This Hairy Bikers Mississippi mud pie recipe bakes a whisked chocolate filling in a two-biscuit crumb case, then piles it high with whipped cream. With the British Classics quantities it serves 8, and I estimate close to 5 hours in all and about 990 calories a slice.
They discovered it on a trip to the southern US, and they call it “the most indulgent dessert ever”. And the crust blends chocolate digestives with dark chocolate sandwich biscuits, pressed up the sides of a sloping pie dish, ideally metal.
Whisking the eggs and sugar until they roughly triple is the step to take time over, since I’d expect that air to lighten the filling. After that it bakes until just firm and slightly risen, and they warn the filling will sink a little as it cools.
Hairy Bikers Mississippi Mud Pie
Description
Crushed chocolate biscuits and butter fill a foil-lined pie dish, then melted chocolate and butter go into whisked eggs with sugar, cocoa and cream. After 35 to 40 minutes in the oven, a full cool and at least an hour’s chill, soft whipped cream and grated chocolate go on.
Ingredients
For the base and sides
For the filling
For the topping
Instructions
- Line the dish: Ideally, use a metal pie dish with sloping sides, about 23cm across the top and 18cm across the base. Then line it with foil so the pie is easy to remove once it’s cooked.
- Make the crumbs: Melt the butter in a small pan, then break the biscuits into chunky pieces. Then blitz them to crumbs in a food processor, add the melted butter and blend with the motor running until thoroughly mixed.
- Press and chill: Press the crumbs firmly into the base and sides, keeping them even where the base meets the sides. Then put the dish on a small baking tray and chill it for 30 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate: Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, without the bowl touching the water, stirring occasionally. Then set it aside to cool for 10 minutes while the oven heats to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4.
- Whisk: Beat the eggs and sugar with an electric hand whisk until very light and creamy, roughly tripled in volume.
- Combine: Whisk in the chocolate mixture in a steady stream, then whisk in the sifted cocoa and the cream until well combined.
- Bake: Pour the mixture into the biscuit case and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until just firm and slightly risen. Then leave it to cool in the tin, where the filling will sink a little.
- Chill: Once it’s cold, lift the pie out and slide it off the foil onto a serving plate. Then chill it in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Top: Whisk the cream with the sugar until very soft peaks form, then spoon it onto the pie in generous peaks. Then sprinkle with the grated chocolate and serve.
FAQs
What is the Mums Still Know Best mud pie?
It’s a different, no-bake pie from Jayne Rawlings, whom they met in Lincoln, and her family named it because it looked like mud. And her mum used to make it, while Jayne says she has never seen anything like it in any cookbook. So it serves 6, with dark rum as an optional extra for special occasions.
Here 200g of marshmallows melt into 4 tablespoons of milk, then dark chocolate with strong coffee goes in. After that comes 600ml of double cream, whipped to soft peaks. Then it sets on a digestive base in a 25cm flan dish for about 8 hours in the fridge.
Is it a pie or a cake?
In British Classics it’s a pie, with a pressed biscuit case and a baked filling under a cream topping. But several search results are called Mississippi mud cake instead, so check a recipe has a biscuit case before you start.
If you want a chocolate bake you can cut into squares instead, their British Classics Biker brownies come from the same book. And those use dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids, plus chopped hazelnuts. Or for squares with no baking, their Mums Know Best rocky road binds marshmallows and Rice Krispies with melted Mars bars.
Which dish works best, and why the foil?
They suggest a metal pie dish with sloping sides for the best results, and the foil lining makes the pie easier to remove. So once it’s cold you lift it out, then slide it off the foil and onto a plate.
They don’t cover a ceramic dish, though I’d expect the foil lining to help the pie lift out of one too. And they chill the case on a small baking tray, which I’d guess makes the dish easier to move.
Can you make it ahead?
The recipe only asks for at least an hour in the fridge before the cream goes on, with no longer keeping time given. So my own approach would be to bake it the day before, keep it chilled, then whip and add the cream on the day.
With 500ml of double cream in the topping alone, it’s a big pudding, and the recipe serves 8. And they say if you want “a big bruiser of a pud for a special occasion”, this is the one.
What other biscuit-based pies do they make?
Their Perfect Pies banoffee pie sets a chocolate Hobnob base under homemade toffee, bananas and whipped cream, with no baking needed. And it serves 12, so it’s another one for a crowd.
For something sharper, their gin and lime key lime pie from Brilliant Bakes also sits on a biscuit base. And while this pie came from a southern US trip, in the same book they mention filming their Mississippi series in Nashville.
