The fact that the grocery list I gave Todd included “1 pint of cream plus 1 cup of cream” should clue you in that this is a rich recipe, and to be sure, Emeril’s Chocolate Cream Pie lives up to the expectations one might have for an Emeril recipe. It’s decadent.
The original recipe is printed on Food TV but there were some issues with the crust. It was way too thick, so I reduced the amount and re-typed it below. Even the revised pie crust made a lot.
The reviews on the Food TV site were what prompted me to make this pie. They were all raves, except for one by a lady who thought the pie was rich. I agree with her that it was rich. Part of me want to tell you it’s too rich, but the other part is saying “Hey, it’s pie. It’s supposed to be rich.” So my advice is make it, and know what you’re in for. It’s not overly sweet, but it has a lot of cream, chocolate, and egg yolks and not many other ingredients to counter balance all the fat.
Sheesh! I’m such a downer now. No, really. It’s a good pie.
Emeril’s Chocolate Cream Pie
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream plus 1 3/4 cups
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch salt
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten in a medium bowl
4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Cookie Crust – Prepared as directed below.
Whisk sugar, 3/4 cup heavy cream, buttermilk, cornstarch and pinch of salt together in a saucepan off the heat. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil, whisking from time to time for the sugar and cornstarch to dissolve and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking at a low boil for an additional 5 minutes, whisking constantly.
Pour 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks and whisk thoroughly. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan and whisk over medium heat until thoroughly combined and very thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, and whisk in the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Continue whisking until thoroughly combined (mixture will be very thick). Cover the mixture with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface and refrigerate until cooled to room temperature.
Place 1 3/4 cups heavy cream in a chilled mixing bowl and add the confectioners’ sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold about 1/4 of the whipped cream into the cool chocolate pudding mixture, then spoon the chocolate mixture into the prepared pie crust and refrigerate until firm and cool, at least 4 hours.
Refrigerate the remaining whipped cream until you are ready to serve the pie. I added some more powdered sugar to the remaining whipped cream before piping it on top.
When ready to serve, top the pie with the remaining sweetened whipped cream and serve immediately.
Crumb Crust
1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (recommended: Oreo) — remove whites before grinding
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In the bowl of a food processor or blender, process the graham crackers and chocolate cookies to make crumbs. Mix together crumbs, sugar and butter and press into pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
This looks really good, I wonder how it compares to my French Silk pie? I have a recipe for one that tastes just like Baker’s Square 🙂 i will have to put this to the test, thanks!
When I was a kid, I would always request chocolate pudding pie for my birthday instead of a cake. You have just reminded me why!
I am definitely craving this pie!
it looks delicious!
Sweets with dark chocolate–in small amounts–are good for you. If you fight your cravings you’ll end up over indulging. A small slice of this delicious pie has some good for you ingredients, especially with quality chocolate. Funny, so many of us seem to think alike with foods as the seasons changes. I had chocolate pie on my mind…all day long. Great photo.
I just made two of the Cook’s Illustrated chocolate cream pies for a BBQ. It’s been a stand-by for years. The crust is simply Oreos (16) and a little butter (2 tbsp). You don’t have to remove the filling nor do you add any sugar. I’ve been very happy with it and never been tempted to try another. The amount of cream, butter, and eggs is a little shocking but there’s very little sugar besides what’s in the chocolate.
I just got an email from someone who says I need to try Matt Lewis’s pie from Baked.
Sigh…..this looks better than any I’ve seen sitting in the rotating pie displays at the roadside diners!
oh man that does sound good. I love Emeril.
I’ll take a bathtub sized version of this one!
It’s been a while since my last visit, but happy to see you are still at it 🙂
Mmmm, chocolate pie!
I’d be interested to hear what the cream scone recipe is as I just posted a cream scone recipe a few days ago and they are de-lish and ready for any add-ins. New to scone making, I thought they were great!
That’s the kind of pie I want my friends to make so that I can have a very thin slice of it and then go home leaving them to deal with the all of those extra calories!! It looks delish!
I’ve had desserts that were too sweet, but never too rich. 😉
Wowza, those recipes DO sound amazing – now I like the sounds of that book even more, haha 😀
In my opinion, pies SHOULD be rich, so it sounds perfect to me.