Devil Make Pie - Dante's A'Baking

Our latest recipe here on Mealtime Strategy is for those readers with a sweet tooth and a penchant for gothic action games! As this past week saw the release of God of War III, we thought we would pay tribute to the inspiration for the God of War series, Devil May Cry.

The first Devil May Cry game for Playstation 2 was originally envisaged as the fourth Resident Evil game. However, the fast-paced nature of the new game was believed not to be a natural fit for the slower, considered approach of the Resident Evil series. Rather than go back to the drawing board and waste all of the hard work, the game coninued development as a standalone title.

Released in 2001, the game quickly built up a solid following among gamers and at the time of writing has received 3 sequels.

This recipe is a fusion of the classic flavours of Devil's Food Cake and the homely, comforting nature of an American pie!

Recipe: Devil Make Pie: Dante's A'Baking

Makes 8 small portions, or 4 portions for hungry souls!

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 200g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
• 50g ground walnuts or pecans
• 120g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 egg, yolk and white separated

For the chocolate filling:

• 250g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids preferably)
• 250ml double cream
• 2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 5 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 50ml good dark rum or cognac (Jack Daniels also works well or you can substitute 50mls of espresso / strong coffee for a non-alcoholic version)

Method:

For the crust:

• Place the flour, salt and ground walnuts in a large bowl and mix, before rubbing the butter through the mixture until you have a fine, crumbly texture.
• Mix in the 2 tbsps of caster sugar, then add the egg yolk and 2 tbsps of very cold water.
• Smoosh the mixture into a ball (don't smoosh it too much or your pastry will end up too hard!) and then put it in the fridge, wrapped in cling film for half an hour.
• Next, heat your oven to 200°C (180° for fan oven)
• While the oven is heating, we can roll out the pastry! So, take it out of the fridge and roll it as thinly as possible (if you roll it between two sheets of greaseproof paper, it's easier) then line a pie case with your pastry sheet. If the pastry breaks, it's fine, just fix the joins with your fingers!
• Place a disk of greaseproof paper on the crust, then fill with baking beans or dry rice and bake for twenty minutes. Take out the beans and greaseproof paper, brush some egg white on the pastry and put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
• Once the pie crust is baked, lower the oven to 140° and we can get going with the chocolatey filling!

For the filling:

• Break up the chocolate in a bowl, add the cream, and heat over a pan of simmering water ensuring the bowl isn't touching the water.
• Keep stirring until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla extract and your choice of booze (as per above) and stir well. Put to one side to cool for 15 minutes or so.
• Take a clean bowl, and whisk your egg whites to the "soft peak" stage, then whisk in 2 tbsps of caster sugar, creating a soft meringue. Don't over-whisk to the "stiff peak" stage!
• In yet another bowl (!), whisk the yolks with the rest of the sugar for a few minutes until all creamy-like, then add the chocolate mixture and combine the two.
• Take a large spoon, preferably metal, and fold the meringuey egg whites into the chocolatey goo.

Now we are ready to put it all together!

• Pour the filling into your pastry case and bake in the oven (at 140°) for 15 minutes. The centre should still be a little squooshy when you remove it, but will firm up when left to cool for a while.

The pie is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche, but you can eat it cold too... if you can wait that long! Some black cherries would also make a good addition on the side.