A Pie for Chocoholics

Chocolate comes from a fruit called a pod that grows on the cacao tree. A seedling tree generally must mature for five years before it produces pods, with peak pod production happening at 10 years. A cocoa tree can bear fruit and produce pods for 30 to 40 years. Each pod is similar in size to a football, and contains up to 50 cocoa beans. To make one ounce of milk chocolate, it takes 4 cocoa beans, and one ounce of dark chocolate requires 12 beans. An average American or Canadian will consume about 12 pounds of chocolate per year. However, the Swiss are the world’s largest consumers of chocolate, eating about 22 pounds of chocolate per person per year! Chocolate can be bittersweet, and we don’t mean literally. Although chocolate has many benefits to your health, some facts about how chocolate is made may make you want to munch on a different snack, or at least lower your chocolate intake.

Heart Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate:

Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it everyday can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well. Two heart health benefits of dark chocolate are:
Lower Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.
Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Ingredients

1 9-inch pie shell, unbaked
4 oz. semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1 can (14.5 oz) evaporated milk
1/2 cup honey
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup whipping cream


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter together.
3. When melted, remove from heat and blend in milk, stirring constantly.
4. In a mixing bowl, measure and blend together the honey, sugar, and cornstarch. Beat in the eggs.
5. Slowly add contents of bowl to chocolate mixture, beating constantly.
6. Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake for 40 minutes. Cover lightly with aluminum foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the top puffs up. The center may crack somewhat while cooking.
7. Allow pie to cool at least one hour and then refrigerate until chilled.
8. Top with whipped cream or ice cream and drizzle with honey before serving.