Chocolate Cream Pie {Made with Chocolate Pastry Cream}

Spoiler alert. The reason this chocolate cream pie is sooooooo rich and creamy is because the filling incorporates copious amounts of melted chocolate into incredibly rich and creamy pastry cream.

If you've been around here for a while, there's a good chance you've made this pastry cream because I use it All. The. Time. Without a doubt, it's one of the most used, most loved, most versatile, most delicious recipes in my baking toolbox.

So far, this pastry cream has had a starring role in pretty much all of my favorite pastries, including... 

• As the filling for Coconut Cream Cake and Extra Creamy Coconut Cream Pie and Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie
• Layered between flaky puff pastry in Classic Napoleon and Cannoli Napoleon
• Mixed with mascarpone cheese and spread between layers of lemon olive oil cake
• As the filling for Chocolate Eclairs, Mini Butterscotch Eclairs and Profiteroles {Cream Puffs}
• Spiked with Amaretto and spooned into buttery tart shells for Blackberry Custard Tarts
• Layered with Apple Butter and folded into Cream Cheese Pastry Dough for Apple Hand Pies
• Baked into Strawberries and Cream Pie
• Mixed with Caramel Sauce and stuffed into Salted Caramel Doughnut Holes
• As a super rich and creamy filling for Overnight Yeast Raised Doughnuts
• Sandwiched between about a million layers of crepes for Peaches and Cream Crepe Cake

Chocolate Pastry Cream is straightforward and simple to make and remarkably stable. It will hold its own at room temperature for hours without breaking down, and you can even bake it inside pastries like hand pies. Even better, this pastry cream can be frozen.

Ingredients Needed to Prepare this Recipe

• Good quality bittersweet chocolate. There's a lot of chocolate in this pie, so use the highest quality chocolate you can find and afford. I like to use Lindt 70% chocolate bars.
• Plain, unflavored powdered gelatin. Just 2 teaspoons of gelatin is the secret to super stable pastry cream that won't break down or separate and that can even be frozen.
• 8 large egg yolks. So, what do you do with the leftover egg whites? Check out the FAQ section below for a list of ideas.
• Cornstarch thickens the pastry cream so you can serve this pie in neat, creamy slices.
• Whole milk. You can also use 2% but whole milk makes the creamiest chocolate cream filling.
• Granulated sugar. Just enough sugar to make the pie sweet but not cloying.
• Salt.
• Vanilla and/or almond extract. The vanilla is mandatory because it rounds out the bitterness and emphasizes the flavor of the chocolate. The almond extract is optional - use it if you want to add a hint of almond to your chocolate cream pie.
• Heavy whipping cream. This is a cream pie, after all. There's heavy cream in the pastry cream and (of course) in the whipped cream topping.
• Powdered (confectioners) sugar for the smoothest whipped cream topping.

+ One bottom pie crust. My favorite pie crust to use with this pie is Toasted Almond Pie Crust. I love the extra crispy texture of toasted almond pie crust with any kind of cream pie and the almond flavor goes particularly well with chocolate.

Step by Step Photos and Instructions

To make the chocolate pastry cream:

Chop the bittersweet chocolate into small pieces and pile them into a medium-sized bowl.

Measure the gelatin into a small bowl and add about a tablespoon of water. Stir until all the gelatin is moistened and set aside.

Add the egg yolks and the cornstarch to another bowl and mix with a wire whisk until combined.

Pour the milk into a saucepan, add some sugar and a pinch of salt, and cook until it just barely begins to boil. Remove the pan from the heat.

Pour the hot milk into a measuring cup with a spout and then add it to the egg yolks very slowly. It's important to pour the hot milk into the egg yolks slowly so they don't scramble.

Pour everything back into the saucepan and set it over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly until the custard is thick and begins to boil.

Remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring for 20 seconds.

Pour the hot pastry cream over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for a minute or so to allow the chocolate to melt.

Break the softened gelatin into pieces and sprinkle them over the top of the pastry cream.

Stir the now-melted chocolate and gelatin into the pastry cream. Add the extracts and stir to incorporate then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 48 hours.

Time to "lighten" the rich chocolate pastry cream with some whipped cream!

1. Use an electric mixer to beat some heavy cream until the cream is thick enough to hold its shape.
2. Remove the cooled chocolate pastry cream (it will be quite thick!) from the refrigerator and add it to the bowl with the whipped cream. Beat the chocolate pastry cream into the whipped cream until they are completely combined.
3. Scoop the chocolate cream filling into a pre-baked pie crust and smooth it out into an even layer.
4. Beat some more heavy cream with powdered sugar and some vanilla extract, then spread the whipped cream over the chocolate cream filling.

That's it! Keep the pie in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Advance Preparation Tips

Most people will tell you that you can't freeze pastry cream. But, friends, I am here to tell you that you CAN, in fact, freeze THIS chocolate pastry cream filling because of one superstar ingredient: gelatin.

Yes, the recipe also includes cornstarch and freezing things thickened with cornstarch generally results in a gloppy, gluey mess. But, simply add some gelatin and you can freeze the pastry cream with abandon.

The consistency after it has thawed will still be perfectly creamy and delicious. It's magical. 

How to freeze chocolate pastry cream:

1. Freeze the filling BEFORE adding the whipped cream. Make the chocolate pastry cream, letting it cool in the refrigerator completely. Then, make sure it's in an air-tight container or a bowl that's well wrapped and put it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
2. Allow the frozen chocolate pastry cream to thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for about 3-4 hours. Once thawed, beat the chocolate pastry cream with some whipped cream, spoon it into the pie crust, and top it with even more whipped cream. 😋

How to Freeze the Toasted Almond Pie Crust

The Toasted Almond Pie Crust dough can also be frozen for up to three months.

Form the dough into a ball and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, then place in a freezer zip-top bag or another air tight container. Let the dough thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling out and baking.

You can also roll the dough out before freezing it. Lay the rolled out dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and let freeze for a few hours until solid. Once solid, you can remove the dough from the baking sheet, wrapping it tightly before placing it back in the freezer.

Allow the dough to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then proceed to bake and fill the crust.

Different Pie Crust Options

If you'd prefer to use a pastry that does not contain almonds or any kind of nuts, use this recipe for Fool Proof Pie Crust instead.

Fool Proof Pie Crust has been my go-to pie crust recipe for decades. I’ve used it to make hundreds of pies of every variety and it hasn’t failed me yet. It’s tender, flaky, flavorful, extremely easy to work with, and truly worthy of the name “fool proof”.

The recipe makes enough for 2 double crust pies, which is much more than you'll need for this pie. You can cut the recipe in half, or just freeze the leftover pie crust dough according to the instructions in the recipe's notes.

Recipe FAQs