I know nothing about pies and am not even sure what a “ganache” is, but - you know the crunchy-chewy peanut bits in chocolate crust that is on top of a ”Drumstick” ice cream cone? I’d love that on a pie. Could even be an ice cream pie. I’m not fussy.

For an extremely assertive and chocolatey chocolate creation this is good: https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/occasions/christmas/christmas-desserts/the-famous-chocolate-truffle-torte

I imagine you could make it inside your chocolate pie crust. And I've made it with syrup rather than liquid glucose. If amaretti wouldn't suit your allergy people you could leave them out.

Fwiw I don't think cranberry would go at all well with chocolate or crème anglaise.

Thanks, Floral. That recipe does look good, but I don't have enough of the ingredients or the will to substitute and do all the math, right now. I'll give it a look-see when I'm less pressed. So, cranberry sauce isn't "cranberry". It's basically jam, and is as good with dark chocolate as raspberries and other fruits. The trick is spreading it thinly.

John, chocolate shell is an interesting idea! It might be possible to cut with a hot knife. If it were shards, however, I think i'd just go for the crunchies on my list--I'd have to substitute toffee for the peanuts anyway. Not all peanut and tree nut allergies are found together, but I'm not chancing it.

Pie is "easy as pie"! Especially nowadays with the modern crusts. Stella Parks has a recipe with no equipment. You cut your frozen butter a bit bigger than traditionally, toss in in your flour in bowl, and pinch it like popping bubble wrap. Easy and fun!

I'm not a fan of any fruit with chocolate, other than dried vine fruits, even raspberry or orange, so I can't judge that combo.

I hear you! I don't like wet fruit with chocolate, either, but jam can be good. I do get you not liking it as a whole category.

“Originally, I was thinking regular chocolate pie in chocolate crust with chocolate shavings…”

Big hit with the chocolate lovers in our crowd…not wimpy at all! Just thinking pumpkin with chocolate might not be their thing.

I posted something else I deleted that would’ve been no help.🤷‍♀️

I’ve done the translations for you and omitted the advice about the amaretti biscuit lining, assuming you’d use your chocolate crust. It looks quite easy and I’m guessing the poster has actually translated the original Delia recipe from Imperial units to metric as 450g is almost exactly a pound and 570ml is almost exactly a British pint.

16 oz dark chocolate (70-75% cocoa solids)

5 tablespoons liquid glucose (you could probably use corn syrup or even a strong simple syrup for this) (In the questions section the poster suggests substituting syrup made of equal parts sugar and water)

5 tablespoons rum (I can’t see why you couldn’t use whatever booze you liked)

19 fl oz heavy whipping cream

To serve: cocoa powder for dusting (or chocolate curls)

chilled lightpouring cream or even whipped heavy cream

You will also need a 9 inch chocolate pastry shell

Break the chocolate into sections and put them in a heat proof bowl together with the liquid glucose and the rum. Sit over a saucepan containing 2” of barely simmering water, without the bowl touching the water - it will take 5-10 minutes to become melted, smooth and glossy. Stir, then take off the heat and leave the mixture to cool for 5 minutes or so, until it feels just warm.

Now, in a separate bowl, beat the cream to the floppy stage. Fold half into the chocolate mixture and then fold that mixture into the rest of the cream. When it is smoothly blended, spoon it into the prepared tin. Tap the tin gently to even the mixture out, cover with clingfilm and chill overnight.

To serve, dust the surface with sifted cocoa powder and a few amaretti biscuits and, if you like, mark the top into serving sections . Have some chilled pouring cream to go with it; if you have any, a couple of tablespoons of amaretti liqueur will make a wonderful addition to the cream.

NOTE: The torte does freeze well, but since you can also make it a couple of days in advance, this doesn't really seem necessary.

@John Liu, ganache is a stiff chocolate paste made of varying proportions of (usually) heavy cream and melted chocolate. I say ”usually” as there are versions that use butter instead of cream. I generally use the weight of the chocolate in mls of cream (so, eg 200g chocolate plus 200ml of cream) for dark or milk chocolate, but for white chocolate (which has a personality all its own) I use the weight of the white chocolate and half that weight in mls of cream.

You just melt the chocolate in warm cream (very easy in the microwave if you’re careful, disastrous if you aren’t 😂) , stir well and let it cool. While it is still runnny you can pour it over a cake, such as Sachertorte.

Thanks, Colleen. I imagine Delia used imperial when she first published the recipe. She's been a fixture over here since the 1970s. Nowadays, we use metric but I do have my mum's scales and weights if I have an old recipe.

Thank-you, Colleen! That was very sweet of you. Especially the cream translation. I have heavy whipping cream, but have never even heard of light pouring cream. I have charts of English creams and comparisons but am still usually confused. Back a couple of years I did a bunch of arithmetic and created an analog for a totally different weight of cream (mixing milk with heavy cream), and I think the recipe came out right, or close enough, but it wasn't a keeper. I can make simple syrup and I think I actually do have some rum, though Californians might even like a little buzz by of tequila. ;) I'll give yours another read through when I'm completely awake.

Chocolate and cherries is a combi I love.

The cream business is not too complicated if you just think of it as three, or even just two, kinds. Single cream is pourable. Double cream is thick. In the best you can almost stand a spoon up. Whipping cream is between the two or you can combine single and double. To whip double you can add some milk. We eat very little cream. It's for high days and holidays and I get organic from a local maker. I never sweeten it. Supermarket cream has little flavour imo and long life is foul. I'd rather go without. The calories have to be worth it.

