Chocolate Avalanche Pie

Layers of creamy, chocolate deliciousness are the key features of this more than fantastictal winter warmer. Covered in rum and cinnamon cream and topped with chocolate flakes, oh and a base of chocolate pastry, I'm sure this will take you to your very own winter wonderland.

This charmer is a  variation of a recipe I found in an old book, I thought I might try it out, and my my my, I would kill for this now, and maybe you will too... Figurativly of course ;) The perfect thing for a Christmas dessert to share. Or not, if you're feeling up to the challenge..


Ingredients; Makes a 23cm/9 inch pie

For the Pastry:

• 225g Plain Flour
• 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 150g Butter
• 3 tbsp Caster Sugar
• 1-2 tbsp Cold Water
• 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg

For the Filling;

• 175g Butter
• 350g Brown Sugar
• 4 Eggs, Lightly beaten
• 4 tbsp Cocoa Powder, Sifted
• 100g Plain Chocolate
• 50g Dark Chocolate
• 300ml Single Cream
• 1 tsp Strong Coffee (Just put a spoonful of granules in a glass with hot water and mix)
• 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg

Topping;

• 400ml Double Cream, Whipped
• 3-4 Drops Rum Flavouring
• 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 50g Chocolate to be made into flakes and curls (in recipe)

Yeah, okay, I know that looks like a very long list of stuff, but it's worth it. Waaay worth it.
Click 'Read More' for the Recipe and Photo Tutorial!


Click on any photo to enlarge it...

Method;
1. For the pastry sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl and add in the butter.
2. Nead it together with your fingers or rub the mixture between your hands, like you're trying to warm them up to form a fine breadcrumb-like mixture
3. Stir in the sugar, nutmeg and water, just adding one tablespoon of water at a time until you can make a soft dough. Wrap this in Clingfilm and put in the fridge for 15 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 / 190'C / 375'F and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and use it to line a 23cm/9inch pie of  tart tin. Leave aboutt 2 cm around the edge of the tin, as the pastry will contract slightly when cooking. On top of this, either put baking paper weighed down with ceramic baking beans or use a designed pastry weight for your dish (Like mine)
5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. After this, remove the beans and paper, or the weight and bake again for another 10 minutes. Remove any excess cooked pastry from around the edge of the tin. I had some spare raw pastry that I later made into small pies about the size of a cupcake.

6. Now time for the filling. Cream the butter and sugar together, using a wooden spoon to 'mash' the butter until it is soft and maliable. Add half the eggs and use an electric whisk to mix. Then add the other half, along with the cocoa and mix again.
7. Put the two types of chocolate into a bowl and melt in the microwave for about 20 seconds until it is smooth. Add this to the mixture.
8. Mix these in and then also add the single cream, coffee and cinnamon and nutmeg, mixing them together.
9. Pour the mixture into the pastry, reduce the temperature to Gas Mark 3 / 160'C / 325'F and bake for about 50 minutes. Or until the filling is no longer runny when you spike it with a skewer.

10. For the cream, put the double cream in a large jug which is wide enough to fit your electric whisk in and add 4 drops of rum flavouring, and the cinnamon. Whisk for about 3 minutes, or until the cream is very thick and can hold itself up.

11. While the pie is cooking melt the chocolate for the topping in the microwave and pour directly onto a clean work surface or chopping board and use a palette knife to spread it as thinly as possible. This is very important as if itss not thin enough, it won't curl.
12. Wait until the chocolate has set hard. About 35 minutes. Then using a sharp knife hold it at about 45 degrees from the suface with one hand on the back edge of the blade near the handle and the other hand near the tip, drag the knife towards you over the chocolate. It should form curls, but will only be flakes if the chocolate is too thick. Keep going until you've scraped up all the chocolate. Put these to the side.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 2 - The result

Stage 3 - The soft Dough

Stage 4 - Rolling the dough

Stage 4 - In the tin

Stage 5 - Creaming the mixture

Stage 5 - The first half mixed in

Stage 6 - Adding the second half

Stage 6 - The result

Stage 7 - Adding chocolate

Stage 8 - Adding cream and spices

Step 9 - Before Filling

Step 9 - The Result

Stage 10 - Mixing

Stage 10 - Piling

Stage 10 - Spreading

Stage 11

Stage 11 - Pouring

Stage 11 - The Result, ish