Last night we made our fourth Chocolate Cream Pie and finally mastered this recipe. The key is to heat for at least the amount of time noted in each step. Rushing through the recipe will result in a loose texture like one of our earlier attempts ^[1]. I also upgraded the brand of chocolate and think this made a big impact on the richness.

Servings: 8

Fresh
1 single Pie Crust ^[2]
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. butter
Whipped Cream ^[3]

Pantry
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 oz. unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate, additional for shavings (suggestion: 99% Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Dark Chocolate ^[4])
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Bake pie crust
Preheat oven to 450 degrees-F. Prepare and roll pie crust to 12-inch in diameter, place in  9-inch metal pie pan, and crimp edges. Pierce pie crust 20 to 30 times with a fork.  Bake for 15  minutes or until crust is light brown. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Heat chocolate, milk, and dry ingredients
Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a small bowl, combine sugar and flour with a whisk. Add chocolate pieces. Combine chocolate, 1/2 cup sugar, flour, and milk in a medium pot. Heat over medium heat and stir constantly until chocolate melts and mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Continue stirring and heating for 5 minutes.

Add eggs
In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and egg yolks. Temper the yolks by adding 1/4 cup of the hot chocolate mixture to the eggs and sugar and whisk. Pour tempered yolk mixture into the chocolate mixture in the pot on the stove. Stir continuously and continue heating and stirring over medium heat for 2 minutes.

Add butter and vanilla
Remove pot from heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir until butter is melted and incorporated.

Pour filling and chill
Pour warm chocolate pie filling into the baked pie crust. Smooth with a rubber spatula, and spread pie filling to the edges of the crust. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Serve
Top chilled pie with Whipped Cream ^[3] and chocolate shavings.