Chocolate Cream Pie

One of my husbands favorite pies, smooth, creamy and delightfully chocolaty! To Read More, Click On The Recipe Title.

 This recipe came  from Betty Crockers Pie and Pastry Book. The flaky all butter crust came from Simple Recipes and is wonderful! We’ll start with the pie crust:

Look how flaky that is, just the way I wanted it. You make this crust in the food processor, yeah it’s that easy. I took a stick of butter and put it in the freezer for about an hour, you want the butter to be as cold as it can get. I combined the dry ingredients in the food processor and gave them a whirl to combine. I took the advice of a person that replied to the post , she said that when you add the butter to the flour and start pulsing to combine, only combine until the mixture is as big as BEANS. Not anything smaller. That kinda contradicts what we’ve been told about it looking like cornmeal doesn’t it? So that’s what I did. I added just enough water (6 tbls)
so that the mixture stuck together when I pressed on it between my fingers. I emptied the mixture onto plastic wrap (it was still loose), I covered it with the wrap and started kneading it till it came together in a ball. This didn’t take long, only a couple of minutes. I formed a disk and put it in the fridge. You know the rest , it was rolled out, baked blind and baked at 350 degrees until golden brown. You can find the recipe here.

I topped this chocolaty goodness with whipped cream, I made the Chef’s Secret Whipped Cream recipe. It’s like homemade Cool Whip, but it’s made with whipping cream! It won’t melt minutes after you top your pie with it, the secret….unflavored gelatin! Whipping cream, unflavored gelatin and a little powdered sugar makes a wonderful HOMEMADE whipped topping that you can use on all your desserts. The recipe is here.

CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE

1 (9″) baked pie shell (or graham cracker crust)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. milk
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 (1 oz. each) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Bake pie shell; let cool.In a saucepan, blend sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir milk into egg yolks; slowly stir milk mixture into dry ingredients. Add chocolate. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils and chocolate melts (I start with a whisk, then end stirring with a wooden spoon). Boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Immediately pour into baked pie shell; press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto hot filling to prevent a skin from forming over the pudding. Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Just before serving, remove plastic wrap from filling; cover pie with sweetened whipped cream.