chocolate-pie-200x150.jpgEven when she had a regular office job, Penelope was never wild for corporate team-building events. She preferred pie and conversation to “trust” games that turned into Pinter plays. And baking in teams? Forget it. So it took some convincing by her friend, Steve, to get her to an evening hosted by Cooking by the Book, with an aproned facilitator and teams ready to square off for culinary color war. But no, at Cooking by the Book, a group of 12-40 aspiring team-builders is divided into an enthusiastic association of 4 or 5 people; each supervised by a professional chef and responsible for preparing one recipe of a complete gourmet meal, which the group then enjoys together. Steve, curious by nature but a corporate team-builder by marriage only, swore to Penelope she would be in the pie group, so she went. “It’s great,” he explained. “You get a glimpse of what it’s like to be in chef school. And I actually learned how to make pie crust.” Penelope had to agree. Any corporation that understood the wisdom of teaching pie crust was a company that belonged in her portfolio. And from the looks of Cooking by the Books’ client list, that wouldn’t make things worse.

The Pie Crust

  1. 1½ cups all purpose flour, or more if needed
  2. ¼ cup confectioners sugar
  3. ½ tsp baking powder (optional)
  4. 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  5. 8 tbs unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
  6. pinch of salt

In a medium or electric mixer bowl, combine the butter, confectioners’ sugar, eggs, baking powder and salt

Process until well blended, 5 to 7 seconds

Add the flour, ½ cup at a time, and process until the dough just holds together; it should be soft and pliable but not sticky

Gather the dough into a ball; press into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until well chilled

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough

Fit the dough into a 9 ½ inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and trim off the excess.Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

The Filling

  1. l7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  2. ½ cup milk
  3. 1 large egg yolk
  4. 1 cup creme fraiche
  5. 1 three-ounce piece of bittersweet chocolate cut into shavings with a vegetable peeler

Preheat the oven to 325°

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl

Bring the milk to a boil, pour over the chocolate, and stir gently until the chocolate is melted and smooth (Careful of creating air bubbles)

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolk with the crème fraîche

Add the crème fraîche mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir to blend

Set aside to cool completely

Pour the chocolate filling into the tart shell

Bake in the center of the oven for 18 to 25 minutes, until the filling is just set; it will still be somewhat soft

Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature

In an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the cream until firm but soft peaks have formed

Add the sugar and vanilla and whisk 30 seconds longer

To serve, slice the tart and place on individual serving plates

Top with creme chantilly and sprinkle the chocolate shavings on each slice

Candied Grapefruit Peel (40 Strips)

  1. 2 Grapefruits
  2. 2 ⅓ cups water
  3. ⅔ cup sugar

Using vegetable peeler, remove 10 wide strips of zest from grapefruit (Make sure there’s none of the white pith underneath)

Slice into ¼ julienne strips

In a saucepan, cover the strips with 2 cups of water

Bring to a boil and cook for 10 seconds

Drain in a strainer and rinse the strips under cold water

Return the zest strips to the saucepan with ⅓ cup of sugar and ⅔ cups of water

Bring to boil and cook, uncovered, until the mixture starts to thicken, about 8 minutes

Spread ⅓ cup of sugar on a tray

Add the strips and toss

Transfer to plate and let stand for half-an-hour

Recipe adapted by Cooking by the Book, 13 Worth Street, New York, NY from Flavors of France, Alain Ducasse, 1998