Chocolate Chess Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is chocolate chess pie made of? ›

Chess pie is a custard pie and typically combines eggs, sugar, butter, flour, sometimes a little cornmeal, buttermilk, vinegar, and/or flavorings such as vanilla, lemon, or chocolate.

One story is that it was called a "chest" pie, since it was made with anything found in your chest, or pantry, but because of the Southern accent, it turned into "chess." Another story is that a woman who whipped up the recipe called it "just pie," which with the Southern accent, it turned into "chess" pie.

Though it's not always called upon to thicken the filling, cornmeal is frequently what gives a chess pie it's velvety texture and yellow color. Buttermilk pie, meanwhile, always has buttermilk. More acids, like lemon juice or vinegar, are also frequently added to brighten up the recipe even more.

Chess pie is thickened with cornmeal (and sometimes a little bit of all-purpose flour!), whereas buttermilk pies uses only all-purpose flour. Many buttermilk recipes will play up the tartness, with added lemon juice and zest, giving it a pleasant citrus flavor.

Actually, this pie got its name simply because it's addictive like crack (yes!); and then it landed on our table. The pie was insanity-sweet, rich, buttery, and certainly tasty though quite heavy.

Chop 24 ounces semisweet chocolate; microwave three-quarters of the chocolate in 30-second intervals, stirring until melted. Add the remaining chocolate; stir until smooth. Fill 2 molds with the chocolate using a piping bag; scrape off the excess. Freeze 15 minutes, then pop out the pieces.

You can also think of pecan pie as an extension of chess pie, with brown sugar and corn syrup taking the place of granulated sugar and pecans adding nuttiness and crunch. And then there is Kentucky bourbon and walnut pie (aka Derby pie), which adds Bourbon, chocolate, and walnuts to the chess pie formula.

Both versions are finished with buttery, brown sugar crumbs. Pie lore offers two explanations for its unusual name. The simple one is that flies get stuck in the sticky-sweet molasses, so bakers must shoo them away. The second explanation is that the pie was named after the 19th-century “Shoofly” brand of molasses.

The player who made the first move becomes the second player and makes the second move on the board. This is demonstrated in the chess diagrams shown here. Switching the first piece can occur in games where the board starts empty and the first move consists of placing one piece.

Chestnut flour, which may be the reason behind chess pie's name, is available at Whole Foods Markets, health food stores and online. MAKE AHEAD: The pies can be held at room temperature for up to 24 hours, then refrigerate for up to 3 days. From Donovan, pastry chef and food writer in Nashville.

Why cornmeal in chess pie? ›

Ingredients for Chess Pie

Sugar: Adds sweetness and thickness to the custard. Cornmeal: Along with flour, cornmeal helps thicken up the chess pie's custard.

There are many theories but nothing definitive about how the term chess came to be associated with pie. Egg custard pie, chess pie and buttermilk pie all are variations on the same basic recipe: Eggs, sugar and milk with a little bit of flour for thickening.

The English word "pasty" derives from Medieval French (O.Fr. paste from V. Lat pasta) for a pie, filled with venison, salmon or other meat, vegetables or cheese, baked without a dish. Pasties have been mentioned in cookbooks throughout the ages.

Name change

Some food writers and others have criticized naming foods including Crack Pie after addictive substances as insensitive and offensive. In May 2019, Devra First of the Boston Globe criticized the name in a column for making light of addiction by alluding to the addictiveness of crack cocaine.

Chess pie might have a more pronounced eggy flavor if it's overcooked.

What Does a Chess Pie Taste Like? Chess pie is sweet and rich, with a lovely vanilla flavor and a beautifully caramelized top. The crust is flaky, and the filling gets chewy on the edges, which might just be the best part!

It's made with sugar, a little cornstarch, whole milk, egg yolks, vanilla, butter, and the star of the show, bittersweet chocolate. You make the filling on your stovetop and pour it into the baked (and cooled) pie crust. Then it goes into the fridge to set up.

Ingredients: Apples (apples, Ascorbic Acid, Salt, Citric Acid), Enriched Flour (bleached Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Palm Oil, Water, Apple Juice Concentrate, Modified Food Starch, Invert Syrup, Contains 2% Or Less: Yeast, Salt, Cinnamon, Sunflower Lecithin, ...