CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE

Steps:

• Make the dough for the Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust . Roll, shape, and prebake it as follows:
• Roll the Dough
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or until it is soft enough to roll. Using a pastry cloth and sleeve rubbed with flour or two sheets of plastic wrap lightly sprinkled with flour, roll the dough 1/8 inch thick or less and large enough to cut a 12-inch circle, for a 9 1/2-inch tart pan, or 12 1/2 inches for a 10-inch tart pan.
• Shape the Dough
• Use an expandable flan ring or a cardbard template and a sharp knife as a guide to cut the circle. Transfer the dough to the pan by rolling it around the rolling pin, by slipping your hands underneath it, palm sides down, and lifting it into the pan, or by folding it into quarters. Press the dough against the fluted sides of the pan. Turn down the edge about 1/4 inch so that it extends about 1/8 inch above the top of the pan. Using the back edge of a knife blade held on an angle, make decorative marks all around. Cover the pastry lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 24 hours.
• Blind Bake the Dough
• Preheat the oven to 425°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. Set an oven rack at the lowest level. Line the dough with parchment, pleating it as necessary to fit the pan, or use a large cup-shaped coffee filter. Fill with rice or dried beans, making sure they are pushed up well against the sides of the liner. Place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Lift out the parchment with the rice or beans and prick the bottom of the tart shell all over with the tines of a fork; if using a sticky or runny filling, prick only halfway through the dough. Return it to the oven for 7 to 10 minutes more or until pale golden brown (5 minutes for a partially prebaked crust). Check after 3 minutes and prick again if the upper layer of dough bubbles up.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. at least 15 minutes before baking.
• Arrange the pecans, top sides up, in the bottom of the baked crust.
• In a medium nonreactive saucepan, combine the cocoa, egg yolks, syrup, brown sugar, butter, cream, and salt. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and without letting the mixture boil, until it is smooth and uniform in color and hot to the touch (115° to 120°F. on a candy thermometer), about 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a small bowl and stir in the vanilla.
• Slowly pour the filling over the nuts, coating the upper surface.
• Place a foil ring on top of the crust to prevent overbrowning and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the filling is puffed but still soft enough to shimmy like jelly when moved. Allow the pie to cool completely on a rack about 45 minutes before unmolding it from the pan. Serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream, if desired.
• Store
• Room temperature, up to 1 week.
• Pointers for Success
• Be sure to check the pie toward the end of the baking time to prevent over-baking and drying the filling.
• Understanding
• The filling is brought to a lower temperature than for the nonchocolate version because the acidity of the cocoa would cause coagulation of the egg yolks at a higher temperature. Straining is difficult because of the thickening quality of the cocoa and unnecessary in any case, as the cocoa masks any slight graininess from the eggs.