and whisk in the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Continue whisking until thoroughly combined (mixture will be very thick). Cover the mixture with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface and refrigerate until cooled to room temperature.

Place 1 3/4 cups heavy cream in a chilled mixing bowl and add the confectioners’ sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold about 1/4 of the whipped cream into the cool chocolate pudding mixture, then spoon the chocolate mixture into the prepared pie crust and refrigerate until firm and cool, at least 4 hours.

Refrigerate the remaining whipped cream until you are ready to serve the pie. I added some more powdered sugar to the remaining whipped cream before piping it on top.
When ready to serve, top the pie with the remaining sweetened whipped cream and serve immediately.

Crumb Crust

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (recommended: Oreo) — remove whites before grinding
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, process the graham crackers and chocolate cookies to make crumbs. Mix together crumbs, sugar and butter and press into pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

It’s chocolate chip cookie day! A couple of us are under the weather but we decided we wanted to try one that was new to us while still keeping it relatively simple. These are pretty tasty!

Emeril’s Big Chocolate Chip Cookies

2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped, toasted walnut pieces (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream together on high speed.

Add the vanilla and egg and mix on medium speed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until batter is stiff.

Turn off the mixer and, using a large spoon or plastic spatula, fold in the chocolate chips and the walnuts, if desired.

Using a tablespoon, scoop about 2 spoonfuls of the dough into a ball and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, keeping the scoops about 2 inches apart. Using your fingers or the back of the spoon, press down on each ball of dough to slightly flatten. You should get about 9 cookies on each sheet.

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. (Depending on the size of your oven, you may need to do this in batches.)

Remove cookies from the oven and transfer with a plastic turner to wire racks to cool. Repeat with the remaining sheets, if necessary.

Yield: About twenty-seven 4-inch cookies