NANA'S RUINED CHOCOLATE PIE

Nana's Ruined Chocolate Pie image

This is a recipe my mother created by accident. The story mom told me was my brother, Dan, who was almost 6 years older than I, was about to have a birthday and Mom asked Dan what he wanted her to bake for his birthday cake. He said no to cake and asked Mom to make a chocolate pie, his favorite. Mom said she got distracted...

Provided by Barbie Petty

Number Of Ingredients 9

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Ingredients

4 c sugar
3 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 c cocoa
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 stick butter
6 egg yolks
4 c milk (whole)
2 tsp vanilla
6 egg whites (for meringue topping)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. With a fork in a large bowl, thoroughly mix the sugar, salt, cocoa, and corn starch. (Mixture will be the color of sand.)
3. With a spoon, cream butter into mixture.
4. Beat egg yolks until foamy; add milk to egg yolks and mix thoroughly.
5. Stir egg yolks and milk mixture into the sugar, salt, cocoa, corn starch, and butter mixture, stirring until very well mixed.
6. Cook in an uncovered sauce pan, over low heat, stirring constantly until boiling. You don't want to scramble the eggs in the mix, so do keep it on low heat. It takes time to bring this to a boil--be patient and don't overcook. Turn down heat to simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook until thick.
7. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and let stand 10 minutes.
8. Pour into two 9-inch pie shells and allow to cool.
9. Use the 6 egg whites to make meringue topping.
10. MERINGUE TOPPING: Add 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and beat the whites until frothy. Add 12 T granulated sugar, a little at a time, until stiff peaks are formed. With a spoon, put mounds of meringue around the edge of the pie filling. Spread to touch inner edge of crust all the way around. Heap remainder of meringue in center of pie and spread to meet the rest of the meringue.
11. Slide the pie into oven preheated to 325 degrees. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until meringue is set and soft brown on peaks. For added browning, you can broil the meringue, but watch it very carefully--it does not take long to burn meringue.
12. Remove pie from oven and set on a rack to cool for about 20 to 30 minutes. Slice and enjoy the best "ruined" chocolate pie you've ever tasted. :)