From Craig Claiborne with Pierre Franey, from The New York Times, 1981
A short while ago we were asked if there was such a thing as a mud pie, and we offered a vague definition from a book that spoke of a creation from Mississippi: a chocolate-cookie crust filled with chocolate or coffee-brandy ice cream. To our enormous surprise, the printed question and answer elicited scores of recipes from all over the nation, not only for Mississippi mud pies but for mud cakes as well. Both of them, as readers warned us, are sinfully rich.
The Mississippi pie, with its dominant, emphatic chocolate flavor, may be served lukewarm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. If allowed to cool, the filling becomes almost like a fine chocolate candy. The mud-pie recipe below is that of Dorothy Ann Webb, a native Mississippian.
Our version of the Mississippi cake, a cocoa-and-nut creation with a baked marshmallow topping and a cocoa-and-pecan icing, is the result of blending many recipes received from readers.
Ingredients
- Pastry for a 9-inch pie (see recipe)
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
- 3 ounces (squares) unsweetened chocolate
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons Karo light corn syrup
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Vanilla ice cream (optional)
For the 9-inch Pie Crust:
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 6 tablespoons cold butter
- 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a 9-inch pie tin with pastry.
- Combine the butter and chocolate in a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring often, until melted and blended.
- Beat the eggs until light and frothy. Stir in the syrup, sugar and vanilla. Pour in the chocolate mixture, stirring.
- Pour the filling into the prepared pie tin.
- Place in the oven and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is slightly crunchy and the filling is set. Do not overcook. The filling should remain soft inside. This is best served warm with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on top, but it is excellent served at room temperature or cold.
For the 9-inch Pie Crust:
- Put the flour and sugar into a food processor. Cut the butter into small bits and add to the food processor.
- Start processing and gradually add the water. Add only enough water until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.
- Note: If a food processor is not available, place the flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the butter cut into small bits. Cut it in with two knives or a pastry blender until mixture looks like coarse oatmeal. Add the water, stirring quickly with a fork.
