By Samantha Seneviratne
- Total Time
- 90 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- 4(1,396)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Mississippi mud pies come in all shapes and sizes: No two are exactly alike. They can have one layer, or five, and include ice cream or meringue, a flourless cake, nuts, fudge sauce and even brownie. This version, inspired by the towering beauty made by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito of Baked in Brooklyn and written about in their book, "Baked Explorations," features a graham cracker base, a dense brownie, chocolate custard and whipped cream. Needless to say, a little goes a long way. Share it with 16 to 32 of your closest friends. And a tip for serving: To ensure a clean release, give the underside and sides of the cake pan a 10-second blast with a hairdryer.
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Ingredients
Yield:16 servings
- About 15 whole graham crackers
- ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- 8tablespoons/114 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 8tablespoons/114 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 6ounces/170 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- ⅓cup/67 grams dark brown sugar
- ⅓cup/33 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
- 1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt
- 3large eggs, separated
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/32 grams all-purpose flour
- 4ounces/113 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 2tablespoons/29 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
- ¼teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼cup/25 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ¼cup/28 grams cornstarch
- 2cups/480 milliliters whole milk
- 4large egg yolks
- 1½cups/360 milliliters cold heavy cream
For the Graham Cracker Crust
For the Brownie Cake
For the Chocolate Custard
To Finish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
479 calories; 31 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 49 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 35 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 285 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, grind the graham crackers to fine crumbs — you should have about 2¼ cups crumbs — and tip into a bowl. Add sugar, salt and butter, and toss until evenly moistened. Tip the crumb mixture into a 9-inch springform pan. Use your fingers to press the crumbs into a thin, even layer on the bottom of the pan and at least 2¼ inches up its sides. Bake the crust until just set, about 10 minutes. (The crust will continue to cook in the next step.) Increase heat to 350 degrees.
Step
2
Prepare the cake: In a bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water but not touching it, melt together the butter and chocolate. (Alternatively, do this in short bursts in the microwave but be careful not to scorch the chocolate.) Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the dark brown sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt. Let cool slightly, then whisk in the 3 large egg yolks.
Step
3
In large bowl, beat the remaining 3 large egg whites with an electric mixer on medium until foamy, about 30 seconds. While mixing, gradually add the granulated sugar in a steady stream. Increase the mixer speed to high and continue to beat until you have stiff peaks, about 3 minutes. Using a large rubber spatula, fold the egg-white mixture evenly into the chocolate mixture. Sift the flour evenly over the chocolate mixture and fold it in. Transfer the batter to the prepared crust and smooth the top. Bake until a crust has formed over the top, the center is just set and a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edges comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. The center of the cake, under the crust, should still be very moist and fudgy. (Peek under the crust if necessary.) Do not overbake. The cake will sink slightly as it cools. Let the cake cool completely, at least 90 minutes.
Step
4
Prepare the custard: Set the chocolate and butter in a medium bowl. Place a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl and set it aside. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, salt, cocoa powder, and cornstarch. Add the milk, little by little, while whisking to incorporate it fully. Whisk in the egg yolks. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it has thickened and just come to a low boil. Continue to cook the custard, whisking, for another minute, then immediately pour it into the sieve, pushing it through with a small spatula. Let the custard stand for 1 minute, then whisk it together with the butter and chocolate until smooth. Pour the custard over the cooled cake. Cover the custard with plastic wrap or wax paper, making sure to press it gently into the surface of the custard. Chill until the custard has set completely, at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Step
5
Just before serving, remove the ring from springform pan base and transfer pie to a serving plate. Whip the cream to soft peaks and spoon high dollops over the top of the pie, leaving about a 1-inch border. Dust with cocoa powder.
Ratings
4
out of 5
1,396
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Erin
This is a perfect recipe. Just beware, this recipe is best for those prepared to live their lives as trolls sitting in front of their open refrigerators taking small handfuls at a time.
Tyler
We cooked this for a pie-baking contest and after one trial round made the following changes:-Reduced the salt slightly in the graham cracker crust (about 1/4 tsp)-Swapped 1/2 of the bittersweet chocolate (60%) for semisweet (40%) in the cake-Swapped all of the bittersweet chocolate for semisweet in the custard-Added vanilla extract (a couple of tsp) to the whipped creamWe won first place, so the changes seemed to work! Overall, it's an amazing recipe as-written - the changes made it a hit.
Barbara
How about a chocolate cookie crust instead of graham cracker, then it is chocolate all the way through!
Dejim
This recipe was great! Everyone loved it. After you add the whip cream layer, refrigerate the pie overnight for best results.
Mcalhoun
A suggestion for the times listed at the top of recipes: it would be helpful if an estimate of chilling/cooling time was included. I know I should read the whole recipe before beginning, but a couple of times have started a recipe with a plan based on the minutes/hours listed, then partway through discovered that something has to chill for several hours or overnight. The recipes always turn out great, but I’d love to have a quick reference for the actual start-to-finish time needed. Thanks!
