Southern Chocolate Pie with Meringue

Directions

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 450℉ and prepare your pie shell.
Make the custard base. In a small bowl, add the cornstarch and whisk in 4 tablespoons of the milk to dissolve the cornstarch. To the cornstarch, whisk in the egg yolks and the whole egg, set aside. Add the remaining whole milk and granulated sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Remove from the heat.
Cook the custard and add chocolate. Temper the cornstarch mixture with ¼ cup of the boiling milk by whisking it into the cornstarch mixture. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan with the boiling milk. Bring the milk mixture back to a boil and allow to thicken over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. (about 5 minutes) Remove from heat when thickened. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract, add in the chocolate chips and stir until completely melted.
Fill. Pour into the prepared pie shell immediately. Set aside.
Make the meringue. In a medium-sized bowl, add the 4 egg whites and ½ tsp cream of tartar. Using a handheld electric mixer, mix until soft peaks from. Add in the 3oz of granulated sugar and mix on high speed until glossy stiff peaks form (do not over mix) Set aside.
Assemble the pie. Using a rubber spatula, spread the meringue over the pie and seal the edges of the crust with the meringue.
Bake. Place the pie in the oven preheated to 450℉ to brown the meringue. (about 3-5 minutes) watch it carefully so that it does not burn.
Cool. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!
NOTES
You can use milk chocolate in the recipe in place of dark chocolate.
It is important not to over-whip the meringue as it may release liquid into your pie as it cools.
You can use a creme brulee torch to brown the meringue as well.