Whenever I bake, it is cookies for builders, delivered warm as they work hard in the sun or snow or rain; a small respite during a hard work day. I always package cookies and bars in bags of 6, freeze some and deliver the rest. That way, if I see someone who looks like they need a treat, it is right there in the freezer. I rarely make a large pie, but four small tins.
Russ' birthday was on Saturday and I took him to Dalton Ranch for dinner. The restaurant made him a birthday dessert... chocolate moose draped in a white chocolate sauce (OMG!!!) and the next day the memory of 'yummy' kept nagging at me; I needed to make moose.
I had 3 perfect reasons to make chocolate moose; the brawn and care of Rick, Ryan and Darin. I dug around on the net for chocolate moose recipes and decided to make them each a pie. This is a bit of a made up recipe so bare with me.
Note: This easy recipe can be made gluten free using GF cookies. For the chocolate I used half semisweet and half bittersweet (60% Cacao) chips. For the crumb crust you can use any kind of cookie...gingersnap, cinnamon, vanilla, Oreos. I used what the store had, 1/2 vanilla wafers and 1/2 cinnamon wafers.
To Begin:
Butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch-diameter springform pan, a 9" pie plate or 3 small pie plates.
For Crust:
1 1/2 cups finely ground cookie crumbs
1 stick of butter
Finely grind cookies in food processor. Melt butter in a sauce pan, add crumbs and mix until mixture is evenly moistened. Spray or butter bottom and sides of pan(s). Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of the pan(s) to form a thin crust. Now you can choose. Just put in the fridge to harden a bit or bake crust 5 minutes at 350. If you bake, transfer crust to rack and cool completely.
For Mousse:
12 oz. chocolate chips, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
3 cups chilled whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
Process chocolate chips, salt and vanilla in food processor as best you can. Bring 1 cup cream to a beginning stage boil in heavy small saucepan. With processor running, gradually pour hot cream through feed tube and process until chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool for a bit.
Beat 2 cups cream and sugar in large bowl to stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture. Pour mousse into prepared crust. Chill until set, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.)
You can put on a whipped cream topping or go jiffy and used canned whipped cream to make a quick design. About once every 10 years I buy a CAN of whipped cream, but for this I was on a timeline and went for jiffy.
Ummmmmmmmmmm.
I never did take a picture of the little pies, so you will have to use your imagination.