Brad Furry was an impressionable 11-year-old when a chocolate mousse in Paris opened his mind to the world of desserts. He had been sent by his parents from Durango to live with some French friends for the school year. It was a rough adjustment, given his age and the wildly different environments. However, he credits that year with being the best life-altering experience ever. The mother in his French family taught him to make her deeply dark and satisfying mousse. He has used her recipe ever since.
Chocolate Pudding Meringue Pies Recipe
Now a Santa Fe realtor and a rancher with his husband Bradyn, Brad often bakes for his four sons as well as friends who look forward to his Christmas Bundt cakes, in particular. His “rich, decadent, indulgent” chocolate pudding pie with stunning swirled meringue has a charming story behind it. At the time that Bunny Terry was stepping down as longtime chair of the New Mexico Cancer Foundation, Brad heard her reminiscing about the chocolate pie her late mother used to make. He resolved to make a similar pie to thank Bunny for her years of volunteer work. That the pie had its genesis in the mousse of decades ago made it all the sweeter. We were thrilled he recreated it for TABLE.
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Brad Furry’s GreenGo Farm’s Chocolate Pudding Meringue Pies
- Yield: Makes two 10-inch pies 1x
Ingredients
For the Pie Crusts:
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 4 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small cubes
- ½ cup ice water
For the Pie Fillings:
- 2½ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup cornstarch
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 6 cups half-and-half
- 12 large egg yolks
- Three 4 oz semisweet chocolate baking bars, broken into small pieces
- Two 4 oz 72% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking bars, broken into small pieces
- 6 tbsp butter, cut into small cubes
- 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
For the Meringues:
- (2 mixtures)
- 1 cup superfine sugar
- 4 large egg whites
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 8 large egg whites
- 2 cups superfine sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Instructions
For the Pie Crusts:
- Combine in a food processor the flour, salt, and sugar.
- Sprinkle butter cubes over the dry ingredients and pulse to form a very coarse cornmeal-like mixture. With the food processor on, gradually pour in the ½ cup of ice water. Mix just until the dough starts to come together.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Form the dough into 2 fat disks.
- Roll out each half into a 13-inch circle that is ¼ inch thick. Continue turning and rolling to help prevent sticking.
- Lightly butter two 10-inch pie plates. To minimize stretching when moving the dough, roll it around the pin, lift, and unroll over each buttered pie plate. Using your fingers, gently pat the dough into place, leaving enough dough to cover the lip of the pie plate. Trim any excess dough with a paring knife.
- With two fingers from one hand and your knuckle on the other hand, form the ripples on top of the rim. This will help hold the sides of your crust up during baking.
- Place both shells into the refrigerator to chill at least 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
- Blind bake each crust. Line chilled crusts with foil all the way up the sides and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake for 22 minutes with the weights. Remove foil and weights and bake an additional 6 minutes.
- Set aside and let cool completely while you prepare the filling.
For the Pie Fillings:
- Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt in a large saucepan.
- Whisk together the half-and-half and the egg yolks in a large bowl.
- Place the saucepan over medium-high heat, and gradually whisk in the egg mixture into the sugar mixture. Cook, whisking constantly, 8 to 10 minutes or just until the mixture begins to boil. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 more minute; remove from heat.
- Whisk in semisweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and butter, followed by the vanilla and espresso powder.
- Place plastic wrap directly on warm filling. Let stand until it’s cool.
For the Meringues:
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and spread 1 cup of sugar so it’s a perfectly even thickness on the paper, leaving a border on the paper so the sugar doesn’t spill onto the pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, just until the edges start to brown lightly. Watch carefully! Leave oven on.
- Place the first 4 egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Just before the sugar is ready, whisk the egg whites on high speed for 1 minute, just until frothy. With the mixer on low, slowly add the hot sugar to the egg whites. Add the vanilla and continue whisking on high for 10 minutes, until the egg whites are room temperature. The meringue will be very thick and glossy.
- Fold this meringue into the cooled chocolate pudding filling and then spoon half of the mixture evenly into each cooled crust.
- Repeat steps 1 thru 3 with the 2 cups superfine sugar, 8 egg whites, and the 1 teaspoon vanilla. Spoon this meringue mixture into a piping bag.
- Pipe the meringue over each filling to cover all the edges. Leave no chocolate exposed.
- With a kitchen torch, brown the meringue lightly from all directions.
- Refrigerate pies until set, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
Notes
(Note from Brad: It’s a complex pie, but it’s just as easy to make two as it is a single pie. Make a second and surprise a deserving friend.)
Recipe by Brad Furry
Story by Cheryl Alters Jamison
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