Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and chocolate in the top half of a double boiler. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Add melted chocolate mixture and mix until well-combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and bake until set, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool and top with whipped cream, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

Angus Barn’s Chocolate Chess Pie, circa 2017

This Chocolate Chess Pie recipe was requested by a reader for The News & Observer’s monthly Specialty of the House column. The pie is such a popular chocolate dessert at the Angus Barn that the North Raleigh restaurant makes 600 pies a week. Owner Van Eure assures home cooks that this dish is easy to make, but they also sell it at the restaurant’s country store.