Brittany’s Baking Stories: Not Just Pie
June: Chocolate Chess Pie
So the legend goes that the name “chess” pie came from someone hearing a Southern cook, either a freed slave or still enslaved—it’s not clear—saying “just” pie. I think I randomly tried chocolate chess pie from a store in North Carolina and I haven’t forgotten how good it was. And because the cost of things are rising, I wanted something simple with not a lot of ingredients.
I got this recipe from Jocelyn at Grandbaby Cakes. I was wary about melting chocolate and I was right to be wary. I don’t think my sugar melted properly in the chocolate. The first slice of pie was excellent, rich and chocolatey, but some other slices had gummy bits. I think they’re from the sugar that didn’t completely melt on the stove. So I’ll be looking for cocoa powder versions of this recipe or I’ll switch the sweetener to maple syrup. I’ll also try pre baking the pie crust, which was store bought. I think I will try my hand at making pie crust later.
Naturally, I burned my first chocolate and butter mixture so I made it again. I might have not let the butter melt long enough so the chocolate might not have been hot enough to melt the sugar. I can’t figure out what went wrong with the pie and I just have to know.
Overall the pie is simple to make, but I had some struggles. The perfectionist in me wants to remake the pie and since I have enough ingredients to do so, I just might. I can’t find who originally said it, but practice makes progress. So while I’ll might not master this pie the second time around, I’ll learn what went wrong the first time. And then maybe after trying again, I can do better with the crust because it looks crazy.
And for writing advice: practice makes progress. I knew writing a novel was hard, but I understood how hard it was after actually writing the first draft. I’ve written several drafts for a young adult novel that will probably never see the light of day. But it helped me improve my skills and I got a better understanding of the process. I switched to short stories because novels are a lot of work, but short stories aren’t necessarily easier. I can just finish and make new drafts more quickly. And putting together a short story collection isn’t easy either hence why mine isn’t done.
Here’s the recipe – https://grandbaby-cakes.com/chocolate-chess-pie/
As always, happy baking and happy writing!
