Let’s Eat: Sweeten up Halloween parties with chocolate
By Heidi Sutton
Everyone knows that Halloween dishes up sweets galore. Trick-or-treaters come home with bounties of chocolate bars, candy, gum, licorice, and much more inside of their bags.
Even though trick-or-treat treasures are the stars of the show, when hosting Halloween parties, desserts also can be top notch, and guests often look forward to chocolate treats on the dessert table.
This year, Halloween hosts can serve up a slice of Chocolate Fudge Pie from “Real Simple: Dinner Tonight Done!” from the editors of Real Simple and ghosts will rise from the dead for the chocolaty Monster Mash Mudslide courtesy of Culinary.net.
Chocolate Fudge Pie
YIELD: Makes 8 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 pie crust (store-bought or homemade), fitted into a 9-inch pie plate
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped, plus more shaved, for topping
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1⁄8 teaspoon kosher salt
1⁄2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
11⁄2 cups heavy cream
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 375 F. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet. Prick the crust with a fork and line with foil. Fill to the top with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges are firm, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake until just golden, 8 to 10 minutes more. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.
Meanwhile, in a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring often, until smooth; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, salt, and 1⁄2 cup of the sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Fold one-third of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder.
Pour the mixture into the crust and bake until puffed and beginning to crack, 20 to 25 minutes. Cook for 1 hour, then chill until firm, at least 2 hours.
Beat the cream with the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar on medium high-speed until soft peaks form. Spread over the pie and sprinkle with the shaved chocolate.
Monster Mash Mudslide
YIELD: Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups lowfat chocolate milk
10 chocolate wafer cookies, coarsely broken
1/2 cup frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
8 mini chocolate chips or mini chocolate candies (orange/brown color recommended)
DIRECTIONS:
In blender, blend chocolate milk and chocolate wafer cookies until smooth. Heat mixture in saucepan or microwave until just heated through.
To serve, pour chocolate milk mixture into 4 glasses. For each serving, spoon a large, upright dollop of whipped topping to resemble a ghost. Insert chocolate chips or chocolate candies into dollop for eyes.
Note: To enjoy a cold mudslide, do not heat in saucepan or microwave.
