This is the time of year when very little is coming from our gardens and traditionally two pies that were made when fruit was not available were Chess and Black Bottom Pie. Both are great, but space only allows one.
Crust: Life’s too short; buy one from the refrigerator case
Filling: ½ cup of sugar
2 Tlb. cornstarch & pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
1 envelope (7g) of unflavored gelatin
4 Tbl. water
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 ½ cups of whole milk
1 cup of heavy cream
1 tps. vanilla
3 Tbl. light rum
2 egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar
Dark chocolate shavings
Prick the bottom of your crust, line it with wax paper, weigh down the paper down with dried beans or rice, and bake 15 minutes in a 400° oven. Remove the paper and beans and bake 10-15 minutes longer till golden brown. Leave to cool.
Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks; mix well in a bowl & set aside. Mix gelatin and 2 Tbl. of water & set aside to soften. Melt Chocolate with 1 Tbl. water gently till smooth and set aside.
Scald milk and ½ cup of cream and slowly add to egg yolk mixture and stir till sugar dissolves. Stirring constantly cook mixture until thick enough to coat back of spoon. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Add 1 cup of custard to chocolate mixture, stir till smooth and pour into pie shell, refrigerate. Stir in gelatin & rum to remaining custard. Allow to cool, but stir to prevent skin forming. Whip remaining cream (not stiff), beat egg whites and tartar to soft peaks. Mix whipped cream & fold egg whites into remaining custard and spoon evenly over chocolate layer. Refrigerate 3 hr. and serve with a topping of chocolate shavings.
from American Tradition, a classic guide to regional cooking.