Nb clotted cream is a different thing and rarely used in cooking. It's basically a topping.

Chocolate and cherries is ok imo ...... providing there's booze in the mix too.

I don’t know which one on your list this will fall under and I think I am having this vision due to watching The Great British Baking show but I would vote for at least three smooth layers, mostly chocolate but a coffee mouse or something like that layered in. Yum!!!

The chocolate decorations could provide the crunch.

If your cousin asked for chocolate, she wants smooth creamy chocolate, not all that other stuff to detract from the texture. Nothing chewy or crunchy. I would do the cocoa whipped cream or the mousse.

Thank-you Joan and Eileen for your votes and advice!

Smooth seems to be the watchword.

So I checked the rolls at the snooty, semi-snooty, major chain and Whole Foods. All have about half a dozen different dairies’ offerings of heavy whipping cream, which is what

“cream” generally means here. All also had whippable vegan versions. The semi-snooty store had a jar of “Devon Clotted Cream”, which is from England (eww to imported over the ocean). They also had a spray can of French chantilly (as well as similar cans from local dairies), and one brand of creme fraiche which I think is American. The snooty store also had a jar of “double cream“ from the same English producer. Also available is Mexican (both domestic and imported) crema, which is cultured from cream and buttermilk, and is used as a topping for Mexican dishes, though a lot of Americans just use sour cream. It is much lighter than other creams, but while it's much sweeter than sour cream or heavy cream, it still has a cultured tang. We have legal definitions for things like ”light cream”, but I’ve never seen them available.

”Half and half” is often served for coffee, but I don't drink milky things and I know nothing more than to put it in the cream pitcher. It is literally half heavy cream and half whole milk.

Cream here, locally produced, is sold with the fresh milk in glass dairy jars (flip off tops, not sealed) or milk cartons. I usually get my organic whipping cream with my farm delivery, but it's the same kind I'd get from the local store. It is very high quality and has a lovely flavor, so in that way it's also different from what Floral has in the UK.

I think that raspberry is better with chocolate than cranberry, but I do like wet fruit with chocolate. I also think the chocolate tuiles would be a good addition, but then I also like a crunch with chocolate. However, I would omit pumpkin seed and also the gingerbread.

Can people with nut allergies have Frangelico or Amaretto? I add that to my chocolate hazelnut Bavarian cream pie, but I also add chopped toasted hazelnuts, which you would not be able to do.

I don't know about the liqueurs, but it's not worth the risk. I have other flavors, if needed. Sabra would be great, but I don't think I have any.. I could add the tuiles or similar just on top in a way that's easily picked off for the smooth lovers.

I agree with Islay. I've just made a Delia chocolate truffle torte for the freezer. It is very simple and intensely chocolatey. Just 70% chocolate (I used Lindt), a little rum and double cream. Much like Islay's recipe. The flavour speak for itself. It needs no embellishment or 'improvements'.

IC, best as I can tell my recipe is similar to yours (my culinary French is abysmal). I think the cousins will like something crunchy, however, which is why I'm just going to put it on top. Not pushed in. Just sitting on top and easy to remove. If they come out right. I got some more chocolate with my groceries, so I have backup in case there's a fail. I've make all the different bits, but not togeher.

Success! Everybody loved the look of the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Thanksgiving pie. What made it Thanksgiving was a little 3D chocolate turkey in the middle which I'd bought from the farm just because it was cute, before the assignment was chocolate pie. So, I made the chocolate crust according to the recipe I've used before, but I thought it was too salty. I just might be too sensitive to salt just now.. The chocolate Dories were salty too and I only used a pinch. (Named for Dorrie Greenspan who declared Americans didn't have to worry about feuilletine when they have cornflakes.) So the crust had raw cocoa powder, the ganache recipe called for bitter-sweet for which I used Baker's, I wanted a bit of a lighter flavor for the whipped cream so didn't dare use Valrhona, but I have an open box of Trader Joe's cocoa powder that's milder. For the Dories I just used the cornflakes (no nuts or raisins as per the recipe) and some little dark chocolate squares (chip size) in a bag of Whole Foods 365 which I found in the pantry. I added just a whiff of my favorite Ethiopian spice bland which has fenugreek and chili among other things. But just enough to bring up the flavor without being specific or spicy or anything. But I think it would have been better without the salt. So, I guess there were really five kinds of chocolate, rather than three, but it does get redundant,

I brought the extra chocolate whipped cream and a good amount of that was eaten too. :) The ganache tastes airy, but I don't know why.. It's basically thin fudge. I took it in a pie case in my German styro cold box with a couple of 9" Freez-r-brix. They were perfect for keeping the pie case from sliding around, as well as cold once there. I put them underneath the pie case to make sure the ganache stayed chilled and solid. It was easy enough to cut but firm. The turkey was too tall for the case and I didn't want the Dories to get soggy, so just brought those in a bag and finished the top as dinner was being cleared. I did the whipped cream before breakfast so it would firm up in the fridge. I'm not great at piping, and tried my piping gun. It worked, but each round got less and less successful. Still, the pie looked kind of sad without the decor, but it was soft as directed, and the cream was not a whole layer. The Dories were just at the back between the cream spots, and easy to brush off--but wonderfully crunchy for those who wanted to eat them. The cousin who asked for it just ate the ganache. :) And loved it!

Lots of compliments were had.

Thank-you, all of you, for your input. it all led to the success.