Episode 76
November 13, 2011
Kahlua White Russian Pie
The holiday season is right around the corner and if you’re looking for a different kind of pie to bring to the table then have I got the recipe for you. The Kahlua White Russian Pie combines two of my favorite things: Mousse and cocktails.
That’s right, this pie is a mousse! The mousse filling of the pie combines heated egg yolks whipped to ribbon stage (method of prep is similar to making a sabayon sauce), gelatin, a chiffon/meringue, and whipped cream into a light and airy mousse.
The cocktail aspect brings in the white Russian part. If you’re familiar with cocktails, then you know that a black Russian is basically vodka and kahlua. A white Russian adds cream or milk. So to make the mousse a white Russian mousse we add in a little vodka and kahlua. The best part about the recipe is that it is so easy to change up with different flavors and liquors. You could make a monkey’s lunch pie for a more banana flavor. Just be careful not to add too much more liquor than what’s in the recipe. Too much alcohol can cause the gelatin not to set up – and you don’t want to add more liquid than the gelatin can set up.
The crust itself is made up of chocolate teddy grahams just like in the Grasshopper Cheesecake episode. It’s easy to use any kind of cookie for a cookie crumb crust. Simply grind your cookie of choice in a food processor! Just make sure to sift through it with your hands to pull out any chunks of cookie that didn’t get ground up small enough. You want to make sure the crumbs are all about same size.
In this episode I also introduce how to make large chocolate curls. I learned this technique in school and it creates larger more dramatic curls than if you were to simply just shave a chocolate bar. All you need to do is take about 2 ounces of melted tempered chocolate or coating chocolate and spread it to your desired thickness on a 1/4 sheet pan sized piece of parchment paper. Don’t push it all the way to the edge – you should have a good 2-3 inch border between the edge of the chocolate and the edge of the parchment. Allow the chocolate to set up slightly. You’ll know when the chocolate is ready because it will not look as wet as melted chocolate and have a more matte appearance to it. You don’t have to wait for the entire slab of chocolate to set up like this. If you wait too long the chocolate will get too hard. Next take a knife and trim the edges to cut off the uneven edges, then start cutting lines horizontally through the chocolate to create 1/2″ strips. Then cut lines diagonally in 1/2″ strips to create a diamond shape. Take another 1/4 sheet pan sized piece of parchment paper and lay it right on top of the chocolate so the parchment papers line up and then roll it up around a dowel about the girth of a broomstick. Tape the roll shut and then let it set up in the fridge for about 10-30 minutes. Once it’s set up all you have to do is carefully unroll the parchment – the curls should fall right off. (I plan to add a step-by-step picture tutorial to the decorative techniques page soon).
Those chocolate curls are great for decorating pies, cupcakes, cakes, and cookies and are really easy to make. You can even change the size of them by cutting smaller strips.
Here’s the recipe for the Kahlua White Russian Pie and the recipe for the cookie crumb crust. Enjoy the videos below!
