Minnie's Chocolate Pie

Who in the heck is Minnie? Are you asking yourself that or did you read the book The Help, or see the movie? If you did, you are now nodding your head yes, correct?

This is the famous pie that the character Minnie makes. Minnie does add one special ingredient to her pie that is not in mine and if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, let me just say you’ll thank me for not knowing. Those of you who know…well you know.

Now since Minnie is a character in a book and on screen, she really didn’t make this pie. Lee Ann Flemming, one of the best bakers in Greenwood made this pie. Here’s a little excerpt from Food & Wine magazine:

The Help’s ending hinges on a secret involving Minny’s famous chocolate pie. Newspaper columnist Lee Ann Flemming, one of the best bakers in Greenwood, made 53 chocolate pies during filming, including 12 vegan and gluten-free versions she prepared in just one day for actress Bryce Dallas Howard. Her fudgy version here is neither vegan nor gluten-free: It’s as classic as it gets. You can make your own crust, but Flemming uses packaged.

My youngest son is all about the chocolate pie. He requests pie for every holiday and every birthday. He’s also very picky about his pie. He will eat a graham cracker crust but he prefers it be chocolate. He does not like whipped cream. He is a pie purist so I left out the whipped cream but please add it if you’d like.

This pie was rich with a capital R. One small piece was all it took. I think it would go really well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream too.

Minnies Chocolate Pie
Recipe from Lee Ann Fleming
1 packaged pie dough crust
1 ½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
Whipped cream for serving

Oven to 350. Ease the pie crust into a 9 inch pie pan and crimp the edge decoratively. Prick the crust lightly with a fork. Line the crust with foil or parchment and fill pie with weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Remove the weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes longer, just until the crust is dry but not browned.

Meanwhile in a bowl whisk the sugar with the cocoa powder, butter, eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla and salt. Whisk until smooth.

Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 45 minutes until the filling is set around the edges but the center is still a little jiggly. Cover the crust with foil halfway through baking. Transfer the pie to a baking rack to cool completely before cutting. Serve with whipped cream.

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