French Silk Pie Recipe

A French silk pie in a pie pan with three slices cut.

This Homemade French Silk Pie pairs a flaky butter crust with a rich, silky chocolate filling and homemade whipped cream for an elegant, indulgent dessert.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 35

Freezing/Chilling 4 20

Total Time 5 25

Servings servings

Calories 680kcal

Author Kate @ I Heart Eating

Equipment

9-inch pie pan

Ingredients

Crust

1 large egg
2 ½ tablespoons ice cold water
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cubed

Chocolate filling

1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
8 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate chopped
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup unsalted butter softened
1 cup cold heavy cream
4 teaspoons powdered sugar

Whipped cream topping

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate curls for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Make the crust: In a small mixing bowl whisk together egg and ice water.
1 large egg, 2 ½ tablespoons ice cold water
Add flour and salt to a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.
1 ½ cups all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Add the cubed butter to the food processor. Pulse again until it forms a crumb.
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
Pour in the egg/water mixture. Pulse until it forms a thick dough.
Flour a clean surface and a rolling pin. Shape the dough into a disc and roll the dough over the floured surface until it’s large enough to fit a pie dish (about 11-inch diameter for a 9-inch pie dish).
Carefully transfer the dough to the pie dish.
Press it down, then trim the excess dough off the top of the edges. Crimp edges of the dough using your fingers.
Use a fork to poke some holes in the bottom of the crust for steam to escape.
Place dough in the freezer for 20-25 minutes.
Remove from the freezer.
Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough. Add dry beans or pie weights on top of the parchment to blind bake the pie crust.
Bake for about 35 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
Carefully remove beans/weights. Cool completely.
Make the filling: In a small saucepan, whisk together the granulated sugar and eggs.
3 large eggs, 1 cup granulated sugar
Set over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 160 F and coats the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
8 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy.
¾ cup unsalted butter
Slowly add cooled chocolate mixture, then beat again on high speed for about 5 minutes.
Transfer butter/chocolate mixture to a large bowl. Clean the bowl and whisk of your stand mixer. Make sure to dry it well.
Pour heavy cream into the cleaned bowl and beat, using the whisk attachment, until it begins to thicken.
1 cup cold heavy cream
Add powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
4 teaspoons powdered sugar
Fold the whipped cream into the bowl with the chocolate mixture. Be sure to fold, not stir, as not to deflate the whipped cream.
Pour the mixture on top of the baked and cooled pie crust.
Set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, up to overnight.
Make the topping: Before serving, add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until stiff peaks form.
1 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Top pie with the whipped cream and garnish with chocolate shavings.

Notes

Ice water: It's important to use ice water, not just cool or cold water, for the flakiest crust.
Salt: If you don't have kosher salt or sea salt, use half the amount of table salt.
Unsalted butter: If you would like to use salted butter, omit the kosher salt.
Baking chocolate: You can find bars of baking chocolate by the chocolate chips in the grocery store. Since chocolate is the star here, use a high-quality baking chocolate bar.
Nutrition values are estimates.

Nutrition