Granini's Tarte aux Sauterelles Chocolate (Chocolate Mint Pie)

Granini's Tarte aux Sauterelles Chocolate

(Chocolate Mint Pie)

I'm going to make this pie for the first time this afternoon, and will update this post with pictures. Meanwhile...

What's a Tarte aux Sauterelles Chocolate?

A Tarte aux Sauterelles Chocolate is a fancy french way of describing a chocolate mint pie. I've come up with the ingenious plan to merge two of my favorite pies together: A Grasshopper pie (Fluffy Mint Marshmallow pie) and a French Silk pie (a fancy, super fluffy and delicious Chocolate Cream Pie). Then, I'm going to sit them upon a bed of smashed Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies. Mmmmmmm. I can not wait to try this!!

If you haven't got a stash of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies in your freezer (gasp!), it's okay. You can use mint oreos. They work just fine.

First: Make a French Silk Pie

A French Silk Pie is a fancy Chocolate Cream Pie with either a traditional chocolate crumb crust or, much preferred, a mint chocolate crumb crust.

The chocolate cream is not made from a traditional chocolate pudding. Instead, it is lighter, airier, and much more tantalizingly delicious.  If you want a traditional chocolate cream pie made from chocolate pudding, please click here for my chocolate cream pie recipe. It will also work for this new mint chocolate pie.

(A simple French Silk Pie)

Ingredients:

For the chocolate crumb crust

3/4 cube butter or margarine
2 sleeves of mashed up to smithereens Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies

If you haven't got Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, you can substitute
 ¾ of a bag of Oreo Mint Cookies
(or 1 box of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers: you can buy them here)

For the Chocolate Goodness Filling:

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
7 ounces of 72% dark chocolate
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
Sweetened whipped cream (heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla)

For the Grasshopper Pie (Mint Marshmallow) Filling:

32 marshmallows or one jar of fluff / marshmallow cream

½ cup half & half

2 tablespoons creme de menthe

2 tablespoons creme de cocoa

2 drops of mint green food coloring

1 8 oz. carton heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Make the mint chocolate pie crust: 
Crumble the package of chocolate cookies by placing them in a large plastic ziplock bag and smashing them to smithereens with a hammer or a rolling pin. Pour the crumbs into a large Spring Form pan. Melt 3/4 cube of butter or margarine. Sprinkle the melted butter over the chocolate crumbs. With a fork, press the crumbs together and spread across the bottom of the spring form pan and up the sides. Place in the freezer while you make the insides of the pie.

Make the French Silk Pie Filling:

In a large mixer, cream the butter and sugar.  In a small microwavable bowl, melt the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Add melted chocolate to the butter and sugar. Beat thoroughly. Add in the vanilla. Then, beat in the eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to mix for a good solid minute each.

Gently ladle the chocolate mixture into the pie crust.

Pop the whole thing in the fridge or freezer while you make the second type of pie to ladle on the top.

Make the Grasshopper Pie Filling:

Granini's Grasshopper Pie

(A simple Grasshopper Pie)

A grasshopper pie has NO grasshoppers in it. At all. Don't even know how it came about to be called a grasshopper pie. But essentially, it's a creamy, fluffy, mint marshmallowy delicious lip smacker of a good pie, living on a chocolate crumb crust. Here's how to make the filling:

Ingredients:

Filling:

32 marshmallows or one jar of fluff / marshmallow cream

½ cup half & half

2 tablespoons creme de menthe

2 tablespoons creme de cocoa

2 drops of mint green food coloring

1 8 oz. carton heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Melt the marshmallows in the half and half.  Stir, making sure all the lumps are gone.  
2. Add in 2 drops of green food coloring.  Set aside to cool thoroughly. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, add the heavy cream, vanilla, salt, and sugar.  On medium, allow mixture to whip for 1 minute.  Then, turn the mixer on high and beat until the cream is fluffy and smooth and whips up completely.
4. Stir your marshmallow gooey mixture.  Add in both cremes and mix completely. 
5. Fold in whipped cream with a wire whisk until smooth. 

Now it's time to merge the two together.

Gently, and very, very carefully, ladle the grasshopper pie filling on top of the french silk pie filling. Smooth around the top of the pie, making sure to get the mint pie all the way to the edges, but try not to handle the pie too much, or you'll take all the fluffy goodness out of the pie.

• Either allow the pie to sit in the freezer for 1/2 an hour -- and then cover with plastic wrap and allow to remain in the freezer for 3 hours, pulling it out of the freezer about 1/2 hour before you're ready to serve.  OR, chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to set.
• Sprinkle the chocolate crumbs, or chocolate curls, on top of the pie before serving.  

I hope this pie turns out to be as spectacular as I envision it!!

Enjoy!

Click here for more Thanksgiving Recipes

Or for more of my pie recipes

click here for The Week of Pie

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Find other tasty Thanksgiving Dinner dishes here:

And tasty pie recipes here:

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I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)