Chocolate Cream Pie

Making a Rich and Creamy Chocolate Pie with Ease

Chocolate cream pies are a popular and tasty dessert. They can be intimidating for novice or casual cooks but this shouldn't be the case. A basic cream pie has a relatively simple recipe and requires no special equipment or extraordinary talent. Patience is the most useful thing to have when making a cream pie for the first time. observing the stages of the pie will give you an idea of what to expect when you make it the second, third and fourth time. All you need to make a cream pie is a large saucepan, some mirowave safe bowls, a couple large mixing bowls, a pie dish, a spatula and a whisk. An electric mixer is ideal for producing the whipped cream topping.

The first step is to make the crust ready for your filling. If you're short on time or don't feel like it making your own crust, just pick up a pre-made cookie crust in the grocery store.

For the crust:
1 1/3 cups crushed chocolate cookies, such as Oreos or chocolate wafers
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350°F. Crush up the cookies using a food processor, or with a fork. If you have some heavy duty Ziploc bags, place the cookies inside and crush them with a rolling pin. You're looking for same pieces, no larger than the size of a dime at the most. Stir in the melted butter and sugar thoroughly, until the cookies are sticky and easy to clump. Spread the cookies out in a pie pan, making a fairly even layer across the bottom and sides. It won't look perfect but so long as the cookies cover the bottom of the pan that is unimportant. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, and then let cool on the counter top while you prepare the filling.

For the filling:
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate melted
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla