Someone asked for a recipe for French Silk Pie. This pie is ubiquitous
but seldom the real thing. It has gone the way of Key Lime Pie I fear.
I made this pie often as a youngster in the late 1950s. The recipe was
from one of my mother's Pillsbury Bake-Off annual pamphlets. I do not
have the pamphlet, however, I have a copy of Pillsbury's Best 1000
Recipes (Barb Schaller also has a copy of this wonderful book.) The
book is a consolidation of the annual booklets from 1949-1959.

French Silk Chocolate Pie was a Best of Class Winner by Mrs. K. E.
Cooper of Silver Springs, Maryland. I do not know in what year she
won. But here is the recipe:

"A magnificent chocolate pie--rich, creamy smooth and luscious, and
you don't cook the filling."

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes Makes 8-inch pie

Prepare recipe for One-Crust Pastry, using 8-inch pie pan; bake as
directed

Cream 1.2 cup butter or margarine [editoral comment here...this was
the 1950s. Do not use margarine if you make this pie. It must be real
butter] Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, creaming well

Blend in 2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened chocolate, melted and
thoroughly cooled, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add 2 eggs, one at a time; beat 5 minutes after each. (With mixer use
medium speed.)

Turn into pie shell. Chill 2 hours. Top with whipped cream and walnuts
if desired.

The photograph in the book shows the pie with a rim of whipped cream
and whole walnuts placed about 3 inches apart so that each piece of
cut pie gets one walnut.

It is important to make your own pastry dough. Do not buy a ready made
shell unless you are absolutely afraid to tackle pie dough...and I
know that there are many who are terrified of the thought of such an
undertaking.

I will also confess to altering the recipe over the years. I add a
third square (oz.) of chocolate because I prefer a more chocolate pie.
I also add mint extract to the filling when I add the vanilla. I frost
the entire top of the pie with whipped cream and decorate the top with
chocolate curls. And I happily skip the walnuts.

Now I wonder if Mrs. Cooper is still alive and if she realizes that
her recipe has become such a famous American dessert standard?

After reading the post I downloaded the recipe & bought all the
ingredients per the instructions.

Problem:
Unfortunately it appears to have a granular look (it does not taste
granular).
I am positive I whipped it long enough (it really looked good until I
added the last 2 oz. of egg).
Any idea as to why I got the granular look?
I will make it again, but would like to avoid whatever the problem was.
Cordially
ypauls


"MisNomer" > wrote in message
...
> I got a little confused by the 1.2 cups of butter, so looked for the
recipe at
> pillsbury. (maybe my newsreader changed the font or something)
>
> http://www.pillsbury.com/recipesearc...p?recipeID=469
>
> It looks like it won 1000$ prize in 1951 and has a rating of almost 5
stars!
>
> This newsgroup is so much fun! This is definatly a "maker" right after
Martha's
> chocolate and ginger cookies.
>
> take care
> Liz
>
>
>
>
> Hey! Look what (Anne Bourget) wrote :
>
> >Someone asked for a recipe for French Silk Pie. This pie is ubiquitous
> >but seldom the real thing. It has gone the way of Key Lime Pie I fear.
> >I made this pie often as a youngster in the late 1950s. The recipe was
> >from one of my mother's Pillsbury Bake-Off annual pamphlets. I do not
> >have the pamphlet, however, I have a copy of Pillsbury's Best 1000
> >Recipes (Barb Schaller also has a copy of this wonderful book.) The
> >book is a consolidation of the annual booklets from 1949-1959.
>

After reading the post I downloaded the recipe & bought all the
ingredients per the instructions.

Problem:
Unfortunately it appears to have a granular look (it does not taste
granular).
I am positive I whipped it long enough (it really looked good until I
added the last 2 oz. of egg).
Any idea as to why I got the granular look?
I will make it again, but would like to avoid whatever the problem was.
Cordially
ypauls


"MisNomer" > wrote in message
...
> I got a little confused by the 1.2 cups of butter, so looked for the
recipe at
> pillsbury. (maybe my newsreader changed the font or something)
>
> http://www.pillsbury.com/recipesearc...p?recipeID=469
>
> It looks like it won 1000$ prize in 1951 and has a rating of almost 5
stars!
>
> This newsgroup is so much fun! This is definatly a "maker" right after
Martha's
> chocolate and ginger cookies.
>
> take care
> Liz
>
>
>
>
> Hey! Look what (Anne Bourget) wrote :
>
> >Someone asked for a recipe for French Silk Pie. This pie is ubiquitous
> >but seldom the real thing. It has gone the way of Key Lime Pie I fear.
> >I made this pie often as a youngster in the late 1950s. The recipe was
> >from one of my mother's Pillsbury Bake-Off annual pamphlets. I do not
> >have the pamphlet, however, I have a copy of Pillsbury's Best 1000
> >Recipes (Barb Schaller also has a copy of this wonderful book.) The
> >book is a consolidation of the annual booklets from 1949-1959.
>

On 2004-03-17, ypauls > wrote:

> Unfortunately it appears to have a granular look (it does not taste
> granular).
> I am positive I whipped it long enough (it really looked good until I
> added the last 2 oz. of egg).

You may have added the eggs while the chocolate was still too warm and the
eggs broke (scrambled). This would explain the grainy look without the
grainy feel. OTOH, it may have been the pasturized egg/fake egg product
thing. Try it with a couple real eggs.


nb

On 2004-03-17, ypauls > wrote:

> Unfortunately it appears to have a granular look (it does not taste
> granular).
> I am positive I whipped it long enough (it really looked good until I
> added the last 2 oz. of egg).

You may have added the eggs while the chocolate was still too warm and the
eggs broke (scrambled). This would explain the grainy look without the
grainy feel. OTOH, it may have been the pasturized egg/fake egg product
thing. Try it with a couple real eggs.


nb