I love you, I love you, I love you so well if I had a peanut I'd give you...

The frozen peanut butter pie with candied bacon! Ok, so the song isn't as catchy but a pie sure beats giving someone you love a shell. I found this fantastic recipe on Gourmet. I think I will be sad when they stop publication but I can't really complain since I never bought their magazines. We have not eaten it yet but from the taste testing (As my Mom says, "I have to check for poison.") I think the results will be quite nice. It's times like these when I thank God that I am not Kosher or allergic to nuts. I'm just a happy little Catholic girl who's unable to eat soy products or be near marijuana or hemp products (I'd make a really bad Hippie). So while this isn't a "family" recipe perhaps it will become one. I figure it's time to think outside the box and start creating and trying recipes out that will eventually become family favorites. So here it goes. I'll post a detailed review of the frozen peanut butter pie after we devour it.


Frozen Peanut Butter Pie with Candied Bacon

Serves 8 (Might be really rich so I'm thinking I can squeeze out 10 servings)

• Active time: 30 min (Such a lie. Note* I might be slow but realistically plan for probably 45 - 1 hour)
  
• Start to finish: 6 1/2 hr (includes freezing)

Candied bacon might seem like the ultimate example of gilding the lily, but it adds a sweet, smoky edge to this already luscious pie. Elvis would be proud. (The bacon is delicious! Just give in and try it people!!!)

• 7 bacon slices (about 6 ounces) (I used a smoked maple variety)
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used 1/4 tsp)
• About 35 chocolate wafers, finely ground in a blender or food processor (about 2 cups crumbs) (I could not for the life of me find these darn wafers! I had to improvise with 35 chocolate graham crackers)
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural) (If you must know choosy moms {and NOT moms} choose JIF)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups chilled heavy cream
• 1/3 cup salted roasted peanuts, finely chopped ( I forgot these when I my 2 hour grocery store trek so I left them out)

• Equipment:

  a 10-inch pie plate (6-cup capacity)

• Cook bacon (in 2 batches if necessary) in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, turning once, until lightly browned on edges but still flexible, 5 to 6 minutes total per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
• Pour off fat from skillet and arrange bacon in skillet in 1 layer. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon over bacon and cook over low heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until sugar has dissolved and then caramelized (sugar melts very slowly and burns easily; reduce heat if necessary after sugar begins to caramelize) and coats bacon, 8 to 10 minutes. (Bacon will be dark and look lacquered.) Transfer bacon with tongs to a cutting board to cool. When bacon is cool, finely chop 5 slices, leaving remaining 2 slices whole. (I saved the caramelized bits in the pan by placing them on wax paper. It creates a really hard "candy" but the flavor is really good and it's fun to suck on.)
  
• Stir together wafer crumbs and butter, then press onto bottom and up side of pie plate. Chill pie shell.
• Heat remaining 1/2 cup sugar and milk in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter and vanilla until combined well, then transfer to a bowl and cool completely in an ice bath, stirring occasionally. (I didn't have enough ice for a bath so I stuck the bowl in the freezer and stirred every other minute.)
  
• Beat cream with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks, then fold into peanut butter mixture with peanuts and chopped bacon gently but thoroughly. Transfer filling to pie shell, smoothing top.
• Cut remaining 2 bacon slices into 2-inch-long pieces and arrange in a decorative starburst shape in center of pie. Freeze pie, uncovered, until frozen hard, about 5 hours. Let pie soften slightly in refrigerator before serving, about 30 minutes. (I skipped this step. I know my people are nervous about meat products in their desert so I chopped all the bacon and folded it into the peanut butter filling in an attempt to win them over to the bacon for desert side. The plan is that they'll love the desert and after I have hooked them I can spill the bean...er bacon.)
  

Cooks’ note:

Pie can be frozen, covered after 5 hours with plastic wrap and foil, up to 2 days.

Recipe by Andrea Albin