Festive Peppermint Pie
Submitted by jrcmom
Festive peppermint pie with layers of mint-spiked fruit and whipped cream, fudgy chocolate marshmallow sauce, and a toasted meringue top with crushed candy cane.
YIELD
1 piePREP
90 minCOOK
20 minREADY
18 hrsThis frozen holiday pie is a showstopper built in layers. Peppermint-scented fruit cocktail folded into whipped cream alternates with a thick chocolate marshmallow fudge sauce, all frozen solid in a baked pie shell. Right before serving, a golden meringue studded with crushed peppermint candy goes on top and gets flash-baked.
The layering and freezing between each addition is what keeps everything distinct. Rush it and the chocolate bleeds into the fruit cream. Take the time to freeze each layer firm before adding the next, and you get clean, dramatic stripes when you cut a slice.
That chocolate sauce is cooked on the stovetop with butter, unsweetened chocolate, sugar, evaporated milk, and marshmallows until thick and glossy. It sets firm in the freezer but stays fudgy, never hard or icy.
Pro Tips
- Drain the fruit cocktail thoroughly. Excess juice will form ice crystals in the filling and make it grainy instead of creamy.
- The meringue goes on a frozen pie and into a very hot oven. Use a cutting board under the pie to insulate the bottom and prevent the crust from burning.
- Seal the meringue all the way to the crust edge. Gaps let heat melt the frozen layers underneath before the meringue browns.
- Serve immediately after baking the meringue. This pie waits for no one.
Variations
- Use chocolate cookie crumb crust instead of pastry for an all-chocolate base.
- Replace fruit cocktail with drained maraschino cherries for a chocolate-cherry-mint combination.
- Skip the meringue and top with extra whipped cream and crushed candy cane for a simpler finish.
Ingredients
Directions
Drain the fruit cocktail, reserving liquid for other uses.
Stir peppermint extract into drained fruit.
Whip cream until stiff.
Fork in fruit cocktail.
Spread half of the fruit mixture into a cooled, baked pastry shell.
Freeze until firm.
Refrigerate the other half of the fruit mixture.
Combine butter, chocolate, sugar, evaporated milk and marshmallows in medium saucepan.
Heat, stirring continuously, until melted and thickened.
Stir in vanilla; cool.
Cover fruit mixture with one half chocolate mixture.
Freeze until set.
Repeat layers once more, freezing after each addition.
Freeze completed pie overnight.
Meringue: Beat egg whites with vanilla and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
Add 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time, beating until stiff and glossy peaks are evident and sugar is dissolved.
Fold in 3 tablespoons of crushed peppermint candy.
Remove pie from freezer.
Spread meringue over chocolate layer sealing it to the crust.
Sprinkle top with remaining peppermint candy.
Bake on a cutting board at 475 F for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden.
Serve immediately.
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