Raspberry & Chocolate Mousse Pie

Week Five: Wyatt Prime Pie

My nephew just turned five and the only thing he loves more than Iron Man is the Transformers. Or maybe it’s the other way around… Anyway, he also really loves pie, it is the preferred food of 4 out of every 5 superheroes after all. He asked for chocolate, raspberry and white chocolate. Classy kid. Well sorta. He then continued to add lemon, yellow cake, apples, bananas, and tacos, but what are the grown-ups in your life there for but to save you from your excesses. Kitchen Sink Pie will have to wait for another occasion.

I’m actually pretty proud of the Boo, he really stepped up to the unexpected culinary challenge of creating a birthday pie instead of a cake. Though as the great Opitmus Prime says; “Destiny rarely calls upon us at a time of our choosing.” Ok, I really don’t know what that means either — it’s a Michael Bay movie, you’re not supposed to think, or be over five, which works out perfectly for Wyatt.

Note: This recipe works well if you make the crust and chocolate mousse layer the day before.

RASPBERRY AND CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PIE

Chocolate Wafer Crust

2 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (1 18oz package. If you can’t find the plain wafer cookies, you can “de-middle” sandwich cookies such as Oreos)
1 stick butter

1/3 cup sugar


Heat oven to 350°.

Place wafer cookies in a plastic zip bag and pound with a rolling pin until cookies have been reduced to fine crumbs. Melt the butter and mix thoroughly with 2 cups of crumbs (there’ll be some leftover in the bag), and sugar. Press firmly into the bottom and sides of a greased 10″ pie pan. Bake at 350° for 10 min. Let cool completely before adding filling (can be done in the refrigerator).

Chocolate Mousse

6 oz bittersweet chocolate
10 oz heavy whipping cream

Heat 4 oz of cream in a small saucepan over medium/low heat until steaming, but not boiling. While cream heats, chop chocolate into small pieces (fine) and place in heat-proof mixing bowl. When cream is steaming, pour onto the chocolate. Mix until thoroughly combined and allow to cool for about an hour at room temperature or about half an hour in the refrigerator. You want the ganache to set up a little so it’s no longer liquid, but not so set up as it would be difficult to fold into the whipped cream.

In a separate bowl, whip the remaining cream until it holds stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture, then gently spoon into chilled crust. Wrap in plastic and chill overnight or for at least 3 hours.

Raspberry Glaze

2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp unflavored gelatin
1 tbsp lemon juice

Puree raspberries in blender or mixer; press once through a sieve to remove seeds. In a small saucepan, mix granulated sugar, cornstarch, gelatin, raspberry juice and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 5 to 7 minutes). Set aside to cool to room temperature while you make the mousse filling.

Raspberry Mousse

2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp unflavored gelatin

2 1/2 cups whipped cream
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp Chambord

In a saucepan combine raspberries, lemon juice and sugar. Stir over medium heat until berries have turned into a pulpy liquid. Stir in gelatin. Remove from heat let cool for 15 minutes or until room temperature.

In a separate bowl, combine heavy cream, confectioners sugar, vanilla and Chambord. Whip with mixer at high speed until cream holds stiff peaks. Mix about 1/4 of the whipped cream into raspberry mixture until well combined. Fold in remaining whipped cream.

Spoon on top of the cooled chocolate mousse in the pie crust. Then top with cooled glaze. Add chocolate dipped raspberries to decorate as you see fit. Chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator before serving to a superhero pajama-clad 5 year old on his birthday.