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"I'll have the chocolate pie, please". When I was a little girl, my family would go to The Cozy Cafe almost every week. This really was a cozy place, with lots of good home-style cooking going on. Every week if you were there too, you'd hear me saying, "I'll have the chocolate pie, please!"

This delectable pie had a tender flaky homemade crust; a real crust, not graham cracker crumbs. That crust could stand alone, be eaten asis. It was that good!

The pudding inside that crust was an almost magical mixture of chocolate, milk, sugar, eggs and butter, it was divine!

After many attempts to recreate that same chocolate flavor and smooth texture I have come to a couple of conclusions about Cozy Cafe Chocolate Pie:

1) It cannot be made with an instant pudding

2) Cooked pudding from a mix cannot be used without tweaking it with additional ingredients

3) It must have a real pie crust, made with white flour

4) You cannot skimp on ingredients, use only high quality cocoa, (Ghirardelli Unsweetened) real butter and milk

-Cozy Cafe Style, Chocolate (Cream) Pie

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 baked 9 inch pie shell, not crumb

Filling:

1/2 cup. cocoa

2 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tbsp. white flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup cups half and half

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 tbsp. real vanilla (not imitation)

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

*Topping:

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Scant 1/8 tsp. ground ginger, a pinch

Place sugars, salt, cornstarch, flour and cocoa into a 2 qt. sauce pan, whisk together to mix.

Combine milk, half and half, cream and eggs in a large measuring cup, whisk to incorporate. Do not whip. Pour mixture slowly into sugar/cocoa mixture, stir to combine.

Place over medium heat. Using a wire whisk, stir until mixture begins to boil. Whisk constantly, cooking 1 minute after boiling point.

Remove from heat. Pudding should be very thick. Stir in chocolate chips, vanilla and butter, pudding will thin slightly.

Pour into mesh strainer, forcing through with back of spoon or by gently tapping side of strainer, to remove any flour/sugar/egg yolk lumps.

Pour into a medium sized bowl, place cling wrap directly on pudding to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate pudding until totally cold. At least 2 hours.

In the meanwhile bake crust until lightly browned. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely. Do not cover, do not refrigerate.

After pudding has completely cooled, pour into baked pie shell. Using back of spoon, smooth top.

Combine sour cream, sugar and ginger in a small mixing bowl, whip 1 minute on high speed of electric mixer, cover and reserve in refrigerator.

1 hour before serving, smooth topping over pie. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder or shaved chocolate. Return to refrigerator.

*Regular, sweetened whipped cream may be substituted for the whipped sour cream. Give the sour cream topping a try it is a marvelous touch!

I have grown since I first had that pie and have become a competent cook, finding my way around many, many a commercial kitchen. Still I long to go back, sit at a booth in The Cozy Cafe with my family and once again tease my taste buds with a slice of that chocolate pie. However, a serving (or two) of this, my own cozy pie, does the trick!

Learn more about this author, Sheila Watson Kraklow.
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