Silky smooth chocolate custard filling, inside a buttery homemade crust makes this chocolate cream pie the perfect, indulgent dessert.
Ingredients
Full recipe + amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Milk.
- Sugar.
- Cream. Heavy/Whipping.
- Instant coffee.
- Vanilla.
- Cocoa powder.
- Cornstarch/Cornflour.
- Flour.
- Egg yolks.
- Butter.
- Chocolate shavings (for serving).
- Pie crust.
How to make chocolate cream pie
- Make and bake the pie crust: I used this recipe from Inspired by taste. Make the dough according to instructions (or use your favorite pie dough recipe). Blind bake the pie crust until golden and crisp.
- Make the filling: Combine the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla and coffee in a saucepan and bring to boiling point. In a separate bowl, combine the corn starch flour, cocoa powder, egg yolks and salt and mix well to form a smooth paste. If the mixture is very thick, simply whisk in a few tablespoons of the milk mixture until it smooths out. When the milk has reached boiling point, remove from the heat. Whisk a ladle full of the hot milk into the corn starch mixture to temper the eggs. Pour the liquid back into the saucepan and over low-medium heat, whisk continuously until the filling is thick and glossy.
- Assemble the pie and chill: Pour the mixture through a sieve to make sure there is no lumps. Whisk in the butter and pour the smooth filling into the prepared pie case. Spray a piece of parchment paper with cooking spray then press onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to set in the fridge for at least 4 hours but ideally overnight.
- Serve: When you are ready to serve, whip the cream with the icing sugar and swirl onto the pie. Top with chocolate shavings and serve.
Tips for making the perfect chocolate cream pie
- A filling that is intensely chocolatey and creamy yet set is the goal. To achieve that I like using good quality cocoa powder for flavor and egg yolks, cornstarch (cornflour) and regular flour to give the custard some stability.
- Make sure to temper the egg yolks whisked with the flours by pouring a little bit of the hot milk mixture over while whisking. This will prevent the egg yolks from scrambling in the custard.
- Cook the custard over medium heat, whisking continuously, until it is thick and glossy. Immediately pass through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl.
- Pour the custard into the blind baked pie crust. Because the pie doesn’t get baked after the custard is added, it’s important to make sure the crust is completely dry and crisp before pouring the custard in. Spray a piece of parchment paper with cooking spray then press onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.
- Allow the pie to set in the fridge for at least 4 hours but ideally overnight.
- Top with softly whipped cream and chocolate shavings just before serving.
Freezing and making ahead
- Freezing: The pastry can be made up to 3 months in advance and kept in the freezer. I wouldn’t recommend freezing the finished pie as the custard’s texture will change once thawed.
- Making ahead: Make the pastry 2-3 days in advance and keep it in the fridge. The blind baked crust can also be kept covered at room temperature for a day before filling. The filled pie can be kept covered in the fridge for up to 2 days before serving.
Pie recipes

Chocolate Cream Pie
Silky smooth chocolate custard filling, inside a buttery homemade crust makes this chocolate cream pie the perfect, indulgent dessert.
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Servings: 10
Calories: 273kcal
Ingredients
for the crust
for the filling
- 2½ cups milk
- ½ cup whipping/heavy cream whipped
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon good quality instant coffee
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp corn starch (corn flour)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp flour
- 5 extra-large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tbsp butter
to serve
- 2 cups cream
- ½ cup icing/powdered sugar
- chocolate shavings
Instructions
- Make the pastry according to instructions. Blind bake until golden and crisp in a 180°C/350°F oven then remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- To make the filling, combine the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla and coffee in a saucepan and bring to boiling point.
- In a separate bowl, combine the corn starch flour, cocoa powder, egg yolks and salt and mix well to form a smooth paste. If the mixture is very thick, simply whisk in a few tablespoons of the milk mixture until it smooths out.
- When the milk has reached boiling point, remove from the heat.
- Whisk a ladle full of the hot milk into the corn starch mixture to temper the eggs.
- Pour the liquid back into the saucepan and over low-medium heat, whisk continuously until the filling is thick and glossy.
- Pour the mixture through a sieve to make sure there is no lumps. Whisk in the butter and pour the smooth filling into the prepared pie case.
- Spray a piece of parchment paper with cooking spray then press onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.
- Allow to set in the fridge for at least 4 hours but ideally overnight.
- When you are ready to serve, whip the cream with the icing sugar and swirl onto the pie. Top with chocolate shavings and serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 273kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 277mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 673IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 114mg | Iron: 1mg
Hi Alida,
I’m not sure where I went wrong but my yolk slurry was not smooth paste – more like a seized-up ball of sadness. I triple-triple checked my ingredients and measurements and everything was by the recipe. I’ve made custard-based cream pies before and the slurries were more like what you described, but they usually had either more liquid or fewer dry ingredients.
So, I’m wondering if the cocoa powder was supposed to go in with the hot milk rather than the eggs?
I continued on with the pie (I’d already made the crust and sacrificed the 5 egg yolks so there was no turning back – LOL!) The custard was thinner than I would have liked; understandable considering the cup of seized cocoa slurry I sieved out of it. The pie is chilling in the fridge so I’m hoping it sets up enough to be servable for dinner tonight. The custard does taste lovely though, so there’s that! =) Thanks!
Oh dear, I wonder if maybe it could be a cocoa powder brand issue? I’ll definitely add a note to the recipe. If it seems too thick, just add some of the milk mixture and whisk until smooth.
if I want to make a coffee-less version of this, should I just omit the coffee or should there be a substitute?
thanks
Yup, just omit the coffee. 🙂