French Silk Pie

Although I don't watch much TV these days, I occasionally catch Food Network on Saturday or Sunday mornings. This past Saturday was one of those rare opportunities. Early in the morning, "The Pioneer Woman" was on, and I, being a big fan of her and her recipes, watched her make a French Silk Pie. Immediately, I knew I wanted to try it, especially since Gabe absolutely loves French Silk Pie! What truly intrigued me was her use of a graham cracker crust instead of a traditional pie crust. I was so excited by this! The process is a bit time-consuming, but absolutely worth it. Besides, 20 minutes of mixing isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. I promise you won't regret the time spent once you take that first bite!

Ingredients

For the crust:
12 graham cracker squares (the large 4 section graham crackers)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar

For the filling:
 4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup butter, slightly room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs, cold

Topping:
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Place the bowl of a stand mixer into the freezer.  Freeze the bowl for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In the bowl of a food processor add the graham crackers and pulse until you have fine crumbs.  In a medium bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter.  Mix until well combined.  Press the graham cracker crumbs into a pie plate.  Bake for 5-8 minutes.  Cool completely.

In the frozen bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.   Add the chocolate and vanilla.  Mix until well combined.  Add one egg and mix on medium speed for 5 minutes.  Continue adding the eggs one at a time mixing 5 minutes per egg scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until all the eggs are incorporated.  Spread the mixture onto the cooled pie crust and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

To make the whipped cream:
Add the heavy whipping cream to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.  Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla.  Mix on medium-high speed until stiffer peaks form being careful not to over mix.

Spread the whipped cream over the chilled pie.  Grate semi-sweet chocolate over the entire pie.