Black Forest Pie

With three active children, I don’t usually fuss with fancy desserts. This one is simple but impressive–it’s the one I make to show how much I care. The tempting combination of chocolate and tangy red cherries is guaranteed to make someone feel special.

Ingredients

  • Dough for single-crust pie
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup baking cocoa
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling, divided
  • Whipped topping, optional

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa and flour. Stir in milk until smooth. Add butter. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.
  3. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into eggs; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Fold in half of the pie filling. Pour into pastry shell.
  4. Bake until filling is almost set, 35-40 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Just before serving, top with remaining pie filling and whipped topping if desired.