Chocolate Cream Pie

This is the same Chocolate Cream Pie that I have been making since I got my first cookbook as a bride. The recipe has only been slightly adapted over the years from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (published 1965). We loved this Chocolate Cream Pie then, and we still love it today.

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Chocolate Cream Pie

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa 

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

3 slightly beaten egg yolks

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (9-inch) baked pastry shell

In a double boiler, combine sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt; gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat.

Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return to hot mixture; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla; cool to room temperature. To prevent a crust from forming, put clear plastic wrap directly on top, touching surface of the hot pudding to the sides of the bowl. When cooled, pour into baked pastry shell.

Meringue 

Beat 3 egg whites with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until soft peaks form. Gradually add 6 tablespoons sugar, beating until stiff peaks form and all sugar is dissolved. Spread atop pie, sealing to pastry. Bake in moderate oven, 350 degrees F, about 12 to 15 minutes, or until meringue is golden. Cool.

I started by baking a single crust pie shell using My Mother's Pie Crust recipe.

It is best to cook cream pies like this in a double boiler because it is very easy to scorch the milk and sugar mixture.

Stir some of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks before adding them to the hot mixture.

After the cooked mixture has cooled, pour it into the baked pie shell.

Top the chocolate filling with meringue.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 - 15 minutes or until meringue is golden. Cool before serving.