Laura
Fabulous pie, but beware that kosher salt isn’t all the same density. This recipe likely uses Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Morton’s kosher contains more salt per teaspoon, so cut salt in half if using.
Brett
Only thing I did differently was to add icing sugar and vanilla to the cream and then whip to ensure it’s stiffness. A hot knife to slice makes presentation perfect.
Todd
A fair amount of effort, but worth it! Fantastic and fudgy without being cloying. As a note, it takes a full 6 hours to prepare: while active prep time is perhaps 90 minutes, the cake requires cooling for 90 min before assembly and further 4 hours (and I agree, overnight is better) of chilling prior to serving. Recipe a little misleading there, so if you want it for the evening you need to start at noon.
Monica
I've made this for parties multiple times, and it's a hit each time. It may have replaced my son's favorite chocolate cake recipe! I've been making stabilized whipped cream using gelatin, and it's made a big difference in how well it keeps in the fridge.
Lynn
Wow. Gloriously rich, and so delicious. Skinny pieces are perfect, so you really can serve this to a larger crowd. It looks perfect when sliced and with the whipped cream on top.
sandy
The brownie layer seemed too thick so I halved that part of the recipe and the result was a perfect balance of brownie, pudding, and whipped cream. A huge hit!
Elizabeth
I was tempted to add sugar to the whipped cream topping, but I’m glad I didn’t. The dish is already is very rich and pretty sweet, so the unsweetened whipped cream added a nice balance.
rwl3
Graham cracker squares or rectangles? The weight would be helpful!
Anna
Loved this! We call this midnight Mississippi mud pie because if you start it in the early afternoon it will take until midnight!
Jennifer
My family LOVED this. It's better the second day, and also cuts more beautifully if you chill overnight with the whipped cream. Don't just put on the whipped cream last minute, I mean. I notice one commenter cut the brownie in half, which probably doesn't look as good, but I will experiment with proportions in future, since it's really the custard that wins this, imo. I also recommend watching the accompanying video -- very helpful and fun.
Devon
I made this for Christmas dinner dessert. The crowd loved it.
Michelle
Really need a weight for the graham crackers. They come in different shapes and sizes!
Lydia
Really great recipe - race reviews! Definitely need to plan in advance for the cooling and chilling times. I added some powdered sugar and vanilla extract to the whipped cream top layer, and also replaced a few ounces of chocolate with semisweet chocolate in the brownie cake layer.
So rich, freezes well!
This pie was a lot of work, but not hard. And the results were so worth it. Super rich, super chocolatey, silky and dense textures. It was way too much for Thanksgiving, nobody could eat more than a sliver. With so much left over, I sliced it thin and put in archment between so I could pull out one piece at a time. Frozen, it’s like the most dense insane ice cream cake. Thawed, the texture was nearly as good as fresh. Amazing.
Jill
Very rich. Cut small slices. Based on others' reviews, baked brownie layer @27 minutes. Used mix of bittersweet and semi-sweet in both the brownie and custard. Added some confectioner's sugar and vanilla to the whipped cream. Dusted whipped cream with cocoa.
Sharanya
Ideal for sharing! Messy but delicious :) and it’s impossible to eat more than one slice at a time lol. Definitely don’t think she doesn’t mean it when she says refrigerate overnight! I had to freeze mine a bit to be ready to serve since I was not on top of things :/
correction
2/3 recipe in 9 inch round cake pan. Cook brownies 20 minutes
SCK
Unsweetened whipped cream is necessary to cut through the sweetness of the chocolate. Made the full recipe in an 8" springform pan, it was a tad full, but it worked just fine! Absolutely delicious.
Whitney
Fun to make (a challenge for sure) but not my favorite dessert. Very rich - a little too much.
rs
the crust was great and I didn't have enough graham crackers so used pecans also; the rest not great and too time consuming
Madeline
made on 5/22/23This was really good, everyone liked it! My only critique was that the crust was very hard, so you almost had to eat it like a cookie.
Madeline
made on 5/22/23This was really good, everyone liked it! My only critique was that the crust was really hard, so you almost had to eat it like a cookie.
picassso83
This is as luscious and rich as they come. Leans more dark so a real treat for chocolate purists. I used Guittard Rouge cocoa and Guittard bittersweet chocolate and the results were sublime. Bravo.
Marsha L
Delicious! Made it as written except for the whipped cream. I made a stabilized whipped cream with gelatin as I knew that there would be leftovers for enjoying again the next day. I also added 1 teaspoon vanilla and 4 Tablespoons of powdered sugar to the whipped cream. I would make this again.
Michelle
Please specify what type/brand of kosher salt or the weight of the salt.
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