PIE #7 - PEANUT BUTTER & CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO

Never judge a book by its cover. That old adage proved true for this week's pie. For the first time this year, I attempted a rolled dough crust which at first looked very promising. The dough rolled out with ease and with extra dough to spare. I formed some of the remaining dough into tiny balls and tucked them neatly into the crimped edges to create a fancy border.

But as I par-baked the crust, those dough balls decided to abandon the mothership and meet their perilous death on the floor of my oven where they burned to a hellish crisp. When my nose alerted me to that telltale acrid odor, I ran to open the oven door and was met by billows of smoke. I rescued the crust which thankfully hadn’t burned but had shriveled and sunk halfway down the pie plate.

I AM THE MASTER OF PIE DISASTER! I AM THE MISTRESS OF DISTRESS!

Rather than toss the crust and start over (because truth be known, I’m becoming exasperated with this 50-pie endeavor!), I decided to proceed with the recipe. The filling recipe promised voluminous fluffiness which could cover up my crust abomination.

And as it turned out, the filling did indeed camouflage the disaster. The filling recipe boasts the winning combination of chocolate and peanut butter so favored by my husband.

After chilling the pie for a few hours, I sampled it and wasn’t impressed. Because the crust had collapsed into itself like an imploding black star, I found the texture was way too dense and of cardboard consistency. My hubby, however, deemed it worthy. He in fact stated it was my best tasting pie so far.

To each his own!

The recipe was featured in the Hoffman Publishing Company’s 2023 Best Pie Recipes. I don’t trust the crust recipe and I certainly don’t trust my crust-making abilities, so proceed with caution.

The day after this crust debacle, I thankfully received a baking tutorial from my lovely friend Marian. I will share my wonderful experience with that in my next blog entry. Stay tuned!