Chocolate Chess Pie (Fallen Cake Pie)
Decadent chocolate chess pie: flaky all butter pie crust with a rich chocolate filling that is part crispy chocolate meringue and part light brownie.
I’ve always thought chocolate chess pies were just the most gorgeous thing – I imagined a flaky crust, a dense brownie filling inside a pie crust. Then a few years ago I made one and didn’t really like it. Last year I saw a slice at a bakery, paid the $7 for it and… also didn’t like it.
I realized what I had been looking for was a very different filling and texture: a crispy meringue-like topping, a light but fudgy interior and so, I decided to create it based on a recipe I know and would deliver exactly that.
Recipe Origins
This isn’t a classic southern chocolate chess pie, my method for the filling is quite different and from what I know of chess pies in general, the filling is closer to a set pudding than a brownie. What I can tell you is that it is exactly what it looks like: a flaky pie crust (perfect and all butter), with what is essentially a chocolate cloud cake inside.
This recipe has no flour or cocoa powder in it – it relies on the rising agent of whipped egg whites. The chocolate flavor comes form dark chocolate. The ingredients are simple, the only thing you need to get right is whipping the meringue to medium peaks and then very carefully folding the chocolate into the meringue. Without losing all that precious air you just whipped in!
I use my all butter homemade pie dough for the crust here, parbaked then filled and baked fully. The filling is adapted from Richard Sax’ chocolate cloud cake from his cookbook.
Recipe Ingredients
Pie crust: use this recipe to make an all butter pie crust. It makes two crusts, so you can halve it if you have no use for the other. Store-bought crust is fine too.
Chocolate: dark chocolate, 60-70% cocoa solids. Don’t use a baking bar or chocolate chips. Just a regular, snack chocolate bar.
Butter: unsalted or salted. If salted, reduce the salt added to the filling.
Eggs: whole eggs, large. It’s easier to separate eggs when they are cold. Easier to whip them when they are at room temperature. Separate them then leave them for 10 minutes to warm up.
Sugar: fine granulated sugar. Most of the sugar is whipped into the egg whites to make a meringue and just a tablespoon is added to the egg yolks.
Salt: fine sea salt. If using table salt, halve the amount.
Vanilla: pure vanilla extract.
How to make the perfect Chocolate Chess Pie (imo!)
Roll out the Crust
Have a pie crust ready to use the day you want to make the pie. Use this recipe for a homemade crust or another you prefer. Store bought works too. You only need one pie crust, for the bottom.
Roll out the crust to be about an inch and a half wider than your pie pan. Try to keep it thick so you won’t have to trim as much.
Set the rolled out dough over a nine inch metal pie pan. As much as possible, avoid using ceramic or glass pie pans as they do not conduct heat as efficiently.
Press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Trim the dough at the outer rim if necessary but leave a half inch overhang. Fold and pinch the outer rim so it’s doubled – this will make for sturdier edges.
Use your fingers to create a cinched pattern to the crust.
Chill the crust for 20-30 minutes in the fridge – this helps the crust keep shape when baking.
Prebake the Crust (Par Bake)
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lay two sheets of foil over the chilled pie crust and gently squeeze them over the outer rim of the dough. Fill the pie pan with pie weights or dried beans. If you have another pie pan, set this on top of the pie weights (especially if your weights do not come all the way up to the top of the crust).
Bake the crust for 25 minutes.
Use the foil to lift the pie weights out of the pan and set them aside.
Lower the temperature to 350 F. Return the pie crust to the oven for 5-7 minutes, so the bottom is fully cooked (but not browned) before the filling goes in.
Make the Chocolate Filling
Separate the eggs into two bowls, one smaller bowl with the egg yolks and a large bowl for the egg whites.
Chop up the chocolate and slice the butter and set them in a heatproof bowl. Microwave the bowl for 1-2 minutes, they will both begin to melt and the heat from the melted butter should melt the rest of the chocolate. Stir until smooth then set aside to cool.
Use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites until frothy – there should be no visible liquid, it should all be froth when you stop. This can take a few minutes.
With the mixer on, slowly add the sugar – a tablespoon at a time. Keep beating until all the sugar is added then beat until you have medium peaks. This can take 7-9 minutes with a hand mixer. The meringue needn’t hold stiff peaks but it should be thick, glossy and just slightly droopy.
Add the salt, vanilla and tablespoon of sugar to the bowl with the egg yolks and quickly whisk until smooth. Pour this mixture into the cooled chocolate/butter mix and stir until smooth.
We’re going to fold the chocolate mixture into the meringue: pour the chocolate into the bowl in parts, carefully using a large rubber spatula to make J shapes in the batter. Keep folding until the chocolate is completely folded into the meringue (should be no visible white streaks). It will be fluffy and airy and have a light chocolate color.
