Mississippi Mud Pie

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Working as a personal trainer and moonlighting as a chocolate addict isn't the easiest way of life. I feel like I probably should be working out till I drop and counting calories every day, but as Tuesday night rolls around and I'm driving home from work at 7pm, I'm starting to crave something chocolatey, nutty, warm and delicious... Maybe a plain, simple chocolate cake? Brownies? Blondies? Cupcakes?

Wednesday morning starts to the sound of my alarm at 5:50am. Off I go for my morning workout (with visions of chocolate still dancing through my head), followed by a day of training clients and organising fitness challenges, and when I finally arrive home 11 hours later, my craving has only intensified. Apparently Sous-Jeff is struggling with a lack of chocolatey goodness too, because suddenly we find ourselves trying to quell the craving with a small bowl of ice-cream. No deal.

Thursday morning's alarm goes off again at 5:50am. I'm half way through my day at work, and suddenly I know exactly what's going down tonight. Mississippi Mud Pie. Yeah. I quickly send a text to Sous-Jeff to give him the heads up. His reply is that he'll spend a little extra time in the gym this arvo. 

Fast forward a few hours (and workouts), and dinner is finished, grocery shopping is done, and it's pie time.  I pull out a fabulous little cookbook that Ms Em bought me and get to it! This recipe is taken from the I ❤ SUGAR cook book (I've made a few slight alterations), and it is fabulous!

CRUMB CRUST:

• 140g plain biscuits (I favour Arrowroots)
• 75g pecans, chopped
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 85g butter, melted

FILLING:

• 225g butter
• 200g milk cooking chocolate
• 125ml golden syrup
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 100g pecans, chopped

And here's how to put them together...

Preheat oven to 180°C, and lightly grease a 23cm (9 inch) round springform tin.


To make crust: Put the biscuits, pecans and sugar into a food processor or blender, and process until fine crumbs form. Then add in melted butter and process until just moistened. Tip the crumb mixture into the tin and press over base, and a 3 - 4cm up the sides. Cover the tin and chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

 To make the filling: put the butter, chocolate (broken/chopped up into bits) and the golden syrup into a saucepan over low heat, and stir until melted, blended and smooth. This step of the recipe is where Sous-Jeff comes in - he is always put in charge of melting the chocolate, mostly because nothing can really go wrong. Kitchen Bug is generally found sitting by his feet at this point, just incase some chocolate miraculously jumps out of the saucepan and lands on his tongue. Stranger things have happened in our kitchen.

Leave the mixture to cool, then beat in the eggs, and then stir in the pecans. Pour the filling into the chilled crumb crust.

Into the oven for 30 minutes, or until just set. You can cook it for a little longer, but personally I prefer it to be a little soft and fudgy in the middle, as you can see by my photos...

 
Verdict? Yum. Sous-Jeff's verdict? I need more. Now. PLEASE!!!! For a recipe that's meant to serve 12 - 14 people, our pie is divided into 9 pieces, with Sous-Jeff and I devouring 2 pieces each (already mentally planning Friday morning's mega workout in my head to atone for this), 4 pieces get packed into a tub for Sous-Jeff to take to work and share around tomorrow, and I slice gets left for me to photograph in better light in the morning. That slice is now gone. 

Although the recipe recommends leaving it to cool completely before serving chilled or at room temperature, I'd highly recommend serving it warm. It's still pretty darn good the next day, cooled off, but fresh out of the over is the best! Enjoy :)