Chocolate Pie

MI went looking for a gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free chocolate pie recipe, and I found several promising ones: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/62705391803/kelly-brozynas-chocolate-pie-raw-graham-cracker, http://www.elanaspantry.com/chocolate-cream-pie/, http://brittanyangell.com/chocolate-orange-mousse-pie-with-a-toasted-coconut-crust-sugarglutendairysoycornegg-free-with-directions-to-make-with-carob-or-flavor-with-peppermint-almond-or-raspberry-in-place-of-the-oran/, and http://www.paleofondue.com/2013/11/14/paleo-chocolate-silk-pie/.  Each of these recipes had features that really appealed to me, and I may have to try them all eventually.  The one on Nom Nom Paleo uses no sugar or other sweeteners, and the crust is made from walnuts and dates.  Elana's Pantry just is very consistent in having good recipes, and tha almond flour crust recipe sounds like a really good substitute for regular pie crusts.  I love the flavors of orange and chocolate together, so Brittany Angell's chocolate-orange mousse pie sounds really good.  But Nancy doesn't like coconut, so I don't want to use that crust.  Then Paleo Fondue's chocolate silk pie uses avocado, which I know from a non-dairy chocolate pudding I've made several times can make a very creamy and delicious filling.

One of the challenges for me in making anything chocolate is avoiding both dairy and soy.  Enjoy Life makes soy- and dairy-free chocolates using rice milk.  And I can use cocoa powder, or chocolate bars that are 100% cocoa.

CRUST INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cut walnut oil (her recipe calls for grapeseed oil)

2 Tbsp honey (or agave nectar if Vegan)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

CRUST COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.  Put dough into 9 1/2 " glass pie plate.  Use hand and fingers to pat into place and shape.  Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until golden.  Let cool.

I mostly used the filling recipe on the Nom Nom Paleo blog for Kelly Brozyna's Chocolate Pie...  But I'm sure hers is much better than mine.  The dates I used weren't so soft, so my filling has small bits of dates and isn't truly smooth.  And my filling is too sweet.  Instead of using the separated cream from two cans of 22% fat coconut milk, I tried using most of a can (1 cup) of cream of coconut.  That has a lot of added sugar and is not the same as coconut cream.  Now I know.  

And because my filling was so sweet and also didn't fill the pie crust, I decided to try making a dairy- and soy-free whipped cream topping.

CHOCOLATE FILLING INGREDIENTS

1 cup coconut cream (only I used cream of coconut)

8 soft, pitted dates

3 oz. 100% cocoa dark chocolate, melted

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

FILLING COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Process the dates in a food processor until smooth.  Whisk together other ingredients.  Add to food processor and process until smooth.  Pour into cooled pie crust.

My attempt to make a whipped topping did not work out, so I had Nancy pick up some Cool Whip.  I can't have it, but everyone else can ;-).  I also had her get some gelatin - I'm hoping I can thicken my coconut cream topping mixture with that.  I had been trying for Vegan, but failed.  So now I just want whatever will work, and the gelatin did get my coconut cream topping to work.