Pour this batter into the par-baked pie crust.
Set the pie back in the oven (still at 350 F) and bake until the filling has puffed up considerably, cracked, and does not jiggle in the center when the pan is gently shaken. It may jiggle where the cracks are but the middle should be set. Baking time will be around 30-40 minutes. Judge doneness by what you see rather than listed cooking times.
Take the pie out of the oven and let cool on the counter. As it cools, it will fall.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serving & Storing the Pie
I think this pie is best served with either a vanilla whipped cream, see this stabilized whipped cream, or even better a vanilla ice cream.
Store the pie at room temperature, covered with foil. It’ll keep for a few days (without any toppings).
FAQ & Troubleshooting
Can I make this a flourless chocolate chess pie?
The filling is flourless so you are all set there. In the past I have successfully used my homemade pie crust to make a gluten free crust using a one to one flour swap so I’d recommend doing that.
My egg whites and sugar are not turning thick and glossy. What went wrong?
First it could be that it just needs more time, depending on the strenght of your mixer this can take 10 mintues or more. If it really is not happening after 15 minutes, it’s possible some egg yolk or another kind of fat got into the bowl with the egg whites. Fat prohibits the meringue from stiffening.
How far in advance can I make this recipe?
I wouldn’t make it more than a day ahead of serving. It’s really best served the day of baking!
Chocolate Chess Pie Recipe (Fallen Chocolate Cake Style)
Chocolate Chess Pie (Fallen Chocolate Cake Pie)
Ingredients
Crust
- homemade pie crust make half of the recipe for just the bottom crust, it should be made at least 2 hours before rolling out
Chocolate Filling
- 170g chocolate dark or semi-sweet, chopped
- 76g or ⅓ cup unsalted butter sliced
- 4 large eggs
- 133g or ⅔ cup fine granulated sugar plus 1 tablespoon (12g) , divided
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
Method
Blind bake the crust
- Roll the pie dough to just under two inches larger than a 9 inch metal pie pan (so about 11 inches). Place the dough into the pie pan and gently press the dough into the bottom of the pan
- Trim the edges, especially if the dough is uneven, so you have about an inch overhang off the pan. Fold the crust so the overhang is tucked under and you have a thick outer rim. Use your fingers to crimp the crust (see photos for guidance). Set the crust in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- When ready to bake the pie, preheat the oven to 375 F. (The pie will be blind baked before the filling goes in then it will bake fully with the filling). Lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the crust and tuck it so it wraps around the edges of the crust. Repeat with another sheet of foil, overlaying the first so all sides of the crust are covered. Fill the pie pan with pie weights and if you have it, another pie pan to hold the crust down as it bakes.
- Bake for 25 minutes then remove the pie weights and foil, lower the temperature to 350 F and bake for another 5-7 minutes until the bottom does not look raw.
While the crust is blind baking, make the filling
- Separate the four eggs into four yolks and four egg whites in separate bowls. The whites should be in a slightly larger bowl as this is where you’ll make the meringue.
- In a heatsafe bowl, add the chocolate (170g) and sliced butter (76g or ⅓ cup). Warm the bowl in the microwave for 60 seconds then stir, if the chocolate is not melting after a few minutes of stirring, set the bowl back in the microwave for another 20 seconds. Stir until smooth, set aside to cool. Alternatively you can do this over a bain marie; a pot of simmering water on the stove.
- Use a hand mixer to beat the four egg whites until frothy, you want to be able to look at the bottom of the bowl and not see any liquid - it should all be frothy. This can take 3-4 minutes. Once frothy, slowly pour in the sugar (133g ⅔ cup) while beating, stopping to allow the egg whites to absorb the sugar before adding more. Once all the sugar is in, beat until you have medium peaks: the meringue will be shiny but not hold stiff peaks, there will be a slight droop (see video for guidance).
- In the bowl with the egg yolks, whisk in the tablespoon of sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour this mixture into the cooled chocolate butter and stir to just combine.
- Use a large rubber spatula for this next part: we’re going to slowly fold the chocolate mixture into the meringue. Pour a bit of the chocolate and use the spatula to make J shapes, folding without stirring - we don’t want to let out the air that is suspended in the meringue. Keep folding until the mix is even, it will be light colored and airy.
- When the pie crust has completed its partial blind bake, pour the chocolate filling into the pie crust. Gently smooth the filling until it’s all at an even level. Set the pie in the oven to bake until the filling has puffed up considerably, cracked and does not wobble in the center (it may wobble at the edge cracks, this is fine), about 35 minutes.
- Set the pie on the counter, as it cools it will fall. Serve warm or at room temperature. This does't have a gooey filling like most pies so serve it with whipped cream or ice cream.
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