OMG - how awesome to find this recipe here! My Grandma used to make this 45 years ago, and it's always been my favorite. It was either from a magazine or a Baker's recipe pamphlet that she'd had at least since the 1930's or 1940's. I've made this so many times over the years and I can guarantee that it's fabulous! It's really decadent without being overly sweet. The sweetness comes from the meringue shell, which plays perfectly against the rich chocolate filling, when made as written. If you substitute Cool Whip it will be a much sweeter pie and have a much different texture as the whipped cream is what dictates the firmness of the filling. Whip the cream until very stiff and the consistency will be that of a sturdy mousse. This is a wonderful pie exactly as written, and is delicious without embellishments. The ONLY other suggestion I would make is to try using a non-stick pie pan, as I've had touble in the past with the meringue sticking to the pie dish (could just be our darned St. Louis humidity!); I thought about greasing and flouring the dish, as one does for cakes, but wasn't sure if that would work with the meringue or not. All in all though, excellent recipe. Thanks so much, Marcia, for submitting this, so I'll never have to worry about losing it again!

This dessert has a light airy crust and intense chocolate filling. Let it sit a day before serving or the meringue may be chewy instead of soft. I used cool whip instead of the cream and topped it with additional cool whip, pecans, and toasted coconut. Yummy!

My favorite!!! YUM!!

The crust shrunk, I went up the sides, need to mound higher than the sides. I used fat free cool whip and it was yummy! Very chocolaty!

Fabulous fluffy chocolate pie after a big Thanksgiving meal. It was a huge hit with my family (the only pie totally consumed). Highly recommend!!!