Chocolate Fudge Pie

Do you know what's hard?  All the important stuff.  Like marriage.  And family.  And learning to be selfless.  And figuring out what's right.  And then choosing to do the right thing.  It's exhausting!  So I eat pie.  Really, it's great. This chocolate pie is the dense kind, not the creamy kind.  And the dense kind is the kind you want when you're overwhelmed with the hard stuff in life.  Definitely the dense kind.

Chocolate Fudge Pie
1 piecrust, fitted to a 9-inch pie plate
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 eggs
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Place the pie plate on a baking sheet.  Prick crust with fork and line with foil.  Place pie weights or dried beans on foil.  Bake at 375 degrees until the edges are firm, 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove the foil and weights and bake until just golden, another 8-10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.  Using the double boiler method, melt the chocolate and the butter.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, salt, and 1/2 cup of sugar until fluffy, 4-5 minutes.  Fold a third of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the crust and bake at 325 degrees until puffed and just beginning to crack, 20-25 minutes.  Cool for one hour, then chill.

Beat the cream with the remaning 3 Tbsp of sugar until soft peaks form.  Spread over the pie.

source:  recipe from Real Simple, November 2009