Chocolate Rum and Dulce De Leche Pie

The first time I made my own birthday cake, I baked a yellow cake with a dulce de leche filling and a dark chocolate frosting. It was wildly delicious, but I haven’t made my own birthday cake since then (although I have baked quite a few for other people, like this Hummingbird Cake and this Cointreau Double Chocolate Cake). For my birthday last year, I posted about Double Chocolate Cookies with Boozy Cherries and the year before that, I posted about… cabbage. (Yes, cabbage.)

But this year, for my birthday, well this year is special.

This year was the first birthday I celebrated in Manila in 10 years (!!) And because I’m on a very long extended vacation, I felt like I was actually celebrating my birthday for a month. So I made something that combines some of my very favorite things – a cake (or really, a pie) worthy of a special celebration: Chocolate Rum and Dulce de Leche Pie.

Another thing worth noting: this was also the year I conquered my fear of using a spring form pan.

You see, I’ve been avoiding that little baking… contraption. I’m always scared that my baked goods will get trapped and crack and crumble in the pan. Every time I made a cheesecake, I’ll opt to make it in a square pan, making cheesecake bars instead. Or in a muffin tin, making individual litte cheesecakes. But not this year!

This year, I successfully made a pie, pressed graham cracker crumbs up and down the sides and bottom of the spring form pan, ran a hot knife around the finished product before pressing the release hinge, and voila! A pretty pie with only a few semi-bald spots.

Because my drizzling skills are not to be trusted, I opted to do a swirly pattern of dulce de leche on top. Turns out I’m not very good at that either. So it’s not the prettiest pie I’ve ever made (that award will go to this Salted Chocolate Banoffee Pie). Some may not even consider this pie, because it doesn’t involve flaky pie crust.

But to me, this Chocolate Rum and Dulce de Leche Pie is beautiful (and delicious). Because this is the birthday pie that I was able to share with my family right beside me.

As soon as I saw a recipe for a Chocolate Stout and Dulce de Leche Icebox Cake from The Beeroness, I knew I wanted to make my own using rum. I love rum in baked goods (as evidenced here, here, and here) and I knew it would pair well with chocolate and dulce de leche. The original recipe is a no-bake recipe (icebox referring to the refrigerator or freezer), but I wanted my graham cracker crust to be a little bit firmer, almost cookie-like, so I still baked my crust for 10 minutes.

The chocolate rum filling is almost like a light chocolate cream pie filling (or a heavy chocolate mousse filling), while the dulce de leche cream topping is as wonderful as it sounds. Topped with even more dulce de leche, each cool, creamy forkful is a chocolaty caramel delight with a hint of the warm flavors of rum.

Chocolate Rum and Dulce de Leche Pie

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups finely ground graham crackers
2 tablespoons brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, melted

Filling

1/2 cup dark rum
10 oz milk chocolate chips
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Dulce De Leche Cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
2/3 cup dulce de leche (plus more for drizzling on top)

Directions

  1. Make the crust. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl. Add melted butter; stir until well combined. Transfer crumb mixture to a buttered spring form pan, pressing evenly onto bottom and sides. Bake until crust is lightly golden, about 10 minutes.
  2. Make the filling. Place the chocolate in a medium microwave0safe bowl and heat for 1 minute, then remove from microwave and stir. Heat again for 30 seconds. Pour rum into bowl and stir into chocolate until smooth. (If needed, you can microwave for an additional 30 seconds to melt everything together.) Cool completely.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream and sugar and beat on high until you can form soft peaks. Slowly fold in chocolate rum mixture, and gently stir to combine.  Spread filling over crust and let it set in the freezer while you make the top layer.
  4. Make the dulce de leche cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream and sugar and beat on high until you can form soft peaks. Slowly fold in dulce de leche, and gently stir to combine.  Spread cream on top of the chocolate layer and freeze until set, for at least an hour.
  5. To release from pan, run a sharp knife in between the crust and sides of the pan, and slowly lift pan to release. Do the same for the bottom of the pan. Drizzle remaining dulce de leche on top before serving or make a swirly pattern. (You can heat the dulce de leche in the microwave first if it's too thick.) For the swirls, make four thick parallel lines of dulce de leche on top of the pie. Lightly run knife across the lines perpendicularly, letting the dulce de leche drag across to form swirls.

adapted from The Beeroness

This is a perfect celebration pie – cold, sweet, creamy, and indulgent. It made for a very happy birthday indeed!

If you’re interested in more dulce de leche recipes, check out my favorites:

Oatmeal Dulce de Leche Bars (or Caramelitas)

Salted Dulce de Leche Macaroons

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

What was the last treat you made for your birthday or for someone else? Please share in the comments section!

   

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