How to Make Delicious Chocolate Cream Pie!

So now that we've tackled sugar cream pie, it's time to delve into chocolate. This is one of my favorite pies, and a favorite of many of my friends (in fact, my roommate has inspired me to make this pie much more often!).

The first key to making any cream pie requiring heat is that you have to have a good saucepan. By which I mean, a pan that has a nice thick plate on bottom to distribute heat evenly. Cheaper pans tend to be thin on bottom, and will (I can tell you from experience) give you burnt chips floating around in your filling. Now, I am not suggesting going out and spending $200. I use a Farberware 3-Qt saucepan that cost about $30, and it works perfectly well.

So, once you have your pan, you're ready to start. Here is my favorite recipe:

1 C sugar
5 tbsp flour
3 eggs--separated (stir a little milk in with the yolks)
2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cocoa

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

First, separate your egg whites from the yolks. I do this by cracking the egg shell and breaking it in the middle, and then moving the yolk back and forth into each half of the eggshell over a large mixing bowl. The egg whites should fall into the mixing bowl in this process. Be careful not to break the yolk! Set the bowl with the eggwhites aside (you will use them later). Place your egg yolks in another bowl and mix them with a little milk and the vanilla. Set aside the yolk mixture.

Next, mix sugar, flour, and cocoa in your saucepan. Then add milk and put over med/high heat. This is the tricky part, and will depend on your stovetop and your pan. You want your filling to thicken over the course of 5-7 minutes or so. It won't hurt anything to start with medium heat and then turn your burner higher if it's not thickening. Be sure to stir constantly.

Once your mixture is thick, remove from heat. Then add the yolk/milk/vanilla mixture a little at a time while vigorously stirring. If you simply dump all the egg mixture in all at once without stirring, you will end up with scrambled eggs in your pie. And while I am an adventurous pie-maker, this might be going a bit far.

Once you've stirred in all the yolk mixture, return the mixture to heat for just a couple more minutes. Then pour the mixture into your pie crust and let it sit.

Then, pull out that mixing bowl with the egg whites in it. Add a little bit of sugar (a few tsp or so) and mix with an electric mixer. You will see it begin to fluff up. Keep going until it is not fluffing any more. Then pour on top of your pie, spreading it evenly and making sure that the mixture touches the edges of the crust all the way around.

Then place the pie in the oven and bake just until the egg-white topping browns. This will not take long--a few minutes or so. Then remove your pie and let it sit for a few hours before eating. Note that you do not cook this pie, other than browning the top.

If banana cream is more your style, you make it the exact same way, only without adding the cocoa, and placing a layer of banana slices either between the crust and filling, or between the filling and topping. Remember that the banana slices will brown in a day or so, so banana cream pie needs to be eaten more quickly than the chocolate, which will stay good longer.

Congratulations! Let me know how it turns out!