Keto French Silk Pie Bars
A shortbread crust, a whipped chocolate filling and sweetened cream on top. Sixteen bars, low carb throughout.
One thing needs saying before the method, because the recipe does not say it.
The filling contains raw eggs
Three large eggs are beaten into the butter and chocolate mixture, and nothing after that cooks them. The bars are chilled, not baked.
This is traditional for French silk pie, which has always been made this way, and it is also a genuine food safety consideration. Raw eggs carry a risk of salmonella.
The straightforward fix is pasteurised eggs, which are heat treated in the shell to eliminate that risk and are sold in most supermarkets. They behave identically in this recipe, whipping and thickening the same way.
For anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immunocompromised, pasteurised eggs are the sensible choice rather than an optional upgrade. For everyone else it is a judgement call, and it is one worth making knowingly.
Beat each egg for a full one to two minutes
Added one at a time, with the mixture increasing in volume and becoming glossy.
This is what French silk means. The eggs are being whipped into the butter and chocolate, incorporating air, and that air is the entire structure of the filling. There is no flour, no gelatin and no cooking to set it.
One at a time matters. Adding all three at once means the mixture cannot emulsify properly and it splits.
The recipe is specific that you stop once it is glossy and increased in volume. Beating past that point starts knocking the air back out.
Cool the chocolate to lukewarm first
Melted in thirty second increments, then left until lukewarm before it goes into the butter.
Hot chocolate added to whipped butter melts it, and melted butter cannot hold air. The whole structure collapses.
Lukewarm means still fluid but not warm to the touch.
Erythritol for the crust, specifically
The recipe is direct about this: the only way to get a firm crisp crust is an erythritol based sweetener.
Erythritol recrystallises as it cools, which is what gives the crust its snap. Allulose and BochaSweet stay softer and produce a crust that bends rather than breaking.
In the filling it matters less, which is why the recipe uses half Swerve and half allulose there. That combination avoids the cooling sensation erythritol can leave while keeping some crispness where it counts.
Bake the crust, cool it completely
Twelve to fifteen minutes at 325F until golden at the edges, then fully cooled.
Completely is the requirement. Spreading a butter-based filling onto a warm crust melts it into the base and you lose the distinction between layers.
Almond flour crusts also firm up considerably as they cool, so a crust that seems soft out of the oven will be crisp twenty minutes later.
Espresso powder in the filling
Half a teaspoon, and it is not there to taste of coffee.
Coffee amplifies chocolate. It sharpens the bitter notes and deepens the flavour, and at half a teaspoon across sixteen bars nobody identifies it as coffee.
Leave it out if you must and the bars will taste flatter.
Two hours to firm
Refrigerated until firm before the topping goes on.
The filling sets by chilling the butter in it. Trying to pipe whipped cream onto a soft filling pushes it around and mixes the layers.
Powdered sweetener in the cream
Recommended if using erythritol, to avoid grittiness.
Granular sweetener does not dissolve in cold cream. It stays as crystals and the topping feels sandy.
Storing
Airtight in the fridge up to four days, or frozen up to two months. <p>Around 229 calories and 4.5g of carbohydrate per bar. ## Cutting them cleanly A hot dry knife. Run it under hot water, wipe it, cut, then repeat between each cut. The filling is soft and butter-based and it drags on a cold blade.
Cut them straight from the fridge rather than at room temperature.
Finishing
Keto chocolate sprinkles, or shave dark chocolate over each bar with a cheese grater, which the recipe suggests and which looks better than sprinkles.
Low carb French silk pie bars with a baked shortbread crust, airy chocolate filling and whipped cream topping.
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour (160 g)
- 1/4 cup powdered erythritol sweetener (for the crust)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (for the crust)
- 1/4 cup butter melted (56.75 g)
- 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 10 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/3 cup powdered erythritol sweetener (for the filling)
- 1/3 cup granular allulose
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (for the filling)
- 3 large eggs preferably pasteurised
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sweetener (for the topping)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (for the topping)
- keto chocolate sprinkles or shaved dark chocolate.
- 1 Preheat the oven to 325F and lightly grease a 9x9 inch metal baking pan. In a medium bowl whisk together the almond flour, sweetener and salt, then stir in the melted butter until the dough begins to clump together
- 2
Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the pan and bake 12 to 15 minutes, until golden around the edges. Remove and let cool completely- 3
In a microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until smooth. Let it cool to lukewarm- 4
In a large bowl beat the softened butter with the sweeteners until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. With the beaters running on low, slowly add the cooled melted chocolate until well combined, then beat in the vanilla, espresso powder and salt- 5
Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 to 2 minutes after each addition, until the mixture increases in volume and becomes glossy. Do not continue beating past this point. Use pasteurised eggs, as the filling is not cooked- 6
Spread the chocolate mixture evenly over the cooled crust and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours- 7
In a medium bowl whip the cream with the powdered sweetener and vanilla until it holds stiff peaks. Pipe or spread over the bars- 8
Top with chocolate sprinkles, or shave dark chocolate over each bar with a cheese grater.NoteThe filling contains three raw eggs that are never cooked, which is traditional for French silk pie and carries a salmonella risk. Pasteurised eggs, sold in most supermarkets, eliminate that risk and behave identically. They are the sensible choice for anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immunocompromised. Cool the melted chocolate to lukewarm before adding it to the whipped butter, or the butter melts and the structure collapses. Add the eggs one at a time and stop beating once the mixture is glossy and increased in volume. Use an erythritol based sweetener for the crust, which is the only way to get it crisp. Cool the crust completely before filling. Use powdered sweetener in the cream to avoid grittiness. Keeps 4 days refrigerated or 2 months frozen. Nutrition per bar from source: 229 calories, 4.5g carbohydrates, 4.5g protein, 21g fat, 2.2g fiber.
Silky, Chocolatey, Rich - 2