Chocolate Cream Pie

A magnificent Chocolate Cream Pie with a classic Oreo cookie base, a soft and creamy custard-like filling and topped with clouds of cream. It tastes like a cross between a rich choclate mousse and Chocolate Bavarian Pie!

When you see how easy this is to make, you won’t ever be tempted to use a shortcut version again. After all, if we’re going to make a chocolate pie, let’s do it right! 🙂

Chocolate Cream Pie

I have serious self control issues around homemade baked goods. I never buy cakes or bars or even muffins in my normal day to day life. I never have. I just never feel the urge.

But put any homemade baked good in front of me and it’s all over.

Thus, this Chocolate Cream Pie.

It was an urgent situation to get it OUT of the house asap, so I did the ring around to find someone to take it off the my hands. It was too dangerous to have lying around in my house!!

This Chocolate Cream Pie tastes like the Chocolate Bavarian pies sold in the freezer section of Aussie supermarkets!

This slice you see in the photos? Inhaled in 2 seconds after the last shot was taken. Inhaled. There is no other way to describe how quickly it disappeared.

Forget Cool Whip

There are tons of shortcut recipes for chocolate pies around on the internet. Whether made with Cool Whip (Australia, we don’t have this and I hope we never do, it’s an artificial thickened “cream” filling), or marshmallows (too sweet for my taste), or a simple ganache filling (which is very dense and very rich), if you do a search you’ll find plenty of versions.

For me, I believe that there are some things that should be done right. And if you’re going to make a homemade Chocolate Cream Pie – let’s make the best one we can!

Custard-like Chocolate Filling

oThis pie is all about the filling. That soft, delicate, custard-like chocolate filling. If you want to get real fancy, in actual fact, it’s a creme patissiere. The fancy sounding yet surprisingly simple French custard that you see contestants in reality cooking shows frantically stressing about making silky smooth and thick, rather than gritty and runny.

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! And I’ve made a little video for you so you can see how easy it truly is. 🙂

Oops. I spy an unmelted bit of chocolate in the pour shot below. ? See, I’m just a normal person in the kitchen. Chubby little Baby Hands and making mistakes all the time! 🙂

Oreo Cookie pie base

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!

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

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Chocolate Cream Pie recipe video! Nice close up of Baby Hands in this one – no laughing!

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Chocolate Cream Pie

Prep: 25 mins

Cook: 25 mins

Total: 55 mins

Dessert

4.94 from 31 votes

Servings8

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Recipe video above. This is a magnificent yet surprisingly straight forward pie that can be made days in advance of serving. A biscuit base, filled with a soft chocolate custard-type filling and topped with clouds of cream, this is a pie that will steal the show! REQUIRES 12 HRS REFRIGERATION.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 25 Oreo biscuits, whole with filling in tact (244g / 8.5 oz) (Note 1)
• 5 tbsp/ 60g butter, melted

Filling:

• 1/4 cup / 40g cornflour / cornstarch
• 2/3 cup / 145g white sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups / 500 ml milk (whole or reduced fat, not zero fat)
• 1 cup / 250 ml cream (pouring or thickened/heavy), or sub with milk (Note 2)
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp / 30g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g/ 5 oz dark 70% cocoa or bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces or chopped
• 75g/ 3 oz milk chocolate (if not buttons, chop or break into pieces)

Topping

• 1 1/2 cups / 375ml thickened / heavy cream for whipping
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Chocolate for shaving

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
• Cut a round piece of baking / parchment paper, the size of the pie dish (to cover filling).

Crust:

• Place biscuits in a food processor and whizz into crumbs. Or place in ziplock bag and bash with rolling pin or heavy cans. Pour into bowl, add butter and mix.
• Pour into a 23cm / 9" pie dish, spread crumbs out across base. Use wooden spoon to press into sides (see video) and something flat to press into base.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then allow to cool.

Filling (see video, it's helpful):

• Place cornflour, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine.
• Add milk, cream and yolks. Whisk to combine.
• Turn heat onto medium low (or low for strong gas stoves). As the mixture warms up, whisk regularly, but not constantly.
• After around 3 minutes, you'll feel the mixture thicken. Start to whisk constantly.
• When the mixture starts bubbling (around 4 min), whisk constantly for 45 seconds then take it off the stove.
• Whisk for a further 1 minute. Add butter, chocolate and vanilla. Whisk until chocolate melts and filling is smooth.

Assembling

• Pour filling into pie shell, smooth surface. Gently place round baking paper on surface. Refrigerate for 12+ hours.
• Remove paper. Poke to ensure it's set - should feel like a set custard.
• Whip cream. Spread cream over top of pie.
• Optional: Use a knife to make chocolate shavings or grate chocolate directly over the top of the pie.
• Serve, and feel like Martha Stewart!

Recipe Notes:

1. You will need 2 standard Oreo packets. There are 14 in each packet so you'll use all of one packet and all but 3 in the 2nd packet.

2. I like to add cream into the filling because it makes it just that touch more creamy and rich however, most chocolate custards / creme patissieres are made with just milk. So you can just use milk if you wish - the filling may take 30 seconds or so longer to thicken.

3. Australia: Plaistow from the supermarkets is fine, US: Ghirardelli is great.

4. This pie will keep for around 3 days, then I notice the base starts softening a bit.

5. I make this with a combination of dark and milk chocolate because the dark provides that intense chocolate flavour and the milk lightens the colour of the filling so it contrasts with the dark crust. You could make this entirely with milk or dark chocolate - works fine with both (white chocolate will work but is sweeter so I would find it's too sweet for my taste).

While I encourage you to use good quality chocolate, this recipe works just fine with any baking chocolate. Use chocolate purchased from the baking aisle, not eating chocolate. Eating chocolate doesn't melt as well (I learned the hard way when I first started baking!).

AUSTRALIA: Some brands (Nestle and Cadbury) label cooking chocolate as "Melts" and "Baking Chips". You need to use the Melts because they...errr, well, they melt. 🙂 The Chips are created especially for things like choc chip cookies and muffins so they keep their form after baking rather than melting.  If the packet doesn't specify either (like Plaistow), it will be a melting chocolate.

6. Chocolate Cream Pie nutrition per serving (8 servings - quite generous!)

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 173gCalories: 530kcal

Keywords: Chocolate bavarian pie, chocolate cream pie

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

LIFE OF DOZER

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?

PS What’s with the word “magnificent” today?? I can’t stop.

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