french silk pie

For our Christmas dinner this year, Katrina and I decided to make a French Silk Pie for dessert. I’ve never heard of French Silk Pie before so she had to explain it to me.  Essentially, it’s a chocolate mousse cake… inside of a pie!



The pie ended up being a great end to a perfect Christmas meal.  I was worried at first that the sugar hadn’t dissolved into the filling enough, but after chilling in the refrigerator it turned out just fine.  The recipe was adapted from Sticky Feet via Amanda’s Cookin’.  I used essentially the same recipe, but made a homemade pie crust (recipe included below) and topped it with peppermint whipped cream for some holiday zing.  This is one of the best chocolate pies I’ve ever had.


french silk pie


ingredients (9″ pie, 8-10 servings):

See print friendly version

  • Pie Crust
    • 1 c. flour
    • 1/4 tsp. salt
    • 1/3 c. shortening (or butter)
    • 3-5 tbs. cold water
  • Pie Filling
    • 1 c. butter (typically 2 sticks)
    • 1-1/2 c. sugar
    • 2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled (Bakers Square)
    • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
    • 1 tsp. peppermint extract (optional)
    • 4 eggs
  • Peppermint Whipped Cream Topping
    • 1 pint heavy cream
    • 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
    • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
    • 1 tsp. peppermint extract (optional)

directions:

  1. Prepare pie crust.  Combine salt with flour.  Use pastry blender to incorporate fat into flour.  The fat should be broken down into pea-sized balls or larger.  Do not mix it in too much or you will not end up with a flaky crust.  Add cold water one tablespoon at a time and fluff into flour with a fork.  Form dough into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 425 F.  Lightly flour rolling pin and rolling surface.  Roll dough out lightly in all directions and place in pie pan.  Since there will be no filling at this point, puncture the bottom and sides of the dough to prevent air pockets from forming between the pie pan and dough.   Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.  The high temperature will cause the butter to melt and turn the water into steam, creating a nice flaky crust.  Remove from oven and cool while you make the filling.
  3. Prepare the pie filling by first beating sugar and melted butter until thoroughly combined and no longer grainy.  Mix in melted chocolate and extracts.
  4. Add eggs two at a time, beating for about 3-5 minutes after each addition until the filling has a rich mousse texture.
  5. Pour filling into cooled pie crust.  Prepare whipped cream topping by beating whipped cream ingredients together.  Set covered pie in fridge for about 3 hours to cool and set up firmly.  Cut into slices and eat!


This turned out to be a very decadent chocolate pie.  I prepared it with the optional peppermint extract to give it an added depth of flavor for the holidays.  I’d like to try making this with orange extract in the future to give it an unexpected citrus note, as chocolate and orange taste great together.  This was the first dessert we used Katrina’s new KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer on.


If you enjoyed this recipe, try these!