On the day before Thanksgiving, I should be posting apple or pecan pie recipes. But I’m not your normal gal. You’ve already got my pumpkin pie recipe, and I promise I will soon put up the apple and pecan. But this chocolate cream pie has captured my heart, and needs to be posted!
Chocolate Cream Pie
A rich chocolate custard in a chocolate-cookie-crumb crust, topped with whipped cream.
Ingredients
- For the cookie-crumb crust:
- 7 ounces dark chocolate wafers
- 2.75 ounces unsalted butter melted
- For the filling:
- ½ c. sugar
- 4 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- 1 Tbsp. dark cocoa Dutch process; Droste is good
- 1/8 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1 ½ c. whole milk
- 1 ½ c. half-and-half
- 4 egg yolks lightly beaten
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1-2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- ½ c. good-quality bittersweet chocolate in 1” pieces or smaller (my favorite is 70-percent-cacao chocolate)
- For the whipped topping:
- 1 ½ c. heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp. Powdered sugar or more, to taste
Instructions
- To make the crust:
- Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter in a bowl. Mix thoroughly with a fork until all the crumbs are moist with the butter.
- Press the crumb mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan. Chill for 15-20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350. Take the crust out of the refrigerator. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Cool.
- To make the filling:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, flour, cocoa and salt. Whisk in a little of the milk or half-and-half, mixing the liquid and dry ingredients until you're sure they're fully combined, with no lumps. Whisk in the rest of the milk and half-and-half. Whisk in the egg yolks and the vanilla.
- Over medium-high heat, cook the pie filling until it thickens and comes to a boil, whisking constantly. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for about two minutes, taking special care to whisk the bottom and sides of the pan constantly.
- Remove the custard from the heat. Stir in the butter and the chocolate pieces. After a minute or so, mix to blend.
- Pour the filling into a bowl. Spread plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard to keep a thick coating from forming. Put it in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly. It might take 6-8 hours to set.
- If you need the custard to set more quickly, spread it onto a rimmed baking sheet and put plastic wrap onto the top of the custard. When it's cooled, you can transfer it to a bowl, or go straight to filling the pie with it (just stir it a bit first). If you fill the pie, keep it chilled.
- To make the topping:
- Just before serving the pie, combine the whipping cream and the powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. I like only 2-3 tablespoons of powdered sugar in this topping; if you like a sweeter topping, add more. Whip til the cream reaches stiff peaks. Scoop generous dollops onto the pie, or pipe it decoratively on top. Garnish with dark chocolate shavings or a sprinkle of cocoa.
Notes
This pie can also be made with a pastry crust instead of a chocolate-cookie-crumb crust. Just prepare a single batch of pie dough and blind-bake it.
Exquisite!
Holy crap, does that pie look good!
Sounds delicious! I am in a bit of a pie quandary. We are supposed to bring enough pies for 22 people for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner. We went to Pie & Burger (my second attempt!) and we waited in line and we were told THAT WE COULD NOT BUY ANY PIE BECAUSE WE DIDN’T MAKE A RESERVATION FOR A PIE ORDER. Yikes. We tried to buy a pie that was reserved for people who wanted to buy just a slice or two. We were turned down again.
So you may never get a review from me about Pie & Burger. I now officially hate the place!
I may have to make a pie lickety-split. Banana cream.
Oh my that looks good. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Rhea! Call me if you need to! I will talk you through it!! 🙂