THERE’S SOMETHING uniquely melodious about the combination of chocolate and raspberries. Chocolate is dark and bitter, smooth and melty. Raspberries are tangy and bright, all juicy bursts and crunchy seeds. The berries bring out fruity undertones in the chocolate, and the chocolate smooths out the berries’ sharpness. It is a combination greater than the sum of its parts, unlocking even more flavor from each ingredient. This pie, bracing and decadent, is a celebration of those flavors.
It starts with a simple Oreo-cookie crust;chocolate with cream (use dark chocolate for more intense flavor, milk chocolate if you prefer that creamy sweetness). On top of that goes the jammy raspberry filling: Frozen raspberries (just as flavorful as fresh in cooked applications but more affordable) are cooked with sugar until broken down and syrupy, flavored with lemon juice and vanilla, and set with gelatin. After the pie is refrigerated until firm, the top is decorated with fresh raspberries, making a pretty jewel-like mosaic. A Chambord-spiked whipped cream is the ideal accompaniment, its richness mellowing the tangy-bitter-sweet edges of the pie.
