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Chocolate Cream Pie
Chocolate Cream Pie made with decadent semi-sweet chocolate custard and topped with homemade whipped cream and shaved chocolate.
It’s PIE WEEK on Modern Honey! I have been on the quest to discover the ultimate Chocolate Cream Pie. This French Silk Chocolate Pie is made from scratch using the highest-quality ingredients. The pie starts off with a handcrafted chocolate custard made with semi-sweet chocolate, heavy cream, whole milk, egg yolks, cornstarch to thicken, and a touch of butter. The custard is thick enough to hold up yet the texture is creamy, silky, and smooth.
To make a perfect chocolate pie has taken some trial and error. I have made my fair share of chocolate pies in the process! I heard about a rich chocolate pie recipe made with a hefty dose of butter, chocolate, and cream and couldn’t wait to try it. It was definitely rich and the chocolate flavor was on the point but it had too much butter which created a chalky texture when chilled. So, I kept persevering on and discovered that a homemade chocolate custard was the answer.
I am sharing all of the tips and tricks below as to how to make the perfect homemade chocolate pie. This pie is worth every single calorie!
How to make the perfect Chocolate Cream Pie:
It starts with using high-quality chocolate. I reach for Guittard, Ghirardelli, Trader Joe’s, or Callebaut. You can use semi-sweet or dark chocolate or if you like a sweeter chocolate, use milk chocolate.
Chocolate custard is made with sugar, egg yolks, heavy cream, milk, chocolate, cocoa, cornstarch, and a touch of butter to make it silky smooth. Use a whisk to stir custard while it cooks and thickens. Let the cornstarch do its job.
Let it chill. The chocolate custard needs time to set-up and solidify. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or foil and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Place the chilled chocolate custard into baked pie shell when ready to serve. This allows the pie crust to remain flaky on the bottom. Cover with homemade whipped cream just before serving. Sprinkle with shaved chocolate (I use Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Bar).
Click the links below for more pie recipes:
Lemon Sour Cream Pie
Caramel Apple Pie
White Chocolate Macadamia Chocolate Ganache Pie
Double Chocolate Marble Pie
The BEST Pumpkin Pie
Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie
Sweet Cherry Pie
Traditional Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Caramel Banana Cream Pie
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Chocolate Cream Pie
Ingredients
Chocolate Custard Filling:
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate may use milk chocolate if you want a sweeter pie
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup Cornstarch
- 3 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 3 Egg Yolks
- 2 cups Whole Milk
Whipped Cream:
- 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- Pre-Baked Pie Crust: -- All-Butter Pie Crust Recipe
Garnish:
- Shaved Chocolate Bar
Instructions
- Place the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt.
- Whisk in 1/2 cup of cold heavy cream until the mixture is smooth. Repeat with another 1/2 cup of the cream. Whisk in the egg yolks.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat, and gradually whisk in the whole milk.
- Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Let boil for 1 minute.
- Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture over the chocolate and butter.
- Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is silky smooth.
- Place plastic wrap on surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for 3-4 hours.
- Make pie crust and pre-bake according to directions here -- All-Butter Pie Crust Recipe. Let cool. Once cooled and chocolate custard has completely chilled and set-up, spread chocolate filling into pie crust.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold in powdered sugar and continue to beat until peaks form. Spread or pipe over chocolate custard.
- Sprinkle with grated chocolate bar.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Happy Baking, my friends! Find all of Modern Honey’s Thankgiving recipes on www.modernhoney.com/thanksgiving.
Can you let the custard sit longer than 4 hours? Overnight? Or will that not work?
A favorite in our house. I’m using 3 oz of Dark Chocolate and 4 oz of semi-sweet, and a splash of coffee.
Can I replace cornstarch with flour? Or anything else?
Absolutely wonderful! I ground up chocolate chips for the chocolate. I also added 1 tsp vanilla to the whipped cream, as I usually do, and it was perfect!
Best pie ever. I’ve been making this since it was posted. I always use chocolate chips, a mix of dark, semi sweet, and milk. It’s never okay after just one minute boiling though. I typically have to boil for 3.5 minutes for it to set up and not be soupy or too soft set. We seriously love it though. Made one for NYE tonight.
“Let boil for 1 minute.” The chocolate seized. This is a long time to boil a custard like this but I followed the directions anyway. Now I’m going to redo the filling, this time turning the heat off as soon as the mixture congeals.
This pie is AMAZING! Simply heaven! This was the first time I have ever made a chocolate cream pie. Your recipe seemed so user friendly…thank you! My husband has been raving about this pie since we had it for dessert last night. He is a true chocoholic!
I used 1 1/2 cups of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips and didn’t even pay attention to how full the measuring cup was…and the silky smooth rich filling is like eating chocolate mousse. Absolutely perfect!