Chocolate Cream Pie
Reminiscing over food often includes the occasion and the special people at the table in addition to the food. Excellent meals while traveling, and holiday dinners are examples, where all elements meld into one strong memory. Such is the case with this Chocolate Cream Pie recipe.
We had long time Martha’s Vineyard friends over for dinner last June at a beautiful Chilmark rental house. We hadn’t seen each other for a while so this was a particularly happy gathering.
Our contribution was this Chocolate Cream Pie. I had brought all the recipe mise en place so getting it together in a rental house was pretty easy. The dinner was delicious and what a delight it was to sit around the table with dear friends on a relaxed early summer evening.
The pie was a hit, and made an impression on at least one guest. We were back on the Vineyard two weeks ago and she invited all of us to dinner with a specific request for the Chocolate Cream Pie. How I loved reading this! A dessert of mine is remembered over a year later.
So, there we all were, on a cool August evening on a magical island, breaking bread and catching up on each other’s lives over good food and a simple delicious dessert. Cuisine and camaraderie blend into one joyful memory.
Chocolate Cream Pie
| Yield: 1 9″ pie | # of Servings: 8 |
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 â…“ cup (5.45 oz / 154 g) chocolate wafer crumbs, from approximately 26 Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers (see note)
¼ cup (1.8 oz / 51 g) sugar
5 tbl (2.5 oz / 71 g) unsalted butter, melted
Chocolate Filling:
â…” cup (4.7 oz / 134 g) sugar
¼ cup (1.15 oz / 32 g) cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
4 large egg yolks
3 cups milk
5 oz (142 g) chocolate, 55% to 64%, melted
2 oz (57 g) chocolate, unsweetened (100%)
2 tbl (1 oz / 28 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
1 ½ cup (12 fl oz) heavy cream
3 tbl confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Tools and equipment needed:
- Pie dish (9†interior diameter, 1 ⅜ height, 1 quart capacity)
- Heavy duty 3-qt saucepan
- Fine-mesh stainless strainer
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Make the chocolate wafer crumbs in the food processor.
- Combine the chocolates and melt.
Directions: Crust
- Mix together the wafer crumbs and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add melted butter and stir.
- Press evenly into the pie plate. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 °F.
- Bake crust for 15 to 18 minutes until set and firm.
- Place on cooling rack and let totally cool.
Chocolate Filling:
- In a heavy-bottomed 3-qt saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt and egg yolks.
- Pour the milk in slowly while whisking until smooth.
- Stir over medium heat until the mixture comes a to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and cook at a simmer for 1 minute, whisking continuously. The mixture should have thickened slightly. It will thicken a lot more as it cools. Note: don’t cook filling for longer than 1 minute as the cornstarch will lose its power as a thickening agent.
- Strain into a heat-proof mixing bowl.
- Whisk in melted chocolates, butter and vanilla extract.
- Press plastic film against the filling, and poke a few holes with a paring knife.
- Let cool for 1 hour.
- Pour into the chocolate crust, cover with plastic film, poke a few holes with paring knife, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
- Whip cream and sugar until medium peaks. Spread or pipe (with a star tip) over the filling.
- Cover with a dusting of cocoa or chocolate shavings.
Baking note:
- Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers are the only chocolate wafer cookies I have seen in the marketplace. They were seemingly created to be made into chocolate crumbs. For some reason they have become difficult to find in most supermarkets. I suggest grabbing a box if you see them in the cookie aisle and save for a day when you’re ready to dive into this recipe.
