Chocolate Cherry Ganache Pie

I have to start out by saying that this pie is AMAZING! I know its a little rude to brag about your own recipes this way, but the DECADENCE of this recipe is AMAZING!

Remember this summer when I entered the Lucky Leaf contest with these Lemon White Chocolate Muffins.  If you haven't tried them yet then you need too. They are the best lemon muffin recipe I have ever had, and they are so moist they melt in your mouth.

Ok back to this pie.. because its weird to talk about muffins when there are pie pictures staring back at you. Anyway Lucky Leaf contacted me and asked me to compete in their new contest. The contest is called Lucky 13.

Make sure and check out all the details at their website Lucky Leaf. The grand prize winner will win $2,500, 4 Second Place winners will win $400, and 8 Third Place winners will win $100. You can enter between November 6th and December 2nd.

I decided on Cherry Pie Filling, because I wanted to make a dessert this time around and I wanted it to be decadent and perfect for the holidays. I'm a secret chocolate fanatic, so I knew that this pie needed to have lots of chocolate too. So I started with a chocolate graham cracker crust.

I made my crust from scratch, well as scratch as you get when you chop up a bunch of graham crackers and mix them with buttery goodness :) However I wouldn't judge you if went to the store and got a pre-made chocolate graham cracker crust. I must insist it is chocolate though.

I then filled the pie with Lucky Leaf cherry pie filling. The smell was AMAZING! I almost wanted to stop here and just eat the pie this way... but patience is key. So I put it in the oven. Then you will never guess what I did.....

I covered it with a chocolate ganache. Sorry for the non fancy picture of my counter. This ganache is super easy to make on the stove. I gave you the option to take the easy route on the pie crust, but I'm going to insist that you make the ganache on the stove. It is not the same if you make it in the microwave.

Then when you are done you have this DECADENT AMAZING piece of pie.

So check out the Lucky Leaf contest. Make this pie, and Life will be Good or should I say AMAZING!

Ingredients

9 chocolate graham crackers (1 skein)
1.5 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 can Lucky Leaf Cherry Pie Filling
1 cup of heavy cream
1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Put the graham crackers into a food processor and chop until very fine.  Sprinkle the sugar onto the graham cracker crumbs and pulse a couple of times to mix the sugar in. Then pour the melted butter over the mixture and pulse 4-5 more times or until the mixture starts to clump slightly.

Press the graham cracker mixture into a 9 inch pie pan. Its ok if it doesn't go all the way up the sides, you want most of your crust to be covered by the cherries. Then pour the pie filling into the graham cracker crust.

Bake for 35 minutes. You may want to check the pie when there is 10 minutes remaining to make sure that the edges of the pie are not getting to brown. If they are quickly cover the pie with foil.

Take the baked pie out of the oven and let it cool. As the pie is cooling make the ganache. Place the chocolate chips in a medium size bowl off to the side. Put the heavy cream in a small saucepan on the stove top over low heat. Stir the cream until it starts to simmer (this means its just about to boil, but hasn't boiled yet.)

Once the cream is simmering take it off the stove and pour it over the chocolate chips. Slowly stir the chocolate and cream mixture. The chocolate will start to melt. As the chocolate starts to melt add in the butter. Once the mixture is uniform and all the chocolate and butter are melted pour it over the top of the pie.

Place the pie in the fridge, and let it set.

Eat and Enjoy!

This recipe originally appeared on Laura's Baking Talent.

Lucky Leaf provided me with the pie filling for this recipe, but all opinions are my own.

You may also enjoy!

Lemon White Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate Raspberry Cookies