Chocolate Chess Pie in our Cartoon Gift Box

This is one of those foods that all the Southerners who are reading this will totally understand and the rest of us will say, “What?” Let me help fill y’all in. After I do, you’ll want to eat some. Quick.

Chocolate chess is a traditional chocolate custard pie. Think of really great chocolate pudding all wrapped up in a crispy butter crust (we make ours with Vermont Creamery cultured butter for extra buttery flavor), and you’re almost there. We don’t skimp on the chocolate part—it’s all Mindo dark chocolate, made locally in Dexter, Michigan.

What about the “chess” part? It’s not an ingredient, and there are lots of apocryphal stories behind the name. Personally I like the tale where, when asked what kind of pie was served, the cook said, “It’s just pie” and pronounced the “just” with a sweet enough accent that it sounded like “chess.”

Whatever the etymology, the pie makes a velvety smooth, extremely rich dessert that’s got long-lasting flavor. It’s a great gift for an expat Southerner or a chocolate lover of any origin.

Cradled in a re-useable embossed metal pie tin and nestled in our cartoon gift box.