Belgian Chocolate Hazelnut Pie
Time:
2-3h
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Loot:
1 9” pie
This recipe is on the brink of extinction (kinda).
A long time ago, in a Kroger far, far away…there was a bag of chocolate chips my family would always sweep off the shelves. The discontinued Kroger Private Select Belgian Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. A chocolate so perfect and pure, to which nothing will ever compare. I loved them so much that I wrote one of my college essays for UChicago on those chocolate chips – not even joking. For those of you that are curious, I did manage to get waitlisted in the RD round (1.2% acceptance rate), so the essay definitely didn’t suck.
While you may not be able to taste exactly what this recipe was like in its glory days – rest in peace – know that it can only be done right with a Belgian dark chocolate. It’s not a pie that is overly sweet or opulent like most Thanksgiving specialties, but rather a deeper, more intimate experience that unveils it self with every bite. Like a symphony, the bassy mellowness of the chocolate plays a beautiful duet with the woodwinds of the soft hazelnut crumble taking the stage of a buttery graham cracker crust.
Pie Dish Size: 9”
Word to the Wise
I’ll allow you to cheat with a pre-baked crust if it’s Thanksgiving and you don’t have time. Don’t tell your in-laws I said that though. You’re on your own.
Position your oven rack in the lower-third of the oven.
If you’re using a bottomless or detachable pie dish, wrap the bottom in tinfoil to prevent disaster.
Pulse the processor in short bursts. If you leave it running for too long, the heat from the motor will melt the chocolate, and it will not mix properly.
Add the hot water gradually. You want the mixture to be smooth and well-incorporated with the melted chocolate. If you go too fast, the pie will be lumpy and inconsistent.
Baking times may vary, because of how different everyone’s oven is. So be patient. As a rule of thumb, do the poke test with a toothpick or chopstick. If it comes out clean or almost clean, take it out.
The pie should still look a little liquidy before it comes out (think brownies). Cracks can happen and are not unacceptable. However, if the top of the pie is completely solid and cracked, it’s overdone. No worries! It’ll still taste good! If you make the vanilla cream, it’ll taste perfect!
Ingredients
Chocolate Filling
8 oz semi-sweet Belgian chocolate chips
1 cup hazelnuts, skinned and toasted (store bought crumbled works too)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup white granulated sugar
¼ cup hot water
4 eggs
½ cup softened unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
1 store bought pre-baked graham cracker crust (if applies)
Pie Crust (optional, but recommended)
12 (or more) graham crackers (or 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumble).
2 tbsp white granulated sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
7 tbsp melted unsalted butter (⅞ stick)
1 tbsp melted unsalted butter (⅛ stick)
Vanilla Cream (optional, but recommended)
1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Crust (can be made in advance)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Put your graham crackers into a gallon-sized Ziploc baggie. Be sure to seal it all the way shut and leave absolutely no room for air.
Using a rolling pin or a blunt object, pulverize your graham crackers until ground into a fine crumb.
Pour your graham cracker crumble into a pyrex measuring cup, and check to see if it measures up to at least 1 ½ cups. If not, add a few more graham crackers to the bag, and repeat the process.
Dump your graham cracker crumbs into a medium sized bowl. Add in your brown sugar and your white granulated sugar. Pour in your 7 tbsp of melted butter and stir with a fork until all the ingredients are combined and you get moist crumbs.
If the crumbs don’t stick together or fall apart too easily, add a little bit (not all) more of your extra 1 tbsp of melted butter. Gradually add more melted butter until they can stick.
Pour your graham cracker mixture into your pie dish, and using your fingers, pinch the moist crumbs against the side ridges and floor of the pan until the entire thing is covered and firmly packed with moist, cohesive crumbs.
Bake for 12 minutes, and take out of the oven to cool the dish on a wire rack.
If you are storing this crust for later (the next day, 2 days out), stick it in the fridge and cover it with saran wrap.
Filling
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Put 1/2 of the chocolate chips, and all of the hazelnuts, and flour in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the hazelnuts are coarsely chopped.
Pour the hazelnut mixture into a small bowl and set aside.
Combine the remaining chocolate chips and sugar in the food processor. Blend until the mixture is finely ground into crumbs.
With the machine running, gradually add the hot water until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
Add the eggs, butter, vanilla and cinnamon.
Continue pulsing until the mixture is blended.
Return the hazelnut mixture to the food processor and pulse to incorporate.
Pour the mixture into your pie crust.
Bake for 35 minutes. Check on the pie using a toothpick or chopstick to see if it’s done. If the toothpick comes out clean or with minimal crumbs, it is ready to come out.
Let the pie cool for at least 1 hour.
Place the pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
Vanilla Cream
Pour your cold heavy whipping cream into the large bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk on high until you achieve soft peaks (droopy). If you don’t have one, no worries, just give it a whisk the old fashioned way.
Add in your powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
Beat on high again until you achieve stiff peaks.
Serving
Take the pie out of the fridge to return to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Cut the pie into slices and dollop with vanilla cream.