Chocolate Cream Pie
As a kid, I’d get so excited on the rare occasion my mother would splurge on a chocolate bavarian pie. I’m talking about the kind sold in the freezer section of supermarkets. Not a fancy patisserie cake made with the beautiful French bavarian cream, crème bavaroise. I thought it was the best thing ever. Just the right amount of crumbly biscuity base. That chocolatey creamy filling. And it would still be the best thing ever had I not learnt to cook it myself! While the biscuit base isn’t too different, the chocolate layer is absolutely no comparison. Homemade has real chocolate flavour and a mouthfeel that store-bought never will. My childhood bavarian pie also evolved with the addition of a generous cloud of whipped cream, which is just heavenly with the chocolate filling, Hence, re-christened as a Chocolate Cream Pie. I could eat this every day. I predict you will feel the same!
What’s in a Chocolate Cream Pie
This Chocolate Cream Pie is a classic combination with: Dreamy is a word that comes to mind! I’m sorry, but I don’t get it. It’s not hard to make. Not if you follow the very few simple steps required to make it! You’ll see in the recipe video. 🙂
Ingredients in Chocolate Cream Pie
1. Chocolate filling ingredients
This custard / pudding is thickened with a combination of cornflour/cornstarch and egg yolks, enriched with butter and cream and flavoured with melted chocolate. It is DIVINE!
Chocolate – I use a combination of 70% cocoa dark chocolate and milk chocolate for my ideal balance of chocolate flavour intensity (70% cocoa) and creamy chocolatey-ness (milk chocolate). Egg yolks – This helps the custard thicken and set as well as giving it a luxurious mouthfeel that frozen Sara-Lee chocolate bavarian pies can ever compare to!Also, here is a list of what I do with leftover egg whites. Cornflour / cornstarch – This is also used to thicken the custard. Cream and milk – The liquids for the custard. Cream is not typical for custards but it adds richness here! You can just use milk, if you’d prefer. Butter – This adds yet more richness into the custard. Sugar for sweetness (this is not overly sweet), vanilla for flavour and a pinch of salt to bring out the flavours (standard sweet baking practice these days).
Forget Cool Whip Shortcut recipes for chocolate pie fillings are pretty common on the internet. Some are made with Cool Whip (Australia, we don’t have this and I hope we never do, it’s an artificial thickened “cream” filling), or boxed chocolate pudding powder, marshmallows (too sweet for my taste), or a simple ganache filling (which is very dense and very rich). Also, here is a list of what I do with leftover egg whites. For me, I believe that there are some things that should be done right. And if we’re going to make a homemade Chocolate Cream Pie – let’s make the best one we can! I promise it trumps boxed pudding powder. 🙂
2. Oreo Cookie pie base ingredients
I like making Chocolate Cream Pie with an Oreo Cookie pie crust. Made with crushed Oreo cookies, there’s terrific texture contrast with the creamy filling and an extra hit of chocolate. I also like the dark almost-black colour. Here’s what you need:
Oreo biscuits – I like using Oreo cookies for the texture and flavour, I find they’re more chocolate-y than most other chocolate biscuits. But any plain chocolate biscuits / cookies will work fine here, such as Arnott’s Chocolate Ripples. Melted butter – This is what makes the Oreo crumbs hold together to form a crust.
vanilla Whipped cream
And here’s what you need for the fluffy mound of whipped cream:
Whipping cream – Make sure you use cream that can be whipped. Not all creams are, some are made for just pouring or dolloping. Read the label to check. And – NO LOW FAT! 🙂 Vanilla for a touch of lovely flavour. Sugar – Not too much. Just a bit, to lightly sweeten.
How to make Chocolate Cream Pie
This is an almost no-bake recipe. The crust is baked for 10 minutes to make it extra crisp. The custard-pudding filling is cooked on the stove, poured into the crust then refrigerated overnight to set.
1. how to make the pie crust
I use a food processor to blitz the Oreo cookies. It takes seconds!
2. how to (EASILY) CUT A ROUND FROM PAPER
Before we get into the fun chocolate filling making part, a quick little tip for how to cut a circle from paper. Do this before you start the custard so you can cover the custard as soon as you pour it into the crust. It prevents a skin from forming on the surface which starts pretty quickly.
3. how to make the chocolate filling
The chocolate filling ingredients are simply whisked on the stove which thickens into a custard as it heats up. The custard is pourable when hot, then sets so it’s cuttable once refrigerated.
4. Setting and decorating
45 second whisk to finish – When the mixture starts bubbling (around 4 minutes), whisk constantly for 45 seconds then take it off the stove. To see the bubbles, you will need to pause whisking. They will be slow, lazy bubbles! See video at 1:49 here. Lumps? Don’t fret! Take it off the stove and whisk vigorously, you should be able to whisk them out. Once smooth, return to the stove and continue. As a last resort, you can strain the custard at step 5. Don’t try to shortcut it and don’t think that you can cut a slice at the 3 hour mark because it seems pretty set! If you cut out a slice before it’s fully set, you will break the custard in the whole pie and it will never set again. Again, I know this from first hand experience from testing variation iterations of this Chocolate Cream Pie as well as this recipe, this recipe and this recipe!
Matters of serving and eating
Because it’s a pie, it’s best to serve it out of the pie tin. Removing the whole pie would be risky! Cut in the pie tin and lift (pulling the first slice out neatly is always a little tricky, if necessary, I will resort to a rubber spatula to get right underneath). The Oreo cookie crust holds together when sliced (see video and photos) but it crumbles a bit as you start eating it which makes the whole eating experience even better. Because, imagine this: A big mouthful of rich, smooth, chocolatey filling with clouds of fluffy cream PLUS little bits of crumbled Oreo cookie….. It’s just perfection! – Nagi xx PS If you want to make this ahead, do it up to 2 days ahead without the whipped cream weeping, then stabilise the whipped cream by adding marscapone. Information about stabilised whipped cream here, recipe is in the notes of the recipe card below.
Watch how to make it
Originally published in 2017. It’s such a personal favourite, I really wanted to re-publish it with better photos and a much improved recipe video. My skills have improved over the past 5 years with lots of practice!
Life of Dozer
Normally when I re-publish a recipe, I add a new Life of Dozer photo. But this one from 2017 is so lovely, I don’t want to change it! From 2017, as originally published: Not just food photos that Dozer photobombs….. This is a magnificent sun rise we had earlier this week. Once a year thing. Pretty, isn’t it?
