Let Them Eat Pie - German's Sweet Chocolate Pie

My whole entire extended family absolutely LOVES Classic German's Chocolate Cake. It has been my dad's traditional birthday cake for as long as I can remember. In fact, I just made one for his Birthday about 2 weeks ago. On the other hand, everyone in my family is crazy about pie... insanely so, sometimes. As a result of this, something began churning in the back of my mind.

I thought it would be a great idea, for my niece's birthday, (who loves German Chocolate Cake & Coconut Cream pie) to combine the deliciousness of this illustrious cake with the unparalleled awesomeness of pie.

I was excited at first, because inside the box of Baker's German's Chocolate, was a recipe for a "German Chocolate Pie"... But once I began reading the recipe, I decided that it was in serious need of some help. So many opportunities to make a truly awesome cake-esque pie, but the recipe kind of falls flat. No Pecans, No Caramel, No Coconut. It's was a little crazy. Aren't Chocolate, Coconut, Pecans and Caramel the time revered combination when one is speaking of "German's Chocolate"?

So I took a few liberties; OK, I took a LOT of liberties, and came up with this.

German's Sweet Chocolate Pie

1/2 Cup Pecans
4 TB Granulated Sugar; divided
Pinch of Kosher Salt
1 pkg Honey Graham Crackers
5 TB Unsalted Butter
4 oz Baker's German's Chocolate (1 bar)
4 TB Whole Milk; divided
4 oz Cream Cheese
Another pinch of Kosher Salt
2 1/2 cups Heavy Cream; divided
1 1/2 TB Confectioners' Sugar
2 TB Shredded Sweetened Coconut
2 TB Caramel Sauce (I cheated and used a pre-made)
optional - a few gratings of Dark chocolate (for Garnish)

Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Place pecans and 2 TB of the sugar and a pinch of salt in a small food processor and grind finely.

Grind Graham crackers as well and combine with the Pecans in a small bowl.

Melt 5 TB butter and add to the Graham/pecan mixture, stirring with a fork until uniformly "moist".

Press into a 9 inch Pie plate.

Bake for 10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool while making the filling.

Melt the German's Chocolate with 2 TB of the milk and set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, combine the remaining 2 TB of Milk, 2 TB Sugar, Cream Cheese and a pinch of Kosher Salt; mixing until well combined.

Add the luke warm Chocolate and stir to combine.

Cover with plastic wrap on the surface and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.

Beat 1 cup of Heavy Cream until stiff peaks are achieved.

Remove the Chocolate mixture from the refrigerator and stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream to
lighten it.

Fold in the remaining whipped cream in 2 batches.

Pour into the prepared and cooled Pecan crust, smoothing the top (cause we aren't done yet)

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before continuing.

Place the remaining 1 1/2 cups of Heavy Cream and Confectioners' sugar in a bowl and whip until firm.

Place in a piping bag and pipe rosettes over the entire pie surface.

Drizzle Caramel sauce over the Rosettes by placing a whisk in the jar and wiggling it above the pie.

Oh, and I chose this caramel sauce because the ingredient list was the same as what I would have used had I made it myself.

Then Sprinkle with Coconut. (and Chocolate Shavings if you like)

Refrigerate again for at least 2 hours, covered; Freezing for 1 hour is better though.

To Serve, remove from refrigerator/freezer and let warm slightly before cutting (about 10 minutes).

Success----- Happy Niece!

Mangia!!
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