French Silk Chocolate Pie

This is the dessert Garrick and I brought to Thursday night dinner. And it was incredible. Our friends said it was the best chocolate pie they've ever had and raved about it all night. They even took a couple of pieces for the next day! It's a little involved, but totally worth it. And it's so rich and velvety.

French Silk Chocolate Pie
From The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2010

1 pie crust (I bought a package of 2 at the store and froze the 2nd)
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and softened

1. Move an oven rack to the lowest position, and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll the dough out, place in a 9-inch pie plate, folding the excess under and using one index finger to press the dough into the other hand's pinched thumb and index finger to flute the edges. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
2. Remove the pie plate from the refrigerator, line the crust with heavy-duty foil, and fill with pie weights (dried beans are a classic). Bake on the low rack for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights, rotate the pie plate, and bake until the crust is golden brown and crisp, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
3. In a large bowl, whip the cream with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and continue to whip until the cream forms stiff peaks, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer whipped cream to a small bowl and refrigerate.
4. Combine the eggs, sugar, and water in a large heatproof bowl set over a medium saucepan filled with 1/2 inch of barely simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water). With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat until the egg mixture is thickened and registers 160 degrees, 7 to 10 minutes (*this will about double the size of the ingredients, so make sure you choose a large enough bowl to start). Remove bowl from the heat and continue to beat the egg mixture until fluffy and cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes.
5. Add the chocolate and vanilla to the cooled egg mixture, a few pieces at a time, until well combined. Using a spatula, fold in the whipped cream until no streaks of white remain. Scrape the filling into the pie shell and refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve.

Like I said, it's a little involved, but relatively cheap to make and so very, very tasty. My pie shell ended up being a little too small for all the filling, so poor me had to just put the filling in a container and take it in my lunch for dessert the next day. Boo hoo.

This week it's our turn to host dinner. I'm thinking about doing a 3-course dinner. Course 1: Cucumber Watermelon Soup (refreshing and a palate cleanser) Course 2: Bifteck Saute Bearnaise (Pan-broiled Steak with Bearnaise Sauce)  a la Mastering the Art of French Cooking with potato balls sauteed in butter and green beans Course 3: Dessert and espresso drinks. What do you think? Sound good? I have the day off so I might actually have the time to make this :)