I’ve never forgotten the icebox pies I used to eat as a child at Luby’s Cafeteria. Those pies, along with the jewel-colored servings of Jell-O, were too tantalizing to resist. I always selected an icebox pie and a bowl of Jell-O, agonizing over which color to choose. I always finished the pie, but never touched the Jell-O. The Jell-O was for looks, the pie for flavor. My version of icebox pie is a stunning party animal—dramatic and devilishly rich. For parties, I prepare this recipe in stages: the crust one day, the filling the next, and the whipped cream topping the day of my party. A word of warning: These are large and very rich pies. Only under extreme circumstances do I recommend eating a whole one in a single sitting. (For example, you’re starring in a new movie and have been asked by your big-time director to gain fifty pounds pronto.) So you may wish to serve a half or quarter pie per person.

　　

Ingredients

makes 12 pies

　　

Crust

2 (16-ounce) packages Newman-Os or other chocolate sandwich cookies (preferably organic)

　　1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

　　

Truffle Filling

3 cups whole milk

　　1 cup heavy whipping cream

　　2 whole vanilla beans, split

　　12 large egg yolks

　　1 cup granulated sugar

　　8 tablespoons all-purpose flour

　　1 pound bittersweet chocolate (at least 70 percent cacao), chopped in small pieces

　　1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

　　Pinch of salt

　　

Cocoa Cloud Cream

4 cups chilled heavy whipping cream

　　1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

　　1/2 cup high-quality unsweetened cocoa (such as Green & Black’s or Scharffen Berger)

　　

Step 1

TO MAKE THE CRUST: In 1 or 2 batches, whirl the cookies in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade until ground into coarse crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse until the butter is thoroughly combined. Press the mixture into twelve 4 3/8-inch-diameter (1-cup) foil tartlet pans, making sure the crumbs cover the pans’ sides. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

　　

Step 2

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Heat the milk and 1 cup cream with the split vanilla beans in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat.

　　

Step 3

In a large bowl, vigorously and thoroughly whisk together the egg yolks, the granulated sugar, and the flour, about 30 seconds. Remove the vanilla beans from the milk mixture and discard. Slowly pour about 1/4 cup of the milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Set the saucepan with the remainder of the milk mixture over medium-low heat. (This “tempers” the eggs, ensuring that they do not curdle.) Whisking constantly, slowly pour in the egg mixture. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens into a pudding-like consistency, 4 to 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick enough that the whisk leaves visible tracks as it passes through. Whisk in the chocolate, the 1/4 cup butter, and the salt, and stir until melted.

　　

Step 4

Pour the chocolate filling into the individual pie pans to just below the top of the cookie crust. Immediately cover with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the filling at all points to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (overnight is better to make sure the chocolate sets up).

　　

Step 5

TO MAKE THE COCOA CREAM: Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the 4 cups cream in a large bowl on high speed until firm peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa and whip until thoroughly combined. Cover each pie with a generous mound of whipped cream.

　　

Step 6

TO SERVE THE PIES: Gently push the bottom of the each foil pan to slip the pie onto individual dessert or serving plates.

　　

variations

Step 7

Garnish each pie with chocolate shavings: draw a vegetable peeler along the edge of an 8-ounce chocolate bar, letting the shavings fall onto waxed paper. Alternatively, use a gourmet hot chocolate mix, many of which are made with chocolate shavings, such as Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolate.

　　

Step 8

For single servings, use standard nonstick muffin tins. To release the pies, run a sharp paring knife around the edges and they’ll pop out.

　　

do it early

Step 9

You can refrigerate the crust-lined tart pans up to 4 days ahead. The filled pies can chill up to 3 days in advance. You can add the cocoa cream the day they are ready to serve.

　　Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café.  Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.