White Chocolate Cream Pie

Hands-on time: 50 minutes Total time: 6½ hours Makes: 8 servings

Always prep your ingredients before getting started on a recipe. Here, chop the white chocolate for the custard before you heat the milk; that way, you can stir in the chocolate immediately, while the custard mixture is still hot, ensuring that the chocolate melts smoothly.

Crust: 1½ cups chocolate wafer crumbs ½ cup butter, melted White Chocolate Custard: 4 egg yolks 2¼ cups milk ⅓ cup granulated sugar ⅓ cup cornstarch 75 g good-quality white chocolate (about 2⅓ oz), chopped

Topping:

⅔ cup whipping cream (35%) 1 tsp vanilla ⅛ tsp granulated sugar 60 g good-quality white chocolate (about 2 oz), shaved

Crust: In large bowl, mix wafer crumbs with butter until moistened. Press into bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate. Bake in 325°F oven until firm and dry, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely.

White Chocolate Custard: Meanwhile, in bowl, whisk together egg yolks, 1 cup of the milk, the sugar and cornstarch. In heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat remaining milk over medium heat just until bubbles form around edge; gradually whisk into egg yolk mixture. Return to pan; cook, whisking, until thick enough to mound on spoon, about 7 minutes. Strain through fine-mesh sieve into clean bowl; stir in chocolate until melted, about 1 minute. Place plastic wrap directly on surface. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.) Scrape custard into crust, smoothing top. Refrigerate until custard is set, about 3 hours. Topping: Beat together cream, vanilla and sugar until stiff peaks form; spoon over top of filling. Sprinkle with chocolate.

PER SERVING: about 475 cal, 6 g pro, 32 g total fat (18 g sat. fat), 43 g carb (1 g dietary fibre, 30 g sugar), 160 mg chol, 258 mg sodium, 173 mg potassium. % RDI: 15% calcium, 11% iron, 27% vit A, 8% folate.