Chocolate Cream Pie

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade), fully baked and cooled
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 4 large egg yolks
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 2 tbsp sugar (for topping)

Method

1. If not using a pre-baked crust, blind-bake the crust at 400°F (205°C) with pie weights for 15 minutes, remove the weights, and bake 5 more minutes until golden. Cool completely.
2. Whisk the milk, cream, sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks together in a saucepan.
3. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and bubbling, about 8–10 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla until smooth.
5. Pour the warm filling into the cooled crust and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
6. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or until fully chilled and set.
7. Top with sweetened whipped cream before serving.

The Tale of Chocolate Cream Pie

Story updated September 19, 2026

Chocolate cream pie grows out of America's nineteenth-century tradition of custard-style cream pies. Plain cream and vanilla custard pies were common in American cookbooks by the mid-1800s, and even the cake-like Boston cream pie kept the name pie, often explained by its being baked in pie tins. As cocoa and chocolate became cheaper and more widely available, bakers began folding chocolate into the same cooked-custard base. Exactly when or where chocolate cream pie first appeared is not well documented; it seems to have emerged alongside vanilla, banana, and coconut cream pies as a diner and home-kitchen staple by the early twentieth century.