Classic French Silk Pie that is so very chocolatey and smooth. This pie is a perfect make-ahead pie for summer or Thanksgiving. Topped with fluffy whipped cream and shavings of chocolate.
I posted this recipe for this French Silk Pie on The Instagram last Thanksgiving and realized I never properly posted the recipe here; you know, in real printable, easily-readable form. I like things to live here, too, especially given how Instagram captions can’t be rich-pinned and easily searchable. So here we are.
This pie is perfect for literally every time of year. If it’s summer and you don’t want to warm up the oven, you only have to do it for the crust. A very short amount of time!
If it’s the holidays or Thanksgiving, this is also a perfect pie. Not a ton of oven space? This is nearly a no-bake pie.
French Silk Pie Facts
- French silk pie is technically an icebox cake. It gets its name from it’s silky texture. Makes sense, right?
- Instead of being more of a pudding-like filling, this pie is more similar to a super light mousse.
- There is raw egg in this pie! The only big heads up you need to know about this pie is there is indeed raw egg in this dessert.
- When using raw eggs of any kind I always recommend opting for organic eggs or the best quality and freshest you can get your hands on. You know, for safety.
I don’t always bake with organic eggs but for something like this, it’s definitely my move.
French Silk Pie is The Perfect Make Ahead Dessert
This recipe for French Silk Pie truly is a great make-ahead recipe; something we’re all looking for when gatherings like summer parties or Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving get-togethers are in the future.
I like to keep it in the fridge with a piece of plastic wrap or parchment pressed to its surface. It’ll get a bit messed up when you remove the plastic wrap but you can definitely smooth it out again with a butter knife or off-set spatula.
How to Make French Silk Pie
- Start with the crust. What I love about this pie is that it uses a cookie crust, which is WAY easier than baking off traditional pie crust.
- Melt the chocolate. In a double-boiler, add the chopped chocolate to a bowl nestled on top of a saucepan filled with a few inches of water.
- Beat the other wet ingredients. Mix together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt.
- Add the melted chocolate.
- Crack in the eggs. One at a time, add the eggs and keep beating the mixture until the mixture is super fluffy.
- Transfer the filling to the pie dish. Pour in the chocolate mixture into the baked off pie crust. And then transfer to the fridge to chill.
- Serve. Right before you’re ready to serve, make the whipped cream and add it to the top of the pie. I added the whipped cream to a piping bag to give a pretty effect. And then shaved on some chocolate using a vegetable peeler.
Happy Baking!
French Silk Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Cookie Crust:
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
Filling:
- 3 ounces milk or dark chocolate
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs
Topping:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar sifted
- 1 ounces milk chocolate for topping
Instructions
To Make the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the crumbs and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the butter and mix until the gingersnap crumbs are moist. Transfer to 14-inch x 5-inch tart pan, 9-inch tart pan or 9-inch pie dish. Press the crumbs firmly and evenly until they line the bottom and sides of the pan or dish. Bake until slightly darker in color and mostly firm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Allow the crust to cool completely before adding the filling.
To Make the Filling:
- In a double boiler (or a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan filled with a few inches of water), add the chopped chocolate. When mostly melted, remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment on, add the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Beat until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Pour in the mostly cooled melted chocolate and beat until combined. And then add one egg, allowing it to beat for a full 5 minutes. And then add another egg and beat for an additional 5 minutes. Set a timer! During this time, the eggs will help the mixture double in volume and make it nice and fluffy. Add the last egg and beat for one last time for 5 minutes. Remove from the mixer and give it a mix manually just to make sure there aren’t any chocolate bits not combined.
- Transfer to the crust and spread into an even layer. Place in the fridge to chill for about 5 hours, until very chilled.
- When you’re ready to serve, add the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar to a bowl of a stand-up mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the top of the pie and garnish with shavings of Moser Roth Milk Chocolate.
Notes
- You can make the crust up to 2 days ahead. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and store in the fridge or at room temperature.Â
- To Freeze, make the entire pie and store in the freezer, covered with plastic wrap, and store up for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge.Â
Your ingredients call for graham cracker crumbs but the directions refer to gingersnaps, which I believe is probably a proofing error? Also, if freezing, I assume it should be without the whip cream topping?
Was hoping to make soon, there’s no powdered sugar in the ingredient list but it’s needed to make the whipping cream. How much powdered sugar gets mixed into the heavy cream?
Hi! Sorry about that. It’s 1 tablespoon for the topping 🙂
I am going to make this for Thanksgiving and was wondering if pure chocolate baking bars were fine for this? Thank you!
thank you, makes sense about using organic eggs if raw, and love this pie, and also will opt for dark chocolate nice pie
Thank you so much for posting this recipe for French Silk Pie. It’s one of my favorites, and it does sound perfect for the dog days of summer! Thanks for the reminder about eggs. I’ll go for organic, definitely!