Mexican Chocolate Mousse Pie

Magnífico!

I sincerely apologize for making you wait for this one. Mexican chocolate, a crust made from smushed sandwich cookies, and rum that you light on fire. This recipe is literally en fuego.

I used cinnamon-flavored sandwich cookies for the crust,
although vanilla or regular oreos would work well too.

When I was a freshman at UCLA, my dorm building had a Faculty-in-Residence. He was an astronomy professor, I think, and a very nice man. He and his wife used to invite the students on our floor over for snacks while we were studying for finals. They always made Mexican hot chocolate -- I had never tasted such a thing before, but it is the most amazing hot beverage. It's made with special chocolate that has been spiked with cinnamon and other heavenly spices, and you can even buy this chocolate at the store, in bricks that you melt on the stove and mix with milk.

WIN!

Or, you can forget the hot chocolate, and use it to make chocolate mousse. South-of-the-border chocolate mousse. With Captain Morgan. That you set on fire.

Sorry, no finished-product photos,
as I brought this to a dinner party. Shame!

Mexican Chocolate Mousse Pie
via Bon Appétit, adapted slightly

*Disclaimer: I took a mousse recipe, and turned it into a mousse pie -- which is fab, except that the original recipe wasn't sized for a pie. So this recipe will leave you with extra mousse. It's terrible, I know.

21 sandwich cookies (I used Safeway brand in cinnamon-bun flavor)
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temp, cut into pieces
1 18.6-ounce box Mexican chocolate, chopped
½ cup whole milk
¾ teaspoon salt
⅓ to ½ cup Captain Morgan rum (to taste)
2 pints chilled heavy whipping cream, divided
Cinnamon to taste
Sugar to taste

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind cookies in food processor. Add butter and process until mixture is evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of lightly greased pie dish with your fingers to form a thin crust. Bake crust 10-15 minutes, or until set, like it's one big cookie. Transfer crust to a wire rack and cool completely.

Step 2: Stir chocolate, milk, and salt in a large skillet with high sides over medium heat until chocolate melts. Stir constantly until all sugar in chocolate is dissolved, about 13 minutes.

Step 3: Add rum to chocolate; using a long match, immediately ignite rum (I suggest you take the pan off the stove if you have a microwave directly above your stove -- the flames are not very high at all, but past experiences have taught me to be cautious, specifically some former roommates who melted part of our microwave in a drunken and misguided attempt at making bananas foster). Carefully stir chocolate mixture with long spoon until blue flames subside. Transfer chocolate to large bowl. Cool to room temperature.

Step 4: Once the chocolate is completely cooled, use an electric mixer to beat 3 cups heavy whipping cream in large bowl until peaks form. Working in 2 batches, fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture.

Step 5: Pour mousse into prepared crust, and smooth out the top with a spatula. Cover loosely with foil and chill until set, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.)

Step 6: Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining half-pint of heavy whipping cream, along with sugar to taste, and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon in a large bowl until peaks form. Garnish each pie slice with a large spoonful of this cinnamon whipped cream.