French Silk Pie Recipe (Chocolate Silk Pie)
This French silk pie recipe is made completely from scratch with a flaky pie crust, rich and silky-smooth chocolate filling and homemade whipped cream. It's the ultimate chocolate pie and even better than Baker's Square or Village Inn!
Servings: 16 Servings
Cost: $8
Equipment
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup shortening (chilled)
- 3-4 Tablespoons ice water
Chocolate Silk Pie Filling
- ¾ cup salted butter (softened to room temperature)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate (melted)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch sea salt
- 3 eggs (room temperature, pasteurized)
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
Whipped Topping
- 1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Crust
- Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor fitted with an “S” blade and pulse to combine.
- Add the shortening and cold water and process until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, begins to stick together, and holds together when pinched.
- Remove the dough from processor (it will be crumbly) and form it into a round, flat disc.
- Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to one day (overnight).
- After the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 degrees Celsius).
- Roll out dough on a well-floured surface or pastry cloth.
- Place it into a deep, 9-inch, round pie plate and pinch the edges to form a crust. Then, gently prick the dough with a fork all over.
- Set a piece of parchment paper on top of the crust, then add the pie weights.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until it just begins to brown. If any bubbles form, gently deflate them by pricking with a fork or sharp knife.
- Set aside to cool.
Make the Whipped Cream Topping
- Put 1 ¼ cups of whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachement (or use a large bowl and handheld mixer).
- Beat, starting on low speed and increasing to high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer to another bowl, or to a large piping bag, and set aside in the refrigerator.
Make the French Silk Pie Filling
- Whip ¾ cup whipping cream (for the filling) in a standing mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment on high until stiff peaks form. Set aside in the refrigerator.
- Melt chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachement, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, cream the butter sugar, powdered sugar and vanilla together 3 minutes - until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the melted chocolate and beat for 1 minute, pausing and scraping down the sides once halfway through.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed for 1 minute after each addition.
- Gently fold in the ¾ cup of whipped cream by hand.
Assemble
- Evenly spread the chocolate filling into the baked and cooled pie crust.
- Top with whipped topping in one of two ways: 1) Simply spread the whipped topping over the pie with a spatula or 2) Pipe the whipped topping on top with a decorator’s tip to make a pretty design.
- Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Serve chilled and enjoy.
Video
Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
- Pie Crust: If you make the pie crust I recommend not making any substitutions, except that you can swap shortening for butter, and follow this all-butter pie crust recipe. Or use Oreo Pie Crust, or store-bought crust for convenience.
- Pasteurized Eggs. Use room-temperature eggs for the best results. The eggs are added one at a time and beaten thoroughly to create the light, silky texture of the filling.
- Salted Butter. unsalted butter can be used in place of salted butter.
- Semi-sweet chocolate. You can use any form (chips, chocolate bars, melting discs, etc.) or any percentage of chocolate in this recipe and it will taste amazing. Milk chocolate yields a sweeter pie, while dark or unsweetened chocolate results in a less sweet pie.
- Whipping cream. Heavy whipping cream, whipping cream, or heavy cream each work well in this recipe. I discuss the difference in this post: how to make whipped cream.
- Place assembled pie in the freezer, or put individual pie slices on a baking sheet in the freezer.
- Freeze for 2 hours, or until the whipped cream is frozen solid.
- Tightly wrap with plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 384kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 88mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 751IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg