Scrumdiddlyumptious Fudgemallow Pie

 

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Blame it on Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, a cookbook by the gorgeous, curvaceous former model Sophie Dahl.  I chanced upon her book while browsing at the library last week. It is a pretty cool cookbook/food memoir,  full of charming little anecdotes and  homely recipes which I thought I might get round to trying someday.  

Problem was, once the book was back on the shelf, (and this is revealing of my hopelessly distracted thought process) all I could think of was the word "Scrumdiddlyumptious".  A word ingeniously coined, of course, by none other than Miss Dahl's famous writer grandfather Roald Dahl.*  

I believe it is difficult, if not impossible, to find another word  in the English language which so singularly and immediately conveys a sense of supreme, lip-smacking yummaliciousness (see, I needed to use 3 words, told ya).   Once planted in my head, it simply refused to leave me alone. On and on, like a chorus of inebriated Oompa Loompas, the refrain  of "Scrumdiddlyumptious scrumdiddlyumptious scrumdiddlyumptious" played on my mind for the rest of the week.  

You can understand of course, that it was only a matter of time before I was seized with the  irresistable urge to make, and consume in large quantities, something truly and marvellously scrumdiddlyums.  

It wasn't hard to decide what would fit the bill.    

It had to be Fudgey. Creamy. Buttery. Sweet.  There would have to be Chocolate. Peanut Butter. And Marshmallows.  And most importantly, it would not be healthy.  The last being not so much a requirement as it is a matter of fact. For scrummy and healthy never the twain shall meet.

And that's how the Fudgemallow Pie was born. 

A fudgey chocolate brownie pie, spread generously with the smoothest, butter-creamed peanut butter, topped with coconut flakes and big fluffy marshmallows.  And then smothered all over with warm chocolate sauce.  The sensation of melty, chocolate-coated marshmallows against the salty-sweetness of creamy peanut and coconut on fudge, is out of this world. 

When you take your first bite, your brain will exclaim in sugar-induced ebullience, "By golly, this IS Scrumdiddlyumptious!!".  And then scarcely after recovering from the shock of its intense, chocolatey, fluffernutterish deliciousness, it might scream "MORE!!!". Or in my case, "This needs ice-cream!" Which of course it does.  Cold creamy, vanilla bean ice-cream melting atop its warm, oozey, chocolatey, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth fudgey goodness. You cut yourself another slice.

And then after 5 minutes, you realise this was indeed rich. Very rich. And that it might be wise to stop. Now. As you perhaps recall gluttonous Augustus Gloop's ignoble end in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But then your tastebuds override your better sense and you launch yourself into another serving. SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS!!!

Recipe for Scrumdiddlyumptious Fudgemallow Pie

Fudge Pie Base

(slightly adapted from Stephen Bruce's "Miss Milton's Lovely Fudge Pie" in Sweet Serendipity. This is simply one of the best recipes there is for a fudgey brownie.)  

Unsalted butter

30 grams (1/4 cup) all purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa  

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

113 grams (4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

113 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

3 large eggs

180 grams sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

57.5 grams (1/4 cup) sour cream 

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees (163C). Butter an 8-inch round glass pyrex pie pan  (or any pan that you can cut on and serve from). 

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In a double boiler over hot water, carefully melt the butter and chocolate, stirring to mix. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and sour cream together. Add the melted chocolate and mix completely. Fold in the flour mixture and stir only until the batter is uniformly brown.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, just until the batter is set and no longer jiggles when touched. Do not overbake; it should be moist and slightly gooey. 

Butter-Creamed Peanut Butter 

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) chunky or creamy peanut butter

1.5 tablespoons of slightly salted butter

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Mix the peanut butter and butter together until smooth, shiny and uniform.

(Note: If you have never had peanut butter with butter, you are missing out.  The butter makes peanut butter unctuously smooth and creamy - it's crazy good on toast, I tell ya.) 

Chocolate Sauce

180 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped

50 grams unsalted butter

2 tablespoons golden syrup

1 tablespoon dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Combine and gently melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler.  Add golden syrup and dark rum and stir through.  Sauce should be thick but pourable. If too thick to pour, add more butter.

Assembly

18 - 20 large marshmallows

1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes 

Spread peanut butter mix onto fudge pie base. Sprinkle coconut flakes over.  Dip each marshmallow quickly into chocolate sauce and 'stick' it onto the pie until you have an entire layer of marshmallows. Sprinkle with more coconut then pour chocolate sauce over until marshmallows are covered. Garnish with remaining coconut flakes. 

Serve warm.