If today wasn’t my husband’s birthday I would have no idea that it’s also Pi Day. But, thanks to him I’m well aware and every year, I have a great excuse to make him a pie. Last year, it was chicken pot pie. This year, it’s silky, dreamy chocolate heaven on a plate!
I’m no baker, so my search for a simple recipe that didn’t include Jell-O or a pre-made crust was no easy task. But, I eventually landed on this recipe, originally from Gourmet magazine, and knew I was in luck. This chocolate cream pie and its crust, baked from scratch top to bottom, was a piece of cake (or, pie) to make and absolutely delicious!
Chocolate Cream Pie
Ingredients
For crust
- 1 1/3 cups chocolate wafer crumbs from about 26 cookies such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
For filling
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 cups whole milk
- 5 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate not unsweetened, melted
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate melted
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For topping
- 3/4 cup chilled heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Make crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Stir together crumbs, butter, and sugar and press on bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until crisp, about 15 minutes, and cool on a rack.
- Make filling: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks in a 3-quart heavy saucepan until combined well, then add milk in a stream, whisking. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking, 1 minute (filling will be thick).
- Force filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then whisk in chocolates, butter, and vanilla. Cover surface of filling with a buttered round of wax paper and cool completely, about 2 hours.
- Spoon filling into crust and chill pie, loosely covered, at least 6 hours.
- Make topping: Just before serving, beat cream with sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks, then spoon on top of pie.
- Enjoy!