IN THIS ARTICLE:

A decadent yet low carb recipe for the out-of-control chocoholic.
Oh yeah, and it’s really easy.

Ok, so this isn’t a very inventive recipe, but it sure is tasty. Basically, it’s a cookie crust filled with chocolate ganache and chilled until set. In fact, it was borne from my own laziness. How so? Because I had planned to make regular chocolate truffles but decided that I didn’t want to go through all the bother of rolling out individual, melt-in-your mouth morsels and then dusting/coating them afterward. I also didn’t want to bother with using a double boiler, tempering, or any of that other stuff serious foodies/chefs do because I’m not really that fussy.

Instead of all that, I opted to make a soft-setting ganache that I could easily spoon into a simple pie crust and just leave it at that.

The result was a rich, bittersweet dessert that tastes a lot harder to make than it really is.

To make the filling less firm than a normal truffle, I used mostly Mexican table cream (media crema) instead of 100% heavy cream. It’s available in most US grocery stores near the cans of evaporated and sweetened condensed milk and/or in the Mexican food section. I suppose you could also use half and half or all heavy cream, but media crema is thicker, creamier, and produces a more decadent-tasting treat, in my opinion.

I actually ended up loving this more than I do plain old truffles. And I have a lot of love for plain old truffles. It also really impressed a couple of foodie friends of mine who are neither grain-free nor low carb eaters, which gave me the confidence to share the recipe with y’all.

What’s more, it’s totally vegan-option friendly. Enjoy!

Easy Low-Carb Double Chocolate Truffle Pie

Filling Ingredients

8 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup confectioners sweetener (or more to taste) like Swerve. Splenda granular will also work.
12 oz. media crema (I used Nestle brand) (see * for vegan) If you don’t have access to this, use heavy cream in its place
1/2 cup heavy cream*
2 tablespoons butter*
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dash salt

Chocolate Grain-Free Crust Ingredients

1 cup blanched almond flour
3 tablespoons melted butter*
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons “brown sugar” substitute sweetener (I used Lakanto Gold) or any granular sweetener of choice

Optional toppings: chopped nuts of your choice for topping, coarse sea salt

*Vegan subs: Use full fat coconut milk in place of cream. For butter, use Earth Balance baking sticks or coconut oil.

Directions

Finely chop the unsweetened chocolate by hand or use a food processor.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix media crema, heavy cream (or coconut milk/cream), butter (if using) and sweetener, then heat over medium low, stirring frequently. DO NOT leave the stove at any time during this step. You want to make sure that your cream does NOT burn nor get too hot. If it overheats, your ganache will separate and turn into a gloppy, oily mess. You don’t want that.

Once the cream mixture starts to steam, reduce to low heat. Stir in chopped chocolate. At first, before the chocolate has been fully incorporated, the mixture will be a dull grayish brown color, like this:

Just continue stirring and it will eventually become a deep, silky, gorgeous, ganache.

You should taste your ganache at this point to see if the sweetness is to your liking. If not, add more confectioner’s sweetener and stir well until it’s incorporated. Turn off heat and set aside.

To make the crust, preheat oven to 350°. Add all crust ingredients to a large bowl and throughly mix by hand. It should be crumbly, but easily clumped together. Press into a pie or tart pan. Prick bottom and sides with a fork and bake for 11 or 12 minutes. Let cool.

Spoon the chocolate ganache into the cooled crust. Top with chopped nuts if you’d like.
Place in fridge for a few hours until set.

Serve on its own or with whipped or coconut cream. It’s a very dense, intensely chocolatey dessert, so the fluffy cream helps balance it out. But if you love your chocolate rich and bittersweet, you’ll be happy going sans cream.