Chocolate Fried Pies with Toffee Sauce

About the recipe

Original recipe: Mama Golden made her dough using 2 cups of self-rising flour, cutting in 1/4 cup Crisco with a knife and fork and adding ice water gradually to form a dough. For the filling, she simply mixed 1/4 cup cocoa with 1 cup granulated sugar, sprinkled a tablespoon or so of the mixture over half the dough circle, topped it with pats of butter, folded the dough over and pressed it with a dampened fork to seal. She was insistent on frying them in an iron skillet and that they be eaten when warm, with a glass of milk.

Chef Linton Hopkins’ interpretation: Chef makes his pastry with all-purpose flour and a mixture of butter and lard, and for the filling an ultra-rich chocolate ganache. He accompanies it with a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream and a drizzle of toffee sauce.

The ganache recipe makes more than is needed in this recipe. Reheat it in the microwave on low heat to pour over ice cream or to use for chocolate fondue. It will keep, covered in the refrigerator, for up to 1 month.

Serves: 12

Hands On Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Ingredients

Pies

10 ounces semisweet chocolate

3 ounces milk chocolate

1 1/3 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled

1 tablespoon corn syrup

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board

2 teaspoons fine salt

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/2 cup lard or shortening, chilled

1/2 cup ice water

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Toffee Sauce

2 cups heavy cream

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Peanut or vegetable oil, for frying

Powdered sugar, for serving

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Instructions

To make the pies: Place both chocolates in a medium bowl.

In a small saucepan, heat the cream to a bare simmer over medium heat. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit, undisturbed, until the chocolate has melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir until smooth. Add the tablespoon of softened butter and the corn syrup, and stir to combine. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

Using a melon baller, very small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop 12 tablespoon-size balls of ganache onto a chilled plate. Return to the refrigerator, and chill until firm and ready to fry the pies. (Reserve remaining ganache for another use, such as chocolate fondue; see note.)

Meanwhile, in a food processor fitted with steel blade, combine the flour, salt and sugar, and pulse to combine. Add the lard and remaining chilled butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly and resembles coarse meal. Add the ice water, and pulse again until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Dust a clean work surface and a rolling pin with flour. Place the disc of dough on the prepared board, and roll out, lifting the dough often from the board to prevent sticking, until it measures 1/6 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 12 (4-inch) circles. Place the circles on a baking sheet, and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Place a chilled chocolate ball in the center of each dough circle. Brush the egg around the edge of the dough circle. Fold the dough over, press to seal and crimp with the tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining dough and chocolate balls. Refrigerate and chill until firm, at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the toffee sauce: In a large saucepan, combine the cream, brown sugar and butter. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar is melted and the sauce has reduced to 1 3/4 cups. Keep warm until ready to serve.

To finish the pies, heat 2 inches of oil in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pot, until it reaches 350 degrees. Fry the pies in batches until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pies to a paper towel-lined plate and dust wtih powdered sugar.

Serve the warm pies with ice cream and toffee sauce.

Nutrition

Per pie (without ice cream or sauce): 556 calories (percent of calories from fat, 64), 6 grams protein, 46 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 41 grams fat (20 grams saturated), 80 milligrams cholesterol, 440 milligrams sodium.

Ganache, per 1-ounce serving: 127 calories (percent of calories from fat, 66), 1 gram protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 10 grams fat (6 grams saturated), 20 milligrams cholesterol, 10 milligrams sodium.

Toffee sauce, per tablespoon: 104 calories (percent of calories from fat, 67), trace protein, 8 grams carbohydrates, no fiber, 8 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 28 milligrams cholesterol, 10 milligrams sodium.