Ever since my senior year of college when I made several of them for a Thanksgiving party, I have fallen in love with grasshopper pie. And no, it’s not actual grasshoppers in a pie, if that’s what you’re thinking (because my god, the Internet can be stupid sometimes). Grasshopper pie is an old school dessert that features chocolate and mint. Literally that simple. Typically, it’s an Oreo crust with a mint filling and whipped cream, or in the case of what I did for the party, a chocolate pastry with mint-chocolate ganache and crème di menthe Italian meringue. For my current rendition, I went a bit non-traditional. Actually, a lot non-traditional. Instead of a pie, I went with icebox cake. So I did layers of chocolate shortbread, sandwiching layers of mint-white chocolate ganache. I also did a dark chocolate-mint mousse, and for the surrounding layer, two mirror glazes, featuring dark chocolate and mint again, as well as my favorite (and extremely difficult to glaze) entremet mold. Truthfully, I think that mold is meant to be sprayed, not glazed, but me two years ago, having little to any entremet experience, wouldn’t have known that when I first ordered it.

Makes 1 entremet, about 8-10 servings:
For the shortbread:
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 stick unsalted butter
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg

Combine ingredients together into a dough. Chill down for 10 minutes. Roll out on a floured surface to about 1/16th an inch thickness. Cut out at least five rectangles, measuring them to be about 1/4 an inch in length and in width shorter than the hole of your entremet mold. Bake these between two sheet trays for 20 minutes at 375 degrees F. Cool completely. With any spare bits of dough, bake those off as cookies for garnish.

For the mint-white chocolate ganache:
2/3 cups white chocolate chips
1/4 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon spearmint oil
a pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of cornstarch

Toss the white chocolate in your cornstarch. Bring buttermilk, butter, oil, and salt to a simmer. Once butter is melted, add in your white chocolate. Stir first with a rubber spatula until the white chocolate is melted into the buttermilk, then switch to a whisk and whisk until thickened. Pass through a sieve and onto a sheet tray and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so that it’ll firm up. Transfer to a piping bag. Pipe onto three layers of shortbread, and place those on top of one another, topping the third layer of cream with another piece of shortbread. Freeze that for at least 1 hour so that it’ll solidify.

For the dark chocolate-mint mousse:
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate
2 1/4 teaspoons gelatin powder + 1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff
1 teaspoon spearmint oil
a pinch of salt

Melt dark chocolate with egg yolks over a double boiler. Simmer down milk, spearmint, salt, and gelatin until gelatin is melted and pour into your egg and dark chocolate mixture. Once incorporated, take off heat and continue whipping in a stand mixer until lightened in color and taken down to room temperature. At that point, fold in your whipped cream. Pour the mixture into your silicone mold, being sure to line the sides of it with your mousse, and tapping down to remove any air bubbles. Take out your icebox cake and flip sideways, and press that into the mold. Use an offset spatula to scrape off any excess mousse that comes out of the sides of the mold, and place your fifth piece of shortbread on top of the hole. Freeze this solid, for at least 4 hours, before unmolding.

For the dark chocolate mirror glaze:
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk
1 packet gelatin powder + 1/4 cup warm water
a pinch of salt

Melt milk with gelatin powder and salt. Pour in your chocolate and allow that to sit on low heat for about 30 seconds, then stir, off heat, until incorporated.

For the white chocolate-mint mirror glaze:
1 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cups milk
2 packets gelatin powder + 1/3 cup warm water
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon spearmint oil
1 1/2 tablespoons spirulina powder

Melt milk with gelatin powder, spearmint oil, spirulina powder, and salt. Pour in your chocolate and allow that to sit on low heat for about 30 seconds, then stir, off heat, until incorporated. Keep both glazes at around 90 degrees F, but leave them separate until it is time to actually glaze.

For assembly:
Unmold your entremet when it is still frozen solid and place onto an icing rack. Pour your dark chocolate glaze into the white, and pour over your entremet. For the mold I used, I actually would recommend dipping it into a tub of the glaze instead, just to guarantee even glazing, but you can still do the pouring method as well.