YWPWT: Resolution Breaker Pie

For this months You Want Pies With That challenge the theme is "Resolution Breaker Pie - A pie that sounds so decadent and delicious that you simply can't resist. A crust so buttery and flaky you quickly call dibs on a 2nd slice. A filling so gooey and creamy that you dig out your fat pants without remorse. A pie so fantastic you begin hatching a plan to keep the whole pie for yourself...... of course telling the entire family that the dog/cat/drunk Uncle Ed ate the whole thing and sadly there will be no pie tonight."

As I began to think about this pie I thought about what my own resolutions for the year are. Among other things, losing weight is probably up there for everyone (making pie a bad thing to make) and when trying to lose weight it is often a good idea to cut alcohol out of your day-to-day diet. I am a fan of the South Beach diet, which doesn't allow for any alcohol for the first two weeks. I start it on Monday but promise I'll have tons of SB friendly posts in the coming weeks for anyone who wants to try with me.

Anyway, in thinking of my perfect resolution breaker pie it had to involve chocolate and alcohol, two things I won't be having soon. My favorite thing to pair with chocolate (other than alcohol) is raspberry, so I decided to top my chocolate tart with raspberry curd. It is a tart in four parts: crust, raspberry layer, chocolate layer and whipped cream. Below is the recipe for my concoction, I am calling it "Really I'll Start My Diet on Monday Chocolate Raspberry Tart"

Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Hazelnut Shell (adpated from epicurious.com)

1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and any loose skins rubbed off in a kitchen towel, then cooled completely (for how to toast hazelnuts click here)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

1.Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Pulse hazelnuts with flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground (be careful not to grind to a paste), then add butter and pulse until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Add egg and vanilla and pulse just until mixture begins to clump.
3. Press dough evenly over bottom and up side of tart pan and chill 10 minutes. Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven until pale golden along rim, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom and side are golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes.


Raspberry Curd (make while tart shell is baking)
I used this recipe (it's in grams i converted the measurements based on what I weighed on my scale)

150 grams raspberry puree - 5.3 oz (I'm not sure if you can buy this premade but I just used a hand blender to puree some frozen raspberries I thawed)
30 grams lemon juice - 1/8 cup or juice from 1/2 lemon
170 grams sugar - 3/4 cup
4 ounces butter - 1 stick
6 egg yolks

In a medium pot, boil the raspberry puree, lemon juice, half of the sugar and the butter. In a bowl, whisk the remaining sugar and the egg yolks together. Temper the egg mixture by adding in a little of the raspberry puree mixture, whisking constantly. Add this mixture to the raspberry puree mixture, then boil, whisking constantly. Strain and cover.


Chocolate Kahlua Filling

3 oz bittersweet chocolate - chopped
6 oz semisweet chocolate - chopped
10 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
3 Tbsp Kahlua
3 heaping Tbsp sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 300F. In a double boiler melt the butter and chocolate together.
2. In a separate bowl mix beat the eggs until fluff. Mix in the Kahlua and sour cream.
3. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture, mix until combined and pour into the prepared tart shell. Bake for 40 mins in preheated oven.
4. Let cool for 10 mins on a cooling rack and then gently spread the raspberry curd on top of the still warm tart. Let sit for at least an hour to let both fillings set.
5. Serve topped with Kahlua spiked whipped cream (2 Tbsp Kahlua to every cup of cream)


This was the most decadent and rich tart I've had in awhile. The raspberry adds just enough freshness to the richness of the chocolate. Although I bet the chocolate on it's own would be pretty fabulous.

This recipe calls for a ton of eggs (10 to be exact) and since I was home over the holidays and we drove, I was able to pick up some of my favorite eggs Eggland's Best. They only sell them in the US and are the closest to farm fresh eggs you can get at the grocery store. I highly recommend them for any and all of your egg needs. We picked up a couple dozen at the Vermont/Quebec border for me to have for the next week or so. I love them just scrambled with a bit of salt and pepper or in an uber decadent dessert :) Enjoy!