2000s Recipes + Menus

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Serves8
  • Active time:30 min
  • Start to finish:5 hr (includes chilling)
August 2009
Phyllis Roberts, the mother of food editor Melissa Roberts, was a working mom who cooked dinner every night, including salad and dessert. One of Melissa’s favorite treats was chocolate cream pie, made with My*T*Fine boxed pudding. In honor of her mother, Melissa has updated this dessert with a flaky piecrust and a filling of rich, homemade chocolate pudding (which is as easy to make as, well, pie). Finally, she crowns it all with drifts of whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

For pastry dough

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

For filling

  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 4 oz bittersweet chocolate (not more than 60% cacao), finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chilled heavy cream

  • Equipment:

    pie weights or dried beans

  • Garnish:

    bittersweet chocolate shavings (optional)

Make dough:

  • Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 2 Tbsp ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
  • Squeeze a small handful of dough: If dough doesn’t hold together, add more ice water, 1 Tbsp at a time, stirring until incorporated. (Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.)
  • Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all of dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and form into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

Make pie shell:

  • Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into an 11-inch round, then fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under and crimp edge decoratively. Prick bottom and side of shell all over with a fork, then chill shell 30 minutes.
  • While shell chills, preheat oven to 375°F with a baking sheet on middle rack.
  • Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake on baking sheet until pastry is set and edge is pale golden, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove weights and foil, then bake shell on baking sheet until pale golden all over, 15 to 20 minutes more. Cool shell.

Make filling:

  • Whisk together cornstarch, 1/3 cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a 2-qt heavy saucepan, then gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, then boil, whisking, 2 minutes (mixture will thicken). Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate and vanilla until smooth.
  • Pour filling into cooled shell and chill, its surface covered with wax paper (if you want to prevent a skin from forming), until cold, at least 2 hours.
  • Just before serving, beat cream with remaining 2 Tbsp sugar until it just holds soft peaks. Spoon onto pie.
Cooks’ notes:
  • Pastry dough can be chilled up to 2 days.
  • Pie (without whipped cream) can be chilled up to 1 day.

Recipe by Melissa Roberts

Photograph by Stephanie Foley

Keywords
dessert of the month,
web-exclusive recipes,
dessert,
pies,
melissa roberts

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