French Silk Pie Recipe
Our silky and chocolatey French Silk Pie recipe is a winner. Our French Silk Pie features a Nilla wafer crust, a perfectly creamy and smooth chocolate filling and topped with sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Perfect for any kind of celebrations, but easy enough to make just because.
Servings: 12
Calories: 771kcal
Ingredients
crust
- 2 1/4 cups finely crushed Nilla Wafers from 1 (11oz) box
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
filling
- 1 cup superfine sugar
- 4 large eggs lightly beaten
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate melted and cooled
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
garnish
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ounce shaved bittersweet chocolate
Instructions
crust
- Place Nilla wafer crumbs, cinnamon and melted butter into a mixing bowl and stir together until completely combined.
- Pour mixture into the bottom of a 9” pie dish and press into the bottom and sides of the pan, in an even layer. Place crust in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
filling
- Place sugar and eggs in a heatproof bowl and beat together with an electric hand mixer.
- Place bowl over a pot filled with 1 1/2 inches water simmering over low heat. Cook mixture, while beating with electric hand mixer, until pale yellow, thick and has doubled in volume, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
- Stir melted and cooled chocolate into the mixture and beat until fully incorporated and smooth. Remove from heat and set aside until mixture has completely cooled.
- In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment (or in another mixing bowl and using electric hand mixer), beat butter until light and fluffy. Add cooled chocolate mixture to the butter and continue to beat until fully combined, scraping down sides of the bowl.
- In another mixing bowl beat together cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture until fully combined and mixture is light and fluffy.
- Pour filling into frozen crust and smooth top. Place pie in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or until filling has set.
garnish/whipped cream topping
- In a mixing bowl combine cream, sugar and vanilla. Whisk mixture together until stiff peaks just form (can use electric hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment).
assemble
- Remove pie from refrigerator and top with sweetened whipped cream and a sprinkle of shaved chocolate. Serve.
Video
Notes
Tips and Tricks
- Cooking the eggs over low heat will ensure they don't scramble.
- If the eggs do happen to scramble a little bit, don't worry! Just push the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to separate the scrambled bits, before stirring in the melted chocolate.
- It's important to let the egg and sugar mixture cool before adding the melted chocolate and then again before adding it to the butter mixture, to prevent the filling from curdling.
- Don't over mix the whipped cream into the chocolate filling or the pie won't set properly when chilled.
- The entire pie can be made up to 1 day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.
- The crust and filling can be made up to 5 days ahead of time and wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 5 days. The day you're ready to serve, make the whipped cream topping, top the pie, add the shavings and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
- The entire pie can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze: Place pie into freezer until fully frozen, then carefully and tightly wrap pie in plastic wrap and store in freezer for up to 3 months.
- When ready to serve, unwrap pie and place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. Slice and serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 771kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 62g | Saturated Fat: 37g | Cholesterol: 212mg | Sodium: 184mg | Potassium: 215mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 1818IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 2mg