Dark Chocolate Ganache & Pretzel Pie

Oh my, this pie! It is amazing and extremely easy to make! I am ecstatic about this pie because it surpassed my expectations and it was important to me that it turn out well because I made it for Dylan's birthday. Since we have been in quarantine, I wanted to make his day as special as I could despite the circumstances. As I so hoped, he loved the "cake" and ate most of it!

It really is so easy and is practically a no-bake pie. The pretzels first need to be put in a food processor to mix the crust. If you are like me and you have a tiny food processor, you can just step on the pretzels to crush them. If you want a finer crust, just pulse the crushed pretzels a little. The only thing that needs to bake is the crust for about 12-15 minutes, make the quick chocolate ganache and pop it in the fridge for 2 hours. Top it off with some sugared berries and the pie is done! 

The inspiration for this pretzel pie is a favourite Dutch chocolate bar of ours "Tony's Chocolonely" that looks like it's straight out of Willy Wonka. They have a dark chocolate pretzel bar that Dylan loves, so I tried to make the closest thing to that bar in the most festive way I could. The one positive of having a quarantine birthday: only having to share this "cake" with one other person!

Ingredients 

Pretzel Crust 

• 4 cups (250g) small salted pretzels
• 8 tablespoons butter (cold and cubed)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup 

 Ganache

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups (230g) of dark chocolate and 1 cup ( 80g) of milk chocolate 
• 4 tbsp butter, room temperature, cut into cubes.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a standard tart shell or pie plate with butter. 
2. For the crust, pulse the pretzels into fine crumbs in a food processor. Add the butter and maple syrup. Pulse until the mix clumps together to form small balls. Add 1-2 tablespoons cold water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together and forms a ball. Press the dough into the pie plate. Transfer to the oven and bake 12-15 minutes, until golden. Let cool.
3. To make the ganache, heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until it is just starting to simmer.
4. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, and let sit for a few minutes. Depending on the size of your chunks, the time will vary. 
5. Whisk together the chocolate and cream until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Add the butter, a couple pieces at a time, whisking well.
6. Pour the ganache into the prepared pretzel crust shell. Carefully place the tart in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before slicing. 
7. Scatter the berries over the top of the tart when it has set so that it doesn't sink into the chocolate.