Triple Chocolate Layer Pie with a Hazelnut-Cocoa Crust {gluten-free}
Four kinds of chocolate – cocoa, bittersweet, milk, and white – make a super creamy filling all nestled in a cookie-like hazelnut flour crust and topped with whipped mascarpone swirled with more chocolate.
Prep Time: 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 30 minutesminutes
Chilling time: 50 minutesminutes
Total: 1 hourhour50 minutesminutes
Servings: 10to 12 servings, makes a 9 or 10-inch pie
Ingredients
Crust:
1/2cup(80 g) sweet white rice flour
1/2cup(55 g) hazelnut meal (such as Bob’s Red Mill; or almond flour)
8ounces(170 g) white chocolate (such as Green and Black’s), finely chopped
1cup(200 g) organic granulated cane sugar
½cup(60 g) cornstarch
6large egg yolks
¼teaspoonfine sea salt
1tablespoon(15 ml) vanilla extract)
3cups(710 ml) whole milk, divided use
1 ½cups(355 ml) heavy cream
Topping:
1cup(235 ml) heavy cream, divided use
1ounce(30 g) dark milk chocolate, finely chopped
8ounces(1 cup, 235 ml) mascarpone
melted dark milk chocolate, for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
Make the crust:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375ºF.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sweet rice flour and hazelnut meal with the cocoa powder, tapioca starch, sugar and salt. Scatter the butter pieces over the top and drizzle with the vanilla extract. Turn the mixer to medium-low and run until the dough comes together in clumps and the butter is worked through, 3–5 minutes. (It will seem as though the dough won’t come together, but don’t worry – it will!)
Dump the crumbs into a 10-inch pie pan (see headnote for other pan options) and press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides, starting with the sides and then moving to the bottom, keeping the edges square. (It usually takes me about 5 minutes to make it look pretty.) Chill until firm, 20 minutes.
Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any drips) and bake until slightly puffed and firm to the touch, 20-25 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and, while it’s still hot, press the sides and bottom with the back of a spoon. This will help it hold together when cool.
Make the filling:
Place the bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Place the milk chocolate in another medium bowl. And place the white chocolate in a third bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, salt, vanilla, and ¾ cup of the milk. Combine the remaining 2 ¼ cups milk with the cream in a large pot and bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and, whisking constantly, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the egg mixture. Return the custard to the pot and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until the custard is thick and just reaches a simmer, 5-7 minutes.
Pour about one-third of the custard (about 450 grams) through a strainer and into the bowl with the white chocolate. Pour another third into the bowl of milk chocolate, and pour the rest into the bowl of dark chocolate. Stir each custard with a spatula until smooth, starting with the white chocolate, then the milk chocolate, then the dark chocolate (no need to clean the spatula if you work in this order).
Spread the dark chocolate filling over the bottom of the cooked and cooled pie shell in an even layer. Spread the milk chocolate filling over that, and top with the white chocolate filling, spreading it into an even layer.
Cover the pie with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly to the top of the pie and chill overnight or until firm.
Make the topping:
Place the chocolate in a small metal bowl set over a small pot of barely simmering water, stirring to melt the chocolate. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the cream until the chocolate is smooth, adding more cream if needed. Let cool to room temperature. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip together the mascarpone and remaining cream until firm peaks form; err on the side of overwhipping so that the cream will be firm enough to slice. Remove the bowl from the mixer and drizzle the chocolate over the cream, folding it 2-3 times to create streaks.
Spread the whipped mascarpone over the pie and chill until firm, 30 minutes. Drizzle the top with more melted chocolate if you like. Cut the pie into wedges and serve. The pie keeps well, refrigerated airtight, for up to 3 days.
Notes
Adapted from Marbled, Swirled, and Layered by Irvin Lin.Feel free to swap in almond flour in place of the hazelnut if you like, or use a chocolate cookie crust.I made this in a 10" pie pan and I had a little filling leftover. Use a deep-dish 9" pan if you've got one, or make this in a standard pie pan and layer the extra filling into a few small mason jars for snacking.Nutritional values are based on one of ten servings.