Come winters and the craving to bake and eat desserts grows stronger for me. I just wish to have some dessert after every meal. I know, this might not sound a healthy habit. I try to eat desserts in moderation. And sometimes, even a small bite of jaggery does the trick. But other times, I yearn for something indulgent too, like a boozy nutty dessert. And I believe it’s perfectly normal to eat pie during these festive months of winters. And it’s even more delicious when it has got some booze in it. This rum & raisin chocolate walnut pie, which I am going to write about today is one such hell of delicious and indulgent festive dessert. Rum & raisin – the perfect partners. I remember this as my favourite ice cream flavour from good old college days. I once made some chocolate truffles too with rum, and I remember them being delicious. It could be the booze for sure, which just perked up the flavours. And it did the magic this time as well. The crust has got walnuts and whole wheat flour which gives it a nutty flavour. And the chocolate custard filling laced with rum soaked raisins and crunchy toasted walnuts is decadent and moreish. And this being the festive time of the year, you could try your hands at some beautiful pie crust designs. I just followed a video on youtube to learn how to make simple fluted pie crust. And it was easier than I had thought. It just made me feel like a pro at making pie crusts…haha. In the end all I needed was some pouring cream to take me into the dessert heaven.
- 150 gm walnut kernels, roughly chopped
- 200 gm raisins, finely chopped
- 100 ml dark rum
- 50 gm unsalted butter
- 100 gm dark chocolate (about 70% cocoa), chopped
- 4 large eggs
- 150 gm muscovado sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 gm walnut kernels
- 150 gm plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
- 100 gm whole wheat flour
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
- 150 gm cold unsalted butter, in cubes
- 1 large egg yolk
- For the filling, in a bowl, pour dark rum over chopped raisins and set aside to let soak.
- Meanwhile, to make the pastry, whiz the walnut pieces into a food processor to fine powder, then add both the flours, icing sugar and a pinch of salt and whiz briefly to mix. Add the butter and whiz again until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and whiz until the pastry just starts to come together. Mould the pastry into flat disc and wrap in cling film and chill it for 15 minutes.
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use it to line a 23-24 cm pie tin. Create crust design. Refer to notes for the youtube video I followed to create fluted crust. Chill the pastry case for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter and the chocolate together for the filling in a bowl set over a pan of boiling water, then take the bowl off the heat, stir and leave to cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract. Add the melted butter and chocolate and a pinch of salt. Add the soaked raisins and walnuts and mix well.
- Line the pastry case with nonstick baking paper and ceramic baking beans, then bake it, on a baking tray, for 15 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. Carefully remove the paper and beans, and return the pastry case to the oven for a further 3-5 minutes to dry out the centre of the pastry. Remove the baked pie case from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 180°C.
- Pour the filling into the baked pie case and return the pie to the oven to bake for 40 minutes.
- Serve the pie warm with pouring cream.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcQGja6jpbE&t=134s