French Silk Pie

Do you guys have those moments in your life that you always think back to when you’re referencing past events? Like…was that before or after my first child was born? Was that before or after we moved across the country? Or got married? Or started a new job or bought a house?

Five years ago (and honestly, in so many ways, it feels like a lifetime ago), my husband and I had just moved to Louisiana. We had a 3-year-old who is now 8 (yes, I can do simple math) and a baby who is now 5 (again with the simple math). We were living in a teeeeeny tiny little rental house, the economy was on the verge of collapsing, and I didn’t know a single soul.

On the other side of the country, there was my friend Sara, who had a 2-year-old and was verypregnant with her second baby.

And we just decided to start putting recipes up on a blog, just for fun, kind of to keep ourselves sane.

I don’t know about the sane part, but the blog part is still here, 5 years, one name change (who’s been here since we were The Daily Bite??), at least 4 logo designs, 2 cookbooks, and 793 recipes later.

There’s no way to explain what a blessing this blog has been in our lives. It’s forced us to learn things we never thought we’d have to learn, do scary and wonderful things we never thought we’d do, and get to know people we never would have the chance to meet otherwise. You guys, if we didn’t have people reading this, this whole blog project would have fallen to the wayside a long time ago. You have read and loved and supported us, you’ve cooked and laughed and cried with us and we truly can’t thank you enough. For all those of you who we’ve had the chance to meet, or talk to, or email, we’ve loved it. For those of you who lurk in the shadows, that’s okay–we love you, too.

We’re not Oprah, so giving everyone a car is out of the question. Instead, I’m giving you pie. The catch is that you have to make it yourself.

I have not had French Silk Pie since I was a single lass in college and my roommate Sara (not Our Best Bites Sara…our only experience with being roommates is two nights in a hotel in Des Moines) made it so our apartment could impress an apartment full of guys. Why haven’t I made it in the past…um…12 1/2 years (it hurts to write those numbers)? Because it has raw eggs in it. And you guys know how I feel about cooked eggs, let alone raw eggs.

The whole raw egg issue is a hot topic. We’ve talked raw eggs before and opinions on the safety of raw eggs is all over the map. Here are the opinions and options you’re likely to run across (DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE NOT OUR BEST BITES’ OPINIONS! If you eat raw eggs and get sick and sue us, that’ll be a bummer for everyone!):

1) The chance of contracting salmonella from raw eggs is very small, so don’t worry about it.
2) If you eat raw farm-fresh eggs, you should be fine.
3) French people eat raw eggs all the time and they’re fine. Anyone who worries about contracting diseases from raw eggs are pansies. Now go away or they shall taunt us a second time.
3) If you wash eggs with antibacterial soap, it will kill the germs.
4) You can “pasteurize” the eggs by an elaborate microwave method that probably works and sounds like something that would make me not want to eat eggs for 10 years.
5) You can buy pasteurized eggs that are safe to eat raw.

I personally have never known anyone to get sick from eating raw eggs, but I still don’t do it or advocate it., but I have deep-rooted egg-related neuroses that may require therapy. And up until recently, I haven’t been able to find pasteurized eggs, until I stumbled (not literally…that would have been messy) upon them at my beloved Kroger.

They are expensive. For me, they’re not everyday eggs. But I can be 95% okay with eating French Silk Pie now, until I actually eat it, at which point I am 123% okay with eating it because it is the most delicious and decadent and best pie of all the pies.

For the crust, you’re going to need a stick of cold, salted butter, grated with a cheese grater…

all-purpose flour, brown sugar, salt, and pecans that have been finely chopped or ground (not into pecan butter, just into crumbs) in a blender or food processor.

Preheat oven to 325. Butter, grease, or spray a 9″ pie plate and set aside.

Combine the crust ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and combine with your fingers until coarse crumbs form.

Press into the prepared pie plate, using your fingers or the base of a glass to evenly form a crust.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is becoming golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the filling, you’ll need 1 1/2 sticks of salted butter, 1 cup sugar, vanilla, 3 eggs, and 3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate that’s been melted and cooled (so it’s still liquid, just not hot chocolatey liquid).

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the 1 1/2 sticks of butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the melted chocolate

and mix until combined.

Add 1 egg and beat for 5 minutes. Add the second egg and beat for another 5 minutes, and then add the third egg, beating for another 5 minutes. Yes, that is 15 minutes of beating. No, you may not cheat and not mix it for that long; only sadness will befall you. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Using a rubber spatula, scrape the chocolate filling into the pie crust.

Carefully cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, top with sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Makes 8 slices.

Thank you guys, again, for 5 of the most amazing years of our lives! Here’s to many more years of delicious fun-filled blog friendship in the future!