Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe

Make dough

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Add cold cubed butter and cold shortening. Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut the fats into the flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter remaining.

Add water and form

Sprinkle ice water over the mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing gently with a fork after each addition, until dough just holds together when pinched (about 3 tablespoons). Avoid overworking.

Chill and roll

Gather dough into a flattened disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (up to 2 hours). On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate, gently pressing to fit and trimming excess to leave a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold under and crimp edge as desired. Chill the lined pie plate in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Blind-bake

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line crust with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 15 minutes, then remove weights and parchment and brush interior lightly with beaten egg white (optional) to seal; return to oven and bake 8–10 minutes more until golden and set. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Heat milk

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and half of the granulated sugar (reserve the rest for the yolk mixture). Heat over medium until just simmering and small bubbles appear around the edge; do not boil.

Whisk yolks

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt until smooth and slightly pale.

Temper yolks

Whisking constantly, slowly pour about 1/3 of the hot milk into the yolk mixture to temper the eggs. Continue whisking and gradually add another 1/3, then pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk, whisking constantly to combine.

Cook until thick

Return saucepan to medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a gentle boil (about 2–4 minutes). Once boiling, continue cooking and whisking for 1 minute to ensure cornstarch is fully cooked and mixture is glossy and thick.

Add chocolate and butter

Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the chopped semisweet chocolate, butter pieces, and vanilla until chocolate and butter are fully melted and the filling is smooth.

Cool and set

Pour the warm pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl to remove any lumps. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator until fully cold and set, at least 2 hours (or overnight).

Fill crust

When pastry cream is chilled and set, spoon it into the cooled prebaked pie crust and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Return the pie to refrigerator while preparing topping.

Whip cream

Chill a mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes. Pour cold heavy cream into the bowl, add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium-high until soft peaks form (about 2–3 minutes); do not overbeat.

Top pie

Spread or pipe the whipped cream over the chilled chocolate filling. Smooth or create decorative peaks as desired.

Sprinkle chocolate shavings or dust lightly with cocoa powder over the whipped cream. Chill the finished pie at least 30 minutes before serving to allow slices to set. Serve chilled.