Frango Mint Pie

One of the things that is memorable about Marshall Field’s department
store in Chicago is their “Frango chocolate mints.” This pie captures
the flavor perfectly. I got the recipe from Malcolm Slaney, who
“found it in a cookbook when [he was] attending Kayak School in
Oregon.”

INGREDIENTS: (Makes one pie)

1 c butter
2 c confectioners sugar (sifted)
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 ea eggs
3/4 ts peppermint extract
2 ts vanilla extract
10 ea vanilla wafers, crushed

PROCEDURE

(1) Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

(2) In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Add to the
butter-sugar mixture and beat thoroughly.

(3) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg, until
well blended.

(4) Fold in the peppermint and vanilla.

(5) Line the pie tin with the vanilla wafer crumbs (buttering the pie
tin makes them stick to the side a little better). Pour in the
filling.

(6) Refrigerate for two hours. NOTES This recipe fills a shallow 8
inch pie tin; add 50% to everything to fill a 9 inch pie tin.If
you’re not very good at pie crusts (I’m not), feel free to use a
pre-formed graham cracker crust. The chocolate and mint flavors
predominate, no matter what crust you use. This is serious decadence!
The first time I made this, I stopped several times in disbelief of
just what I was doing. Enjoy!

RATING: Difficulty: moderate (melting chocolate is tricky). Time: 30
minutespreparation, several hours chilling. Precision: measure the
ingredients.

CONTRIBUTOR: Chris KentWestern Research Laboratory, Digital Equipment
Corp., Palo Alto, Calif., U SA kent@decwrl.dec.com -or- decwrl!kent