Introduction: Chocolate Cream Pie

By CLAMP Podcast
About: Hi! I'm a slightly feral mountain hermit that likes to be helpful. I do community management at Instructables & Tinkercad. 🙌 Want to hear me chat about making? Search "CLAMP Podcast" on YouTube or your favorit…

Chocolate cream pie is the ultimate dessert. It's rich, chocolaty, and super dense. It's a must have at every holiday and family get together. I'm pretty sure my sister and I could not live without.

Also known as:
The Greatest Pie in the Cosmos,
The Only Reason I Like Christmas,
The Happy-Maker,
Chocolate Overdose,
Pudding Pie.

My grandmother was the original maker, and now my mom carries on the tradition. I think I'll be bringing it everywhere now that I've got this documented. Thank you mom! :D

The crust is prebaked and then the filling is made, poured into the pie and refrigerated. The filling can also be used as a stand-alone pudding. Just increase the amount of milk to 2 1/4 cups!

Step 1: Ingredients!


You will need:
  • ready made pie crust or crust of your choice!
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 6 tbsp Hershey's cocoa powder
  • 4 tbsp room temperature butter
  • 1/3 cup AP flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups milk (we use 2%, my Gran used whole) (2011 Christmas update: vanilla soy milk is better than both of those. It yields a more gelatinous and cocoa-y pie)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Hardware:
  • pie pan
  • saucepan
  • nonstick stirring utensils
  • whisk
  • wax paper

Step 2: Bake the Pie Crust and Let Cool!


You will be blind-baking/pre-baking the crust.

Make sure that you press the crust into the pan firmly and prick both the sides and bottom with a fork. Cut the excess crust from the edges. If you desire a pretty finished product, flute the crust with your fingers. Otherwise, pressing all around with the tines of a fork works just as well. :D

Once done, set aside and let cool.

Step 3: Making the Filling, Part One.


The first thing you need to do is combine 2 tbsp of room temperature butter with 6 tbsp of cocoa.
Microwave these for 30 seconds. Stir until combined. It will still be a fairly dry mixture at the end but it'll be balling together. :)

Set this aside and separate three egg yolks. (Pour them back and forth between shell halves until all white is out of the shell!) Beat these lightly and let them hang out while you move on to the next step.

Step 4: Making the Filling, Part Two.


In a sauce pan, combine the cocoa and butter mixture you just made, along with the cup of sugar, the flour and the salt.

Use your whisk to break up as many lumps as you possibly can before moving on. :D

Now, pour in the two cups of milk and turn the heat on to medium.

Whisk like crazy! I mean it! Whisk like your life depends on it! It's going to get darker and darker as it gets warmer and comes together.

You need to whisk until it comes to a boil. When it comes to a boil, cook it for two minutes exactly, still whisking like a crazy person. It should be looking smooth, dark and be relatively thick at this point.

Then, remove from the heat and move on to the next step.

Step 5: Making the Filling, Part Three.


Once the pan is off the heat you need to temper those egg yolks! Take a small spoonful of the hot chocolate mixture and add it to the yolks and start stirring! Add a little more and stir again. Now your yolks should be nice and warm and ready to add to the pan.

Once the yolks are in, put the pan back on the heat and cook for an additional two minutes! No more, no less!

Once the two minutes are up, stir in the vanilla and the remaining 2 tbsp of butter.

Now we'll put the filling in the shell!

Step 6: Filling, Covering and Cooling!


Pour the filling into your completely cooled pie crust and smooth with a spatula.

This is where the wax paper comes in. You need to cover the entire filling with wax paper - otherwise, it grows a skin. Sounds gross, right? It is.

Use wax paper, kids!

Cut off a square and then press it on the filling. Cut around the edges so that it's less likely to move.

You'll need to cool the pie in the fridge for a couple of hours. Serve with whipped cream or alone and enjoy the best pie in the history of the cosmos!

Step 7: Video for Clarification of the Way Things Should Look!

I also took this fancy little video. You should watch it in high quality so you can see my typo. :D

This should help you figure out if you're doing what you needs to be doing. Yep!