Soft Pie

(the pictures wouldn't load on the computer, but all my pictures are on my phone if you want me to show you personally)

For this recipe I made a chocolate soft pie with merengue on top. 

This was a 2 day process, the first day was making the crust and the next day was for the merengue and chocolate pudding.

To make the crust, I mixed first the flour and salt. Then I cut in some lard with my pastry blender and once it was all cut in, I added the water. 

Once I formed the dough into a ball, I made it into a disk and rolled it out as far as it can go.  After that, I folded it into quarters and laid it into the pie pan.

I unfolded the dough so it covered the whole pan. I trimmed the edges up to an inch from the sides of the pie pan and tucked it under, so it was just around the rim. I then made the edges pretty by pinching the edges of the crust. Then I put it in the fridge for the next day when we baked the pie. 

The next day I made the pudding and the merengue. To make the pudding, I first added all the dry ingredients into the sauce pan, which is cornstarch, salt, the chocolate powder and sugar. I mixed them together, then I added milk, while stirring constantly. Before I added the milk though, I separated out 4 egg yolks and whites and gently beated the yolks. The whites will be used for the merengue later. I keep stirring as I temp the egg yolks (using a cup of the ingredients cooking on stove into the eggs and beating them fast) and then add them in. You have to stir the whole time, because if you don't, the pudding will stick to bottom of pan. I have the pudding over medium heat, mixing and scraping the bottom until the pudding is thick. Once it is all thick, I add it to the pie crust. 

The merengue I made while simultaneously cooking the pudding. To make it, I added the egg whites that I separated earlier into the Kitchen Aid and whipped them until they were frothy. Once they were nice and frothy I added the vanilla and cream of tarter to the whites and whipped until they hit soft peaks. Then I added the sugar and whipped it until stiff peak formed. 

After the merengue was done, I spread it all onto of the pie and put it in the over for 15 min or until the merengue was golden brown. When it is done, it chills for 4 hours.

The pie I made was very tasty. The crust crumbled in your mouth which was the goal, the merengue was soft and sweet, and the pudding was good too. The only thing I think was wrong about the pie was the pudding was very rich. But thats what happens when you make something from scratch. The pies appearance was appealing. I mean who can resist a mountain of merengue on top of chocolate pudding and a very delicious crust?!:)