Episode 5- Virginia: Chess Pie

 Chess Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 cups AP Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
5 Tbsp ice water

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold

Filling:

8 Tbsp butter, melted

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

3 Tbsp yellow cornmeal

1 Tbsp AP flour

1/4 cup milk, room temperature

1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

For the crust, combine all your dry ingredients. Next, start to incorporate your butter by hand or with a pastry cutter. As it all comes together, slowly add water as needed. Butter should still be chunky. Toss your mixture until it looks shaggy and there are no dry piles of flour at the bottom of your bowl. Once you have a nice ball, pat into a disk-shape, sprinkle with flour and wrap in plastic wrap. Put in the refrigerator to rest for at least an hour. 

After resting, place dough on well-floured surface and roll from the center out. You want it to be a 12" circle and uniform thickness. Dust the top of your crust with flour and fold it into quarters so you can place it in the pie pan, or you can roll it up on your rolling pin and drape it into the pie pan. Gently fit the dough into the pan by lifting and patting it into place. You don't want to stretch it. Trim of any excess hanging over the top edge, then you can decorate your edge with a fork or by "fluting" the edges by pinching it. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Place your prepared pie dough into the freezer for 30 minutes to chill. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork 8-10 times. Line your frozen crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (or dry beans) and bake for 10-12 minutes. Just until the edges of the crust look dry. Carefully remove the paper & pie weights, then return to the oven for another 3-5 minutes until bottom of crust is dry and edges are turning a light brown. Allow to cool slightly and reduce oven temp to 350 degrees. 

For your filling: Place your melted butter and sugar in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Whisk in the eggs, then the cornmeal & flour. Add the milk, lemon juice, vanilla and salt and mix to combine. 

** I added in a vanilla bean & lemon zest to bump up the flavor a bit. Remove bean before baking.

Carefully pour filling into the cooled crust. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the edges and center of pie are set completely. (If crust and/or pie are getting too dark, drape a piece of aluminum foil). Once set, let the pie cool completely, at least 2 hours. Traditional garnish is a dusting of powdered sugar. 

I found the pie to be a bit boring, so I garnished with a berry reduction and whipped cream. It's so much better. 

I also had some leftover dough & custard, so I added 1 Tbsp cocoa powder to the custard and made a mini pie for Van. If you wanted to do this version, I would cut back on the lemon juice (and not add the zest), add additional 1 Tbsp milk, and use 1/4 cup cocoa powder for a full pie. Garnish with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.