Crisp gingerbread, densely gooey chocolate filling, light as a feather meringue and crunchy, tart freeze dried raspberries are combined in this pie to create what my neighbour proclaimed to be the most delicious desert she had ever tasted!

So, there’s not a teaspoon of child slavery in a single mouthful of this pie. And that’s something worth celebrating. Thanks to Tony’s Chocolonely.

At Ironclad Pan Company, sourcing ethically produced ingredients is our top priority and when it comes to chocolate, Tony’s Chocolonely is leading the world in their vision to end child slavery. Every day up to 2 million African children face horrific working conditions on the cacao plantations. They are enslaved, uneducated and forced to work 7 days a week on meagre food allowances and in squalid living conditions. Most mass made chocolate available here in Aotearoa contains tablespoons of their fear and misery.

If you want to do something good for the planet and our children stop buying shit chocolate. It’s that simple. Spend more. Eat less.

Tony’s Chocolonely has a wonderful range of slave free chocolate available here in NZ. It’s creamy. It’s delicious. And it’s guilt free. Buy some! Make this pie! Kiss your kids! And give thanks to Tony’s Chocolonely.

GINGERBREAD PASTRY

⅓ Hakanoa Gingerbread recipe
2 T soft butter for the pan and rubbing into the gingerbread
70 g crystalized ginger, finely chopped

THE FILLING

170 g Tony’s Chocolonely 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped
120 g soft butter
45 g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 T vanilla essence or a splash of rum if that’s your thing! 
60 g sifted flour

THE MERINGUE

3 egg whites
200 g caster sugar
1 t corn flour
1 t  ginger powder, sifted
1 t vanilla essence
½ t white vinegar
1 T cacao powder, sifted

TO SERVE

A large handful of Fresh As freeze dried raspberries
Sifted cacao powder
Cream if you wish!

METHOD

Press the ginger bread into your well greased Lil’ Legacy Pan. Push the gingerbread up a little higher than the pan’s rim. Rub the gingerbread liberally with soft butter then prick with a fork and chill for 20 minutes.  

Cut out a circle of baking paper larger than the pan, crumple it up and place on top of the gingerbread. Fill with rice or baking beans and bake at 180C for 12 minutes. Remove paper and rice/beans and return to oven for 5 minutes. The ginger bread should feel dry to the touch.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle the crust with crystallised ginger. Trim excess pastry by running a knife around the rim of the pan. And leave to cool as you make the filling.  

Melt the butter and chocolate together over a bain marie (bowl over boiling water) and set aside to cool a little.

Beat whole eggs and egg yolks with sugar and vanilla or rum until frothy and pale. Fold in the flour then the melted chocolate and butter and mix well.

Pour batter into your prepared cool gingerbread pastry case and bake for 15 minutes at 180°C. When you remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 160°C.

To make the meringue, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Whisk the sugar in a tablespoon at a time and when it’s all incorporated, beat for a further minute. Fold in the corn flour, vanilla and vinegar. Finally sprinkle the cacao powder and ginger powder on top but don’t mix it in. If you mix it in, the meringue will go brown. If you don’t mix it in you’ll end up with cacao/ginger layers amidst the white meringue.

Pile, peak and swirl the meringue on top of the hot pie, making sure it connects with the inner edge of the pastry. Bake in the lower level of your oven for 25 minutes at 160°C. Or until just crunchy to the touch.

Run a knife around the edge of the pastry when the pie is still hot so it’s easier to cut later. Leave to cool, then chill.

Dust in cacao powder, a big sprinkle of crumbled freeze dried raspberries and serve with lashings of love and gratitude.