s'mores pie

Yummy note: I ended up making this pie for my husband's birthday this past week, as both him and the kid aren't too fond of a lot of cake. So I was hoping this would be a better crowd pleaser that evening. This is something I put together using a couple of my grandmothers' recipes. The homemade chocolate pudding recipe portion was passed down from my Grandma Alice. The marshmallow and chocolate part of it was from my Grandma Leone, who used to make warm pudding for us and throw in some marshmallows for a nice gooey surprise. I took both of these and combined it to make a S'mores pie! It really hit the spot. Only thing I didn't like was that I didn't leave it sit and cool off enough before I started to cut into it for serving. The pudding pie was still pretty warm in the middle and started to ooze out like a molten lava cake. But as our friends mentioned, the pie was more like eating a true S'mores, since it was still a little warm.... Enjoy as you wish.



















S'mores Pie
Ingredients:

Chocolate Pudding:
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped up
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup or so of mini marshmallows

Graham Cracker Pie Crust:
1 package graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup softened butter

Meringue Topping:
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
In a plastic baggie, crush about one package of graham crackers until fine crumbs are achieved. Add in sugar and softened butter into the crumbs and squish baggie until combined. Next press crumbs into pie pan. I used the bottom of a glass for this to get the crumbs nicely packed into the pie crust. Then in a preheated 400 degree oven, bake pie crust for about 5-8 minutes or so. Next sprinkle mini marshmallows on top of the crust, and place back in oven and proceed to toast a bit. I think I did it for a few minutes more or until the marshmallows start to get puffy. This could probably be done to your preference of toasted-ness too.

While this is toasting, in a sauce pan on the stovetop, add in flour, sugar, salt, milk, and chopped up chocolate squares. Stir mixture with a whisk constantly on low heat. Continue to stir until pudding starts to thicken up, then SLOWLY add in your beaten egg yolks. Make sure the heat is still very low, and be careful to not add in your egg yolks all at once or too fast, or else you might get up with a lumpy pudding with scrambled egg like pieces in it because of the temperature of the pudding. Cook about 2 minutes longer while continuously stirring, and then add in vanilla and butter. Stir until melted and remove from heat. Pour into pie crust over marshmallows. Note: At this point, don't be alarmed if the marshmallows start to belly up and float as the warm pudding begins to expand them. It still turns out yummy. I guess if you want a "real" layer of the marshmallows, you could potentially cool the pudding a bit before it starts to set and then pour it into crust.

Next, in a small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with a hand mixer until frothy. Gradually add in the sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Continue beating egg whites until stiff and glossy, and add in final vanilla flavoring. Once egg whites have set up, spoon on the meringue over the chocolate pudding. This should cover the pie well. If you still have a few graham cracker crumbs left, you might want to add more on top of meringue. Then place pie back into the 400 degree oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the meringue is slightly browned. Slightly cool the pie before serving or cutting into. If desired to serve on the warm side, be warned that the pie might start to ooze out of shape.