Recipe: Primal Choc-Berry Pie

Oh yes, another dessert experiment, this time tweaking my Choc-Cherry Tart recipe to make a full-sized pie with more berries and less chocolate, since the amounts of the latter in the tart recipe had some readers questioning my sanity! Fear not - this pie has plenty of choc-power with one-quarter of the cacao!

I am very happy with this, and I hope you will enjoy it too. A VERY decadent treat for a surprisingly low amount of calories (all things considered), still avoiding the blood-sugar spikes caused by grains and refined sugars. Christmas cheer without the cramps and crankiness!


Primal Choc-Berry Pie

Ingredients:

Crust

150g grain-free granola (walnuts, almonds & coconut)
2 eggs
1T coconut oil for greasing pie dish

Filling

250g berries of your choice (I had a few blackberries and an "antioxidant mix" of wild blueberries, bilberries and black currants in the freezer, so I used those, and I now recommend them!)
100g butter
100g of 100% cacao (or very dark chocolate)
5T pure cacao powder
2 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
Sweetener to taste (I recommend real foods such as honey, or for a sugar-free option, sugar alcohols such as erythritol or xylitol)


Method:

Crust

1. Preheat oven to moderate (around 160 C)

2. Grease pie dish with melted coconut oil.

3. Combine granola and eggs thoroughly, then press evenly into pan.

4. Bake in moderate oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.


Filling

1. Whip eggs and yolks in a medium bowl until fluffy. Add sweetener to taste.

2. Melt cacao, cacao powder and butter over low heat.

3. Fold chocolate mixture into egg mixture carefully.


Assembling the pie

1. Sprinkle berries evenly over the crust in the pie dish, then pour chocolate mixture over berries.


As you can see, I did not thaw my frozen berries before cooking, as to preserve as much juice as possible. As the pie cooked, the juice seeped into the crust and the chocolate layer, spreading the fruity sweetness beautifully. If you do want to thaw your berries, make sure to add the juice to the chocolate mix - it could replace the need for sweetener entirely.


2. Bake at a moderate heat (160 C) for around 30 minutes. You may see butter or berry juice bubbling around the edges of the pie - this is fine. The pie is done when the top of the chocolate is firm and risen.


3. Allow to cool slightly, then serve with double cream or coconut cream.

The size of my dish served 8 greedy individuals as a stand-alone meal (it's surprisingly nutritious considering how it looks and tastes!), but could satisfy up to 16 individuals as a delicious end to a hearty dinner.

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 8

Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 349.0
- Total Fat: 33.0 g
- Sodium: 122.5 mg
- Total Carbs: 14.0 g
- Dietary Fiber: 2.7 g
- Protein: 8.5 g

This pie is equally tasty eaten when warm or cooled.

Be careful when lifting pieces out of pie dish, as the crust is quite delicate depending on the fineness of the nuts used in the granola.


Let me know how you go! Happy Holidays!