This is a delicious no- or little-bake pie/cake that you can freeze or keep in the refrigerator—it's delicious frozen AND delicious just cold!
But there are a couple of discussion points before we get to the recipe:
1. There are literally thousands of ways this cake can be made but just a couple of ingredients are always the same, these being CREAM CHEESE, WHIPPED CREAM (made by you—do NOT use store-bought or CoolWhip) and lastly, COOKIES of some sort, bearing in mind that whatever cookies you choose will form THE CRUST.
2. Some recipes call for sour cream for the filling in addition to the cream cheese and whipped cream. We have tried it with or without, and the sour cream adds a slight twist to the taste that is most agreeable (in moderation) but overall the cake is perfectly good without. Also, some recipes call for instant coffee or vanilla flavouring; we like BOTH! Literally, the more the merrier with this pie!
3. Choosing the ingredients for the crust is super-important, but if you really can't be bothered, or are in a big hurry, there are store-bought ready-made pie crusts (usually called Graham Cracker crusts) that can be found in the baking section of the supermarket. But we think making your own crust is better, plus it's super-easy! A rhomboid parallelogram could make it with three arms tied behind its back!
4. You should make the crust on one day and then make the filling the next. That way you can freeze the crust overnight and have it all hard and cold so it does not pull up at all or crumble when you add the filling.
5. We use a food processor to crush the cookies, but you could just put them in a plastic bag and pound then with a rolling pin—we've done it both ways and both are equally delicious!
6. You can either whip the cream with the whisk attachment of a a hand-blender (this is a typical example) or you can use the old-style egg-beater-type blender. The object is to get stiff peaks, so it's not important how you do it (we've even used a hand whisk, but it took all day!)
THE CRUSTThe object of this crust is to make a tasty, crunchy base to put your filling inside.
One we like that's easy to find anywhere is Oreo Dark Chocolate cookies, but beware: we found they have a certain "processed" aftertaste that is common with large commercial operations like Nabisco.
The Oreos have a crumbly texture and in addition, since you include the "fudge" filling when you crush the cookies, they form a more stable base for the filling, but the tradeoff is that commercial aftertaste—who knows what it is but the large companies have armies of chemists whose only task is to make their product more "umami" for the customers; translate this as "addictive."Another cookies we tried were the Leclerc "Celebration"-brand dark-chocolate-topped cookies which we include only so that you can see what kind of cookies are good—in this case they have a dark chocolate topping. But we found that the cookie itself had a rather fine texture that, when it's crushed, makes for a harder, tighter crust.
The key to making a good crust is first to use enough cookies (d'oh) but also, don't skimp on the second ingredient: BUTTER.
Ingredients
One box of cookies, filling and all (24 cookies, if they're Oreos) or generally, just use one box of whatever cookies you've selected. Don't worry, your choice of cookies is good—you can't make a bad crust; only a different crust!
For a thicker crust, just use more cookies—up to two full boxes of cookies is good, but we'd probablymake it around one and a half packages.
1 stick salted butter
Method
Using a food processor, pulse-chop the cookies (in batches if need be) until they make an even sand-like texture. If you don't have a food processor you can put the cookies in a thick plastic bag and beat them with a rolling pin or empty wine bottle.
Melt the butter in the microwave—very soft is fine—and in a large bowl stir it into the crumb mixture until everything is WELL COMBINED.
Now take a Pyrex baking dish—a long rectangular glass one is preferred—and add the crushed cookie mix. Now using some kind of utensil—a large flat spatula is ideal—spread the cookie mixture out on the bottom of the baking dish, to an overall thickness of about 1/4 inch, or around 5mm, or half the width of your middle fingernail.
Try to get the crumb mixture as evenly spread out as possible. You can run it up the sides of the baking dish of just leave it flat on the bottom of the dish as you prefer.
Preheat the oven to 350° and bake the crust for about 8 minutes. Remove, let cool, then cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and put in the freezer overnight.
THE FILLING
This is the fun part! Here's where you can go wild. Just use the measurements here as a guideline; with experience you can adjust it higher or lower as you make a new pie.
You'll need at least two large glass or metal bowls, and either a hand mixer (discussed previously) or a whisk attachment designed to whip cream.
Ingredients
As with everything in this recipe, measurements are a guideline—you can never go wrong making a little more chocolate in this recipe!
1 to1½ cups of very good dark or semisweet chocolate—Belgian or Ghirardelli-type kinds spring to mind but just use the best quality chocolate you can find; 70% is a good percentage but higher or lower is acceptable if you can't find 70%—roughly chopped
2 small containers Kraft Whipped Cream Cheese (or equivalent)—about 2 cups
1½ cups of heavy (whipping) cream, divided
⅓ cup sour cream (if using)
1 cup powdered sugar, divided
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. instant coffee
Method
Combine chopped chocolate and ½ cup of the heavy cream in a large microwave-safe bowl. Transfer to the microwave and heat in 20-25 second increments, stirring well in between, until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth.*
Once chocolate is melted, stir in instant coffee, if using. Set aside and allow chocolate mixture to cool for at least 25 minutes or until no longer warm to the touch.
Meanwhile, prepare your whipped cream. Combine remaining 1 cup heavy cream and ¼ cup powdered sugar in a clean, medium-sized bowl and use an electric mixer to beat to stiff peaks (until mixture is thick and fluffy and resembles Cool Whip). Set aside.
Place your cream cheese in a large bowl and pour cooled ganache (chocolate mixture) over top. Use electric mixer to stir together until well combined and smooth and creamy.
Add remaining ¾ cup powdered sugar, sour cream (if using) and vanilla extract and stir until completely combined.
Add whipped cream that you prepared (above) to the bowl and use a spatula to fold in by hand until all ingredients are well incorporated. DON'T BEAT! Fold firmly.
Spread filling into chilled cookie crust, using a spatula to smooth the top. (We put the filling in in large dollops evenly distributed across the baking dish and then smooth it out with the spatula).
Top with candy sprinkles (in the baking section of your grocery store).
Transfer pie to refrigerator and allow to chill for 6 hours or overnight. Note: the pie is easier to cut when frozen. Use a sharp or serrated knife and cut into small serving-size rectangles. Keep frozen until you want to eat some; move pieces to the refrigerator for thawing overnight.
Serve with additional swirls of whipped cream!
*Always heat the chocolate in small bursts and stir well in between. If you heat it for too long or skip the stirring you might end up seizing your chocolate, rendering it unusable.
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