Happy Thanksgiving, a day late! I am so thankful for all of you who read my posts, it means so much to me and I absolutely love hearing your thoughts and hearing about recipes you have tried! I hope that everyone stuffed their faces full of delicious Thanksgiving favorites yesterday. We had turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, and of course, pies! I was in charge of Thanksgiving desert this year, and even though we only had our family around the table because of COVID, I still made two pies. Why not, right! I had never made chocolate cream pie before because I have always stuck to fruit pies, but I thought I would give this a try. I am so glad I did because it was a family favorite. Everyone had a slice (that's a first!!) and loved it. I also went with a classic apple pie which was delicious.
I loved making this pie because it was so easy to do the day before and finish on Thanksgiving day. I was able to make the crust and chocolate pudding filling on Wednesday and save the whipped topping and shavings for the last minute so that it would look perfect for serving! I found this recipe on Lauren Allen's Tastes Better From Scratch blog which has an abundance of great recipes that I use a lot! I love her posts because she walks through each of the steps clearly and usually has videos that go along. The videos are helpful for me because sometimes no amount of description can give me what a picture of something is supposed to look like can give.
My one regret about this recipe is that I couldn't get the chocolate curls right. I tried and tried, taking the board with chocolate in and out of the fridge to get the temperature just right, but in the end, I settled with shavings, which I think also look great. My big mistake was that when I initially spread the melted chocolate on the board, I spread it too thick, so when I scraped it off, it wouldn't curl, and instead just came off in chunks. Anyways, it was a great experiment, and I learned something, so I am calling it a success!
Thanksgiving has come and gone, but that is no excuse not to make this recipe! Why not have a pie night every week - that sounds good to me!
Ingredients ~
For the Oreo crust:
24 Oreo cookies
5 Tablespoons butter For the chocolate pudding filling:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
6 Tablespoons salted butter , chopped into pieces
8 ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate , chopped (I like Ghirardelli's)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract For the whipped topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar , or granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions ~
For the crust: (Can be made 1-2 days in advance)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Add the whole Oreo cookies to a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a bowl and stir in melted butter.
Press mixture evenly and firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9in pie dish. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Set aside to cool.
For the chocolate pudding filling:
To a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add the sugar, and milk and whisk well to combine. Bring mixture to a simmer, whisking frequently.
Meanwhile, add the egg yolks and cornstarch to a bowl and whisk until smooth.
Once the saucepan mixture is simmering, add a few spoonfuls of the hot liquid into the egg yolks and whisk to temper the eggs. Add a few more spoonfuls of the hot liquid into the egg yolks. Then slowly whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Whisk constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and comes to a very gently boil (big bubbles begin to break the surface).
Remove pan from the heat and whisk in the butter, chopped chocolate, and vanilla extract. Stir until completely smooth.
Pour filling into the cooled cookie crust and smooth into an even layer. Place a piece of plastic wrap gently on top and refrigerate until filling is set, about 4–6 hours or overnight, if desired.
For the topping:
Once pudding has set, make the topping by adding the cream to a mixing bowl. Mix with electric mixers on high speed for 1-2 minutes.
Add the sugar and vanilla extract. Continue mixing until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.
Spread whipped cream over pie and top with chocolate curls or shavings.
Recipe From: Tastes Better From Scratch
A new favorite, for sure!