Tall, Dark & Handsome Pie

Directions

1. MAKE FILLING: Heat half-and-half in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat until it just begins to simmer; remove pan from heat. In a large bowl, whisk together 2/3 cup sugar and cornstarch; add egg yolks and whisk until smooth, (this will take several minutes of continuous whipping with a your whisk). Drizzle half-and-half into egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly, until smooth. Return mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until bubbles rise to the surface and mixture is very thick, 3-4 minutes. (Watch this very carefully and whisk constantly.) Remove pan from heat and add remaining 8 TBS. of butter and both semisweet and unsweetened chocolate in small batches, whisking until smooth; stir in 1 1/2 ts. vanilla. Add the espresso at this time if using. (Note: do this all swiftly and whisk it continously to keep it smooth). Set a sieve over a medium bowl and strain chocolate mixture. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic onto surface; refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.
2. MAKE THE CRUST: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 9" glass pie plate with butter; set aside. Heat 8 TBS butter and brown sugar in a 1-qt. saucepan until sugar dissolves. Transfer butter mixture to a medium bowl; stir in ground wafers. Transfer mixture to pie plate, press into bottom and sides using the bottom of a measuring cup to compress crust. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Bake until set, about 15 minutes; let cool. (Check after 10 minutes into cooking to ensure cookies do not blacken/if it's overcooked, it gets very hard).
3. ASSEMBLE THE PIE: Remove plastic wrap from chocolate filling and, using a rubber spatula, stir mixture until smooth. Spoon mixture into reserved crust, forming a dome, and smooth surface with the spatula. In a large bowl, whisk remaining sugar, remaining vanilla, and heavy cream until stiff peaks form (or use your stand mixer with whip attachment); spread on top of filling, forming a dome.Using a peeler, shave some of the dark chocolate onto top of pie. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
4. This pie looks AMAZING...a mile high! **A word on those chocolate wafers. First of all, they're hard to find and when you do, they are more than $4 for a small box of them, ridiculous. Sure, you could use oreo crumbs, but this would move the pie from the sophisticated cocoa dream to a more traditional sweet pudding pie. So the wafers are worth looking for and worth the price...although I am going to research a recipe for homemade chocolate wafers!