Chocolate Meringue Pie

I admit that there is nothing better than lemon meringue pie but when i saw this recipe i had to make it! The creamy chocolate custard filling is so delicious i could have probably eaten it on it's own but because of it's richness it meant that the meringue and pastry were hardly detectable. So basically it was just chocolate pie. But don't be put off though, it was delicious in it's own right- creamy chocolatey and light at the same time but i think i love lemon meringue pie so much my expectations were too high!

Pastry:

(from green and blacks ultimate chocolate collection)

140g plain flour

30g icing sugar

75g butter

1 large egg yolk (free range!)

Sift the flour and icing sugar together and rub in the butter. Add the egg yolk and combine then shape into a smooth ball. Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Once it's chilled roll out into a 24cm tart tin. The pastry is very crumbly but don't worry just fill in the gaps! Bake at 220C for 15 minutes or until golden then leave to cool!!

Chocolate filling:

4 large egg yolks

45g caster sugar

20g plain flour

350ml full fat milk

70g good quality dark chocolate

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until creamy then sift in the flour. Heat the milk in a pan until it bubbles then pour over the egg, whisking constantly. Then pour it back into the pan and bring it to the boil continuing to whisk for a further five minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate and mix until thats melted and it's smooth and chocolatey. Leave to cool!!

Meringue:

4 free range egg whites

200g caster sugar

Whisk the egg whites until stiff as possible then whisk in the sugar, a little bit at a time so it's glossy and thick.

Pour the cooled chocolate custard into the pastry case then dollop over the meringue. Put in the oven at 180C for thirty minutes until the meringue is golden and crisp on the outside.