French Silk Pie

French silk pie is a silky smooth chocolate pie with a light, creamy texture. You will enjoy a flaky pie crust filled with smooth chocolate filling and topped with homemade whipped cream. Much like my Chocolate Mouse, this pie is made with eggs cooked to a safe temperature.

Some people enjoy eating chocolate, while others find it a life-altering experience. For a true chocolate lover, this pie will be an experience where you want to savor every moment and every bite.

Making French Silk pie is a similar process to my Chocolate Mousse and similar in taste. So if you’ve made my chocolate mousse recipe before, you shouldn’t be familiar with the process.

This is truly a perfect pie any time of the year but especially perfect for the holidays.

What is French Silk Pie?

This dessert is a French version of an American chocolate cream pie recipe. The latter has a pudding-like consistency, while a silk pie is firmer, with a soft, smooth, and airy texture. 

An authentic recipe calls for a lot of butter and heavy cream, which is how the pie gets its silkiness. It isn’t dense like cheesecake, it’s much lighter than that.

It fits perfectly into the category of rich, indulgent desserts like flourless chocolate cake and chocolate mousse. This dessert is absolutely perfect for holidays and special occasions!

Recipe Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES

• Crust – To save time, I buy ready-to-use refrigerated pie dough. If you have a favorite pie crust recipe, you can make your own. Even a pre-baked shell will work.
• Butter – It’s important to use unsalted butter, especially when you bake. This is because the amount of salt in butter can vary a lot from brand to brand. While a little salt helps to enhance the chocolate flavor, too much can easily ruin your dessert.
• Chocolate – Use semi-sweet baking chocolate and of good quality. Chocolate is prominent in this pie, so you will want to use one that will taste the best.
• Heavy whipping cream – Sorry, there is no substituting the heavy whipping cream in this recipe. Because of the delicate nature of this dish, it has to be correct ingredients.

Not Using Raw Eggs

Many people get worried about the use of raw eggs in their food. There are quite a few recipes that call for raw eggs like Tiramisu, Caesar dressing, eggnog, Hollandaise sauce, and so many more.

There is small risk in using raw eggs and that is why it is safer to cook the eggs (or bring them to safe temperature) in desserts like custard, chocolate mousse, and tiramisu.

It is recommended to bring the eggs to a recommended safe temperature of 160°F.

To get the eggs to a safe temperature, slowly heat them up in a small sauce pot or a double boiler. (If you don’t have a double boiler, set a glass mixing bowl over a pot filled about half way with water. Water should not be touching the bowl on top.)

Use a thermometer to track the temperature while cooking the eggs. Cook them low and slow and remember to stir constantly so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs.

Kitchen Tools and Equipment

• 9-inch pie baking dish
• Parchment paper or aluminum foil
• Dried beans or pie weights
• Electric mixer with paddle and whisk attachments
• Silicone spatulas
• Vegetable peeler or box grater
• Double boiler or tall saucepan

How to make French Silk Pie

Making this recipe does take some time, but when you taste that first bite, it will all be worth it!

How To Prebake Pie Crust

1. Prepare the baking dish. 

Preheat your oven to 350° F and be sure to grease the bottom and up the sides of your pie dish. This prevents the crust from sticking to the pan.

2. Roll out the dough. 

If you’re using homemade crust, follow the instructions for your recipe. For refrigerated dough, you’ll want to roll the crust to about 12 inches in diameter. This ensures that there is enough crust to fold over the top and crimp the edges.

3. Line and weigh down the crust.

Fit a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper into the baking dish, and gently press it all over the bottom and sides of the crust. Then, spread an even layer of pie weights or dried beans across the inside surface.

Parchment paper is a good option because it is gently on the pie crust. Aluminum foil can be folded over the edges of the pie crust to prevent it from darkening too much but it can rip the pie crust.

4. Remove weights and foil, and finish baking.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Then, remove the paper or foil liner with the weights inside.

Use a fork to poke a few holes over the bottom and sides of the crust, then bake for another 10-15 minutes. 

After you remove the pie crust from the oven, be sure to cool it completely before adding the filling.

Make sure the pie crust is cooled completely before adding pie filling!

Make Chocolate Filling:

1. Chop chocolate into small pieces and set it aside.
2. Combine and cook eggs and sugar. 

Heat the eggs stirring slowly but constantly, until the mixture reaches 160° (F). 

IMPORTANT: To prevent the eggs from cooking, it’s important to do this over low or medium-low heat. Also, be sure to slowly stir the mixture the entire time and keep cooking thermometer handy

3. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate.

Add chocolate chunks into the hot egg mixture and slowly whisk and stir until chocolate is melted and incorporated. Set aside to cool completely while you work on the other parts of the chocolate custard filling.

Easy way to cool it fast is to place the sauce pot into a larger bowl filled with ice and stir often.

Cool chocolate mixture completely before combining it with butter mixture!

4. Make and refrigerate whipped cream. 

You can use a whisk attachment on a hand-held electric mixer or a stand mixer for this. Whichever method you use, place the whisk into a freezer for about 10 minutes first. This helps to create stiff peaks

5. Beat butter and remaining sugar. 

For this step, you will need to switch over to a paddle attachment. Use medium-high speed and beat until the mixture is really pale yellow, light and fluffy.

6. Incorporate the chocolate/egg mixture.

IMPORTANT: Before you add the chocolate/egg mixture to the butter/sugar, be sure that the eggs and chocolate are no warmer than room temperature. Beat for 3-5 minutes, until smooth and silky.

7. Fold in whipped cream and fill the crust.

Carefully, fold in the whipped cream until all evenly incorporated. Transfer the French silk pie filling into a cooled pie shell. 

Finishing Touches for French Silk Pie

1. Cover, wrap and chill the pie for 6 hours.

2. Make the whipped cream topping.

Just like the earlier step, chill your whisk attachment (and even the bowl, if you are able to) before you whip the heavy cream.

3. Finish and garnish the dessert.

Spread whipped cream over the top of the cooled pie. Use a vegetable peeler to create chocolate curls, or a cheese grater for chocolate shavings.

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Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on November 17, 2013. Updated October 14, 2020.