Dreamy Chocolate Cream Pie

I don't know why I've been procrastinating on writing up this recipe for so long. Its seriously one of the best ones I've made so far- EVER! My mom put me in charge of making a different-than-normal dessert for our first night of Thanksgiving. She always makes her famous caramel pecan and pumpkin pies for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, so mine was supplemental. That's OK!

This pie does take a little time to make, and the most time intensive part would be waiting 4 hours for the chocolate custard to set up and chill. It's SO WORTH IT though! :)

I dug around for a delicious chocolate pie and found this recipe from the Hungry Mouse. Seemed good- I just decided to swap out the chocolate crust for a regular flaky pie crust. My mom whipped up a homemade crust that she blind baked, but you could also use frozen pie crust if you wanted.

The best part of this pie is the rich, chocolatey custardy pudding filling. Its rich. It's DELICIOUS! For the best results, use a good quality chocolate. :)

Chocolate Cream Pie
1 9 inch pie

• 1 pie crust (Your favorite recipe or frozen)
  

Filling

• 3 1/2 cups half and half
• 8 TBSP butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 9 egg yolks
• 9 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Blind bake pie crust according to instructions and set aside (or you can do this while your filling is chilling).

In a large (3 quart) pot, pour half and half. Heat over medium heat until it JUST starts to bubble. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't scorch!

While its heating up, combine sugar and cornstarch in a large, heatproof bowl until it is well-combined and resembles baby powder.

Add egg yolks to cornstarch mixture and whisk until combined.

Pour hot half and half mixture until egg mixture via a THIN stream, whisking constantly. (Thin is very important here, if you pour it too quickly it will scramble the eggs!) Pour the mixture back into the pot.

Make sure your butter and chocolate and chopped and waiting on the side!

Whisk constantly for about 4 minutes, until considerably thickened. The mixture should easily coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat and add butter and chocolate in small handfuls. Keep whisking to stir and incorporate.

Once you have a big pot of chocolate pudding, add vanilla and mix to incorporate. Plash mesh strainer over a large bowl and pour mixture through strainer to catch any bits of egg that may have solidified. As you can probably tell, at this point I discovered my mom did not have a mesh strainer (don't worry, she has since received one for Christmas), and she offered up THIS strainer...

Hmmm well it did not really catch any of the egg bits, but it did make a big mess! Its OK, you really couldn't tell in the final product. :)

Press some plastic wrap directly on the surface of the filling to prevent a skin from forming.

Refrigerate for 4 hours, or until completely chilled. This is a good time to clean up the mess you created...

 

 

Pour filling into prepared crust and smooth down with a spatula.

Next, whip cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks are formed.

 

Gently spread on top of chocolate mixture, being careful not to mix the two. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

 

To make the chocolate slivers, melt the chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave (about 2 minutes). Place wax paper or parchment paper over a cookie sheet or plate that will fit in your freezer. Spread melted chips as thin as you can over the paper and place in freezer for 15 minutes or until completely solid again. Carefully and quickly remove from freezer and roll paper to break chocolate into little shards.

Sprinkle on top of your pie. For curls, try rolling up the ends of the chocolate-covered paper in the freezer. Keep refrigerated until you serve. Enjoy!!

Seriously grab a piece for yourself before its all gone. It will be. :)