One of my favorite pies as a child was French Silk. For special occasions our family would go to Poppin’ Fresh Pies, and I’d get their French Silk for dessert. Eventually, Poppin’ Fresh Pies (which was owned by Pillsbury) was bought out by Bakers Square. My little brain was concerned that the French Silk pie wouldn’t taste as good, but it did.
*Photo Source: Bakers Square
When we moved to Minnesota, there was no Bakers Square nearby. In our town we had a Perkins Restaurant and Bakery. Their French Silk pie was quite disappointing, so I didn’t order it often. Eventually, I stopped ordering chocolate pie all together. I always ended up disappointed.
When I decided to start the Thursday Pie Project, I found Ree Drummond’s French Silk pie recipe. I knew I had to try it. I just hoped that it was as good, or better, than the French Silk I loved as a child.
Lloyd doesn’t love sweets, and when we met he insisted he didn’t like chocolate. Yet, he loves a good Dunkaccino and hot cocoa, so I started sneaking chocolate into our lives. I’ve decided that he didn’t know what good chocolate was before he met me. It’s kind of like fish and me. I grew up thinking I hated fish, but it turned out that when I moved to New England and tasted fresh fish, I actually do like it.
I treaded carefully with Lloyd when I proposed French Silk pie as our second pie in the project. He thought it was a good idea, so I went ahead.
I started my pie crust a little over-confident, and hit a few hiccups along the way. The first was my bowl choice. Turns out that while this white bowl may hold the same volume as the ladybug bowl I used last week, the deepness was not my friend.
Still loving the beauty of the flour after being sifted. I promise I won’t show a photo of sifted flour each week. I’m still marveling over my non-sifter-ownage prior to this project.
My second hiccup came as I skipped re-reading the instructions of the first few steps of making the crust and dumped my Crisco (the fat) and water in at the same time. I knew something was not right when my crust wasn’t looking like peas (which I did remember from the instructions). At that point, I went back and looked at the instructions and thought, “Oops.” I didn’t want to waste the ingredients, so I decided to move ahead and use it as a learning experience. Spoiler alert: it didn’t completely ruin the crust. I probably won’t make that mistake again, though.
Balled and ready to roll out. I love the beautiful mess that pie crust from scratch makes.
One of my goals for this week was to try to roll my crust into more of a circle shape and also have not ask many breaks around the edges. I did ok. I’ll continue to work on it, but I do think it was better than last week.
Folded and ready to go in the pie plate. A friend suggested last week that I lightly roll the pie crust onto the rolling pin, then unroll it over the pie plate. Since I post these updates a week after I’ve made the pie, I’ll have to try that next time. This pie crust was already made when I got that comment. I’m looking forward to trying it, though!
Not bad, though, placing it the pie plate. Only a few breaks around the edges.
I used a different pie plate this week. I wanted something a little deeper for the filling of this pie. But, much like the bowl, I probably shouldn’t have mixed things up so early in the project.
That said, though, it fluted lovely.
But when I baked it, the sides collapsed a bit. I’m not totally sure why, so I’d love feedback from those more experienced with making pie crust from scratch.
My Kitchen Aid (named Thelma) is getting a fair amount of use with this project, which is a lot of fun. I do love Thelma! I didn’t take any photos while making the filling. You can see Ree Drummond’s post for detailed photographs of that process. One little comment, though: the recipe calls for bittersweet baking chocolate that is melted, but cooled. I dipped my (just washed) finger in to test the temp, then licked the chocolate off my finger. That was a little jarring, as it was quite bitter! I won’t make that mistake again. Actually, I did make that mistake again, shortly after making it the first time. I may not learn that lesson.
If you make this pie, definitely lick the whisk when you’re done. YUM!
After it chilled, it was time to take final photographs (I remembered this week!) and eat!
After all that hard work making everything from scratch, I was lazy with the whipped cream. Also, I had no chocolate left to shave on the top. I’d probably lose points in presentation for those two bits, but it was still quite lovely. And the most important part? Taste! I’m sure you’re all waiting with baited breath. Was it as good as Bakers Square? Definitely. I’d even go as far to say that it was better. Thank you, Ree Drummond, for a far-from-disappointing French Silk pie recipe!
Today’s pie stats:
- Pie #2
- Crust: Family recipe
- Pie recipe: French Silk Pie by Ree Drummond (available at Pioneer Woman Cooks)
- Valerie’s verdict: Divine. Fulfilled my French Silk pie hopes and dreams
- Lloyd’s verdict: More rich than sweet–Liked it
- Goal for next pie: Try rolling the pie crust on the rolling pin to move to pie plate
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