The Boozy Ingredient That Makes For A Wonderfully Rich Chocolate Pie

The delicious layers of flavor and texture in a chocolate cream pie make it one of the most luscious desserts you can enjoy. You have a silky and creamy chocolate pudding topped with fluffy and sweet whipped cream layered in a crumbly and sugary cookie crust. What more do you need? If you want a more decadent pie, the chocolate cream needs a boost from the same product that might provide you with liquid courage: a bottle of red wine.

When you incorporate red wine into your chocolate pie recipe, its flavor profile will transform to have an unbeatable deliciousness. After you've baked your pie crust, combine cornstarch, sugar, and wine in a pan. Let the mixture cook over medium heat while you continuously stir it until it thickens, then blend in your chopped chocolate, butter, and a touch of salt. Add this filling to your chocolate pie crust, and once the formed pie has cooled in your fridge after four hours, you'll have an incredibly rich dessert waiting for you to devour. So, what kind of red wine should you use to elevate your chocolate pie to a fancy and delicious treat?

Many chocolate pie recipes call for milk, egg, and vanilla extract as liquid ingredients. However, for a boozy chocolate pie, red wine should be your only liquid ingredient, and you should use a whole bottle of it. And since you'll be mixing all that red wine with only a few other ingredients in your chocolate pie recipe, its flavor won't disappear. When you take a bite of this pie, the flavor of the wine will tantalize your taste buds. And if you're going for a chocolate pie that is truly decadent and elegant, then you should use a good bottle of red wine in your recipe — you will taste the difference.

It may seem like a weird way to use red wine, but infusing this boozy ingredient in your chocolate pie will give your dessert a rich layer of flavor. If you use a nice pinot noir in your recipe, it will infuse your pie with some strawberry and raspberry notes. Opt for a good bottle of merlot, and your chocolate pie will likely have a taste of blackberries and plum, enhancing the chocolatey flavor. A great Zinfandel will give your pie tones of blackberry, blackcurrant, and raspberry. Once your red wine chocolate pie is chilled, it's time to top it off.

The goal is to make a chocolate cream pie with a chocolate cookie crust that is as rich as possible, and several toppings can help you achieve this flavorful result. Typically, chocolate pie is topped with whipped cream. But you can put a twist on this convention by topping your dessert with chocolate whipped cream for extra chocolatey goodness. You can also give your pie another layer of creaminess and cocoa with a layer of hot fudge underneath the creamy filling.

The classic topping for a chocolate cream pie is chocolate shavings and curls, which gives your dessert another chocolate flavor while making it look even more delicious. But no ingredient will make your chocolate cream pie taste more luscious than a good bottle of red. So when your guests tell you that your chocolate cream pie almost tastes too good, credit the wine.