Dessert Pie: Chocolate Mousse Pie

By SharonE

This is my father-in-law's recipe. We joke that this is a two-day pie as this is a labor intensive mousse pie...but rich and delicious.

Ingredients

• Chocolate crust:
• 8 eggs, separated
• sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 10 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 2 oz. semisweet chocolate
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup coffee
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• chocolate crust
• 8 1/2 oz. package of chocolate wafers
• 3 tbsp. butter, melted

Preparation

Step 1

Pie:
Beat egg yolks in top of double boiler with 1 1/2 cups sugar, vanilla, salt and brandy over simmering water until pale yellow and thick, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from water and set aside. Melt both types of chocolate in double boiler over hot water. When melted, remove from water and beat in butter, a bit at a time. Gradually beat chocolate into egg yolk mixture until smooth., Chocolate will congeal and become very stiff. Beat in coffee.

Beat egg whites (at room temperature) into soft peaks. Gradually beat in 3 tbsp. sugar, until stiff peaks form. Beat in 1 cup of the beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to thin it, then carefully fold in remaining beaten egg whites until thoroughly incorporated. Whip the cream until stiff and gently fold into chocolate mixture. Pour into prepared crust and chill overnight in refrigerator.

Crust:
Grind wafers in blender until crumbs are very fine. Combine butter with crumbs and pat into sides and bottom of a buttered 9x2 1/2" springform pan. Bake at 325 degrees 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.