Chocolate cream pie is easy to make at home! This one contains a cookie crust, a luscious chocolate pudding and is topped with homemade whipped cream.
In all my years of baking (and almost 10 years of blogging!), I have never made a chocolate cream pie. Hard to believe, right? I feel like this pie is almost an American staple, yet I have never attempted one.
Whatever was holding me back is now gone. It was time to make chocolate cream pie. Sadly, my first attempt at making the pudding failed miserably. My pudding was smooth, chocolatey and silky until I added the butter. The original recipe called for 6 Tablespoons (!) of butter, and I only added 4. Unfortunately, the butter caused my pudding to turn into an oily mess. The pie had a slimy texture, and it was nowhere near silky. Needless to say, I threw out that batch.
My second attempt worked out much better. This time, I only added 1 Tablespoon of butter. As a result, my pudding remained silky, and I was happier about the result.
Not surprisingly, my family was very excited to dig into the pie. My daughter immediately exclaimed that it was a 5 out of 5. My husband agreed! Initially, I gave this 4.5 out of 5 because I felt like the whipped cream needed more sweetness and could have been more stable. However, I changed my mind. After trying it a second time, I upgraded this to a 5-star dessert!
This is a dessert that I will be making time and time again. I had a difficult time cutting pretty slices but don’t let that deter you from making this masterpiece!
Husband’s rating: 5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 5 out of 5
My rating: 5 out of 5
Chocolate cream pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 24 cream-filled sandwich cookies
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Filling
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 and ½ cups whole milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 8 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chopped finely (I used a Trader Joe's Pound Plus dark chocolate bar)
- 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Whipped cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place a standard 9" pie pan on a baking sheet and set aside.
Make the crust
- In a food processor or high-speed blender (alternatively, you can place the cookies in a heavy-duty zip-top bag and use a rolling pin or bottle of wine to crush them), pulse the cookies until you get fine crumbs. Mix it with the melted butter and press it on the bottom and sides of your pie pan.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes and remove it from the oven. Turn the oven off (you will not need it any more). Set the crust aside to cool while you prepare the filling.
Make the filling
- In a medium sized saucepan set over medium heat, mix together the sugar and the milk. Allow the mixture to simmer (but not boil).
- In a separate medium sized bowl, mix together the egg yolks and the corn starch.
- Transfer about 1 cup of the hot milk into the egg yolks and whisk vigorously. Then transfer this back into the saucepan and keep stirring. The mixture will begin to thicken.
- Once the mixture thickens, turn off the stove and remove the saucepan from the heat. Mix in the chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla. Keep whisking until the pudding is smooth and shiny. Pour it into your prepared crust and place it into the refrigerator to chill, about 4-6 hours or up to over night.
Make the whipped cream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, beat the heavy cream on high speed until you achieve soft peaks. Add the sugar and beat until you achieve stiff peaks.
- Add the whipped cream on top of the pudding and smooth out the top.
- If desired, add shaved chocolate curls or chocolate chips on top. Keep the pie in the refrigerator before slicing and serving.