Did You Celebrate National Pie Day?

Have you heard? Pie is the new cupcake. Cupcakes are so 2005. Though cupcakes are just catching on in San Antonio, pie is the new go-to dessert.

Pie shops are popping up in hot spots across the country and I am a convert. Not that I ever liked cupcakes, because I didn't. But pie has been on my mind lately. So in honor of National Pie Day, which was Saturday, January 23, I decided to make a pie.

I picked up a new dessert cookbook a few weeks ago called Dulce: Desserts from Santa Fe Kitchens. While reading through the cookbook of more than 200 recipes, there was one in particular that spoke to me. Chocolate Angel Pie. Actually, this recipe was the singular reason I bought the book. Let me say it was a meringue crust that won me over.

When reading this recipe in the book store, I was transported back to when I was a tween...I once had a piece of chocolate angel pie and I fell in love. (But I wasn't sure that the pie I remembered way back when had the same meringue crust, so I bought the cookbook just in case.) The lady who made the pie gave me the hand-written recipe. Though I have never made it, the recipe is safely tucked away in my mother's old recipe box.

So, 30 years later, here I am. Finally making this pie. And it's the exact recipe that I have written on monogrammed paper from three decades ago. I guess sometimes you just need a cookbook to inspire you to make something you've never forgotten.

Ever since I brought this cookbook home, I have been wanting to make this pie, but felt like I needed a special occasion. National Pie Day was the ultimate excuse. You could also think about making this for Valentine's Day.

And since pie is the new cupcake... 

Buen provecho!

Chocolate Angel Pie
The Cowgirl Gourmet (http://www.thecowgirlgourmet.blogspot.com/) adapted this recipe from Dulce: Desserts from Santa Fe Kitchens cookbook and the recipe I got from a friend more than 30 years ago

Print recipe

I had a piece of chocolate angel pie once when I was a tween. And I fell in love. The lady who made it gave me the hand-written recipe and though I never made the pie, but still have the recipe in my mother's old recipe box. So, 30 years later, I am finally making this pie. It's basically chocolate mousse in a meringue crust. Light, tasty and utterly memorable. Please don't wait 30 years until you make it.

Serves 6

For the meringue crust:
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup nuts, finely chopped

For the filling:
1 (4-ounce) bar German's Sweet Chocolate, broken into chunks 
3 Tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 ounces whipping cream, whipped
Chocolate curls, for garnish, if desired

For the meringue crust, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar, 2 Tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition; then continue to beat until very stiff peaks form. Fold in the vanilla and chopped nuts. Spoon the meringue into a lightly-greased 8-inch pie pan to form a nestlike shell; build sides up 1/2-inch above the edge of the pan.

Bake 55-60 minutes or until the crust turns slightly golden.

For the filling, get a medium sauce pan and add the water. Place it over low heat and drop in the chocolate chunks and stir until melted. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and stir to combine. Cool until thickened.

While the chocolate is cooling, whip the cream. In the mixing bowl, fold the chocolate mixture into the whipping cream. Pile into meringue shell and chill at least 2 hours.

To serve, garnish with chocolate curls on top, if desired.