Pi Pie -- Chocolate Meringue Pie

It's here! It's really here! One of the nerdiest holidays ever -- pi day! Naturally pi day is observed every March 14 (3.14) and the celebration of pi kicks off at 1:59 (3.14159...). How does one celebrate pi day? Well, there are many ways.
(1) You could wear a dorky math t-shirt (I'm not even going to tell you how many I have. Suffice it to say, it's more than 1).
(2) You could do some trigonometry-- what is the length of a 24 degree arc of a circle with a radius of 5?*
(3) You could eat some pie! Pizza pie, dessert pie, even quiche! Whatever kind of pie you can find!

To celebrate pi day I decided to make a pie I've been craving for a while -- a chocolate meringue pie. A rich smooth chocolate pie, topped with a light fluffy and not too sweet meringue. This is truly a hit or miss pie -- I've had amazing chocolate meringue pies, and I've had terribly tragic chocolate meringue pies.

Given this chanciness I've had my eyes out for a good chocolate meringue pie recipe for a while, unfortunately none of them looked chocolatey enough for me. How can you call yourself a chocolate pie if all the chocolate in the recipe is 2 T of cocoa powder? Disgraceful.

And then I found this recipe from pie maven. Pie maven really gets pie. And when pie maven makes a chocolate pie, pie maven makes a chocolate pie. None of this smidgeon of cocoa powder nonsense. No. Four whole ounces of honest to goodness chocolate. A chocolate meringue recipe worthy of pi day.

I made some minor adjustments to the recipe entirely based on what I had on hand, and what I ended up with is beautiful. And the bits I tasted when I first licked the spoon (and then um... licked the pan too) have me convinced that it'll be delicious when I bisect its diameter tomorrow and serve it up to fellow pi enthusiasts.

So, happy pi day to all! Let me know how you celebrate! 

*2pi/3, if you're curious

Chocolate Meringue Pie

Pie Crust:
1 1/4 c graham cracker crumbs
6 T melted butter
3 T sugar

Filling:
4 egg yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue)
1/2 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
2 c milk
4 oz coarsely chopped chocolate (I used half bittersweet and half semisweet)

Meringue:
4 egg whites (set aside at room temperature for 10 or 15 minutes, while you make the pie)
1/2 t cream of tartar 
8 T sugar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add the butter and mix well until combined.

Press the mixture into a 9" pie plate, mushing it in against the sides of the plate.

Bake for 8 minutes until it's golden brown, then remove from the oven and set aside. Then reduce the oven temperature down to 350.

Make the filling. First, mix together the cornstarch and the sugar.

Then beat the egg yolks in a saucepan. Sift in the sugar / cornstarch mixture (to prevent lumps) and mix well.

While stirring, add the milk in a constant stream. Give it another stir or two to make sure it's all well incorporated.

Heat over medium heat until the custard has thickened. It took about 5 - 7 minutes, and if you have any doubt that it's thickened keep going. It'll become obviously thicker when it's ready.

Add in the chocolate and stir well, continuing to heat until the chocolate is melted, the custard is thick, and bubbles just start to break the surface.

Pour into the pie crust.

Next, make the meringue. This is easy. Don't panic! There are a few things you need to know about meringue, and if you pay close attention to them you will always get a nice meringue.

(1) Eggs at room tempreature
(2) Cream of tartar is amazing
(3) Use a clean, dry, stainless steel bowl. Whatever you do, don't use plastic.
(4) If fats or oils get into your meringue it'll never rise so be very careful no yolk gets in your egg whites.

Keeping those things in mind, here's what you do.

Beat your eggs and cream of tartar until medium peaks form. Medium peaks mean that the meringue will hold its shape, but the tips generally fold back on themselves. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture. Here's a picture of my mixer instead:

Add in the sugar and continue beating until the sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. You know the sugar is dissolved when you rub a little meringue between your fingers and it doesn't feel grainy, and you know you have stiff peaks when the peaks stand up. It'll also be nice and glossy and shiny.

Use a spatula to spread the meringue over top your custard pie. Be sure to seal the pie (cover all the way to the edges, making sure the custard is covered) to prevent your pie from getting funky.

Bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes, or until your meringue has a nice golden color to it. Check it towards the end to make sure it doesn't burn.

It's best served a few hours after baking at room temperature, but if you make it in advance refrigerate it and then let it stand a room temperature a little bit until you're ready to serve! Enjoy!