French Silk Pie is a super silky chocolate pie, made with an Oreo Crust (with an option for a classic pie crust), a creamy rich chocolate filling, and topped with fresh whipped cream. This is the perfect make-ahead dessert, and contains no raw eggs, unlike other French Silk Pie recipes!
Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this French Silk Pie recipe with you! This recipe is a slightly updated version of my Nutella French Silk Pie that has been on my site for years - I have added another crust option for you with this super easy homemade oreo crust, and tweaked it to be a classic French Silk Pie. There are options in the post to make the Nutella version too.
This French Silk Pie is everything that I want in a chocolate dessert. The crust is perfectly crumbly while still holding its shape, and the filling is silky smooth and just the right balance of rich while also having a really delicious chocolate mousse texture. The whole thing is topped off with loads of freshly whipped cream just to really bring it all home.
This French Silk Pie recipe is slightly more involved than other pie recipes as it takes a few steps to make the crust and filling, but I promise you that it is so, so worth it. I made this a few times during testing and the reviews from friends and family were amazing. I love it so much, and I hope that you do too!
Two measures of cream in the filling?
There are two measures of cream in the French Silk Pie filling - the first larger measure gets whipped to stiff peaks and is used as the base of the filling. The second measure is there to help smooth out the filling mixture. I found that when I was recipe testing this pie that the mixture would often sieze when the chocolate went into the egg mixture, and incorporating some liquid cream helped a lot with this.
You will notice that there is water in the egg yolk and sugar mixture - that is there for a reason. When I was testing this recipe I found that it was quite hard to dissolve the sugar fully without cooking the egg yolks too much. A little bit of water fixed this issue - just enough to dissolve the sugar. I know it seems weird but it does work - trust me.
Once the egg yolk mixture has been made, you remove it from the heat and whip until it has cooled and thickened significantly. Then the melted chocolate gets added along with the liquid measure of cream. The chocolate mixture is added to the whipped cream and incorporated.
Do not worry if the filling looks like it is runny. This pie needs at least four hours to fully chill in the fridge, ideally more if possible. It will set up in the fridge!
How do you slice pie cleanly?
This can be a bit of a mission, especially when the topping is thick whipped cream. There are a few things that I do to get a nice slice of pie:
- Make sure the pie is super cold. A nice chilled pie will give you a nice clean slice.
- Use a sharp knife. This is one of the benefits of making this pie in a ceramic pan - you don't have to worry about scratching it with the knife like you would a non stick pan. Use a nice sharp knife and cut right down to the pan when slicing the pie. If you like, you can heat the knife under boiling water and dry off before slicing.
- Wipe the knife between slices. Cutting with a clean knife gives you a much better chance of having nice cuts.
- Use a spatula. I like to use a small offset spatula to remove my slices of pie from the pan - it has a flexible metal blade so is easy to pop down between the crust and the pan to help lift the slice out.
To Whip or not to Whip?
I top my French Silk Pie with loads of freshly whipped cream. You can either blob it on and just smooth it out with a spatula or a spoon, or if you would like to pipe it, I used an ateco #825 tip and piped on swirls.
When you are making whipped cream for piping you want to make sure that you do not over whip it - you want it to just hold stiff peaks. I prefer to do it by hand to make sure that I do not over whip it, but an electric hand mixer on low works well too. Just go slow.
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
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Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Foolproof French Silk Pie (No Raw Eggs!)
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
French Silk Pie is a super silky chocolate pie, made with an Oreo Crust (with an option for a classic pie crust), a creamy rich chocolate filling, and topped with fresh whipped cream. This is the perfect make-ahead dessert, and contains no raw eggs, unlike other French Silk Pie recipes!
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- One Homemade Oreo Crust, baked and cooled
French Silk Pie Filling
- 320g heavy whipping cream (for whipping for the filling)
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- ½ tsp salt (I use kosher salt, if you are using table salt, use less)
- 200g dark chocolate, broken into chunks (I used 72%)
- 80g egg yolks, cold from the fridge is fine
- 130g caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 20g water
- 90g heavy whipping cream, cold (for streaming into the filling)
Whipped Cream Topping
- One Batch of Fresh Whipped Cream
- Chocolate shavings or cocoa powder to finish (optional)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the 320g cream, vanilla, and salt until stiff peaks form. Transfer to another bowl and store in the fridge until ready to use. Wash and dry your stand mixer bowl. Alternatively this can be done with a hand mixer in multiple bowls so you don't have to transfer.
- Set up a double boiler situation - place a small pot filled with an inch or two over water and bring to a boil. Break the chocolate into a glass or metal bowl that fits over the pot, and place on top, letting the heat melt the chocolate. Stir frequently. Once all of the chocolate is melted, remove from the double boiler and set aside to cool.
- In another metal or glass bowl, or in the bowl of your stand mixer (I used the metal bowl of my kitchen aid), combine the egg yolks, sugar and water, whisking well to combine. Place over your pot of simmering water, ensuring that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl, and, whisking constantly, heat until the mixture registers 160˚f / 70˚c on a candy thermometer. Remove the bowl from the heat, and then whip the egg yolk mixture for 4-5 minutes, until it has increased significantly in volume, and cooled to room temperature. With the mixer on low, slowly add the melted dark chocolate, mixing until incorporated and scraping down the sides as needed. The mix may look like it has seized here but don't worry, the liquid cream will sort this out.
- Slowly stream in the 90g heavy whipping cream, mixing until well combined.
- Remove the whipped cream from the fridge, and add the chocolate mixture to the cream. Gently fold it in, taking care not to deflate the cream too much, until well combined and homogenous in colour.
- Scrape the filling into the pie crust, and smooth down with an offset spatula. Transfer to the fridge and chill for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
- To finish the pie, transfer whipped craem to a piping bag fitted with a star tip (I used ateco #825). Pipe swirls of whipped cream on top of the pie. Alternatively, you can dollop the cream on and spread with an offset spatula. Finish with curls of chocolate made with a vegetable peeler, and chopped hazelnuts.
Notes
80g of egg yolks is about 6 eggs worth, however eggs vary from country to country so the most accurate way is to measure them with a scale.
Flavour variations - Nutella French Silk Pie
The original version of this pie was a Nutella French Silk Pie. This version is super similar, I just reduced the amount of cream in the recipe due to not using the Nutella. The recipe remains the same, the cream quantity is just slightly different and you add in 200g Nutella. The original recipe also used a blind baked pie crust - to make this, follow the instructions for a blind baked pie crust on my pie crust post. If you would like to make the Nutella version, make the following changes:
- Increase the first measure of cream that you whip to 360g
- Increase the second measure of cream that you stream in as liquid to 120g
- Once the measure of liquid cream has been incorporated, add in 200g Nutella and beat until incorporated.
-Proceed with the recipe as written, adding the chocolate nutella mixture into the whipped cream.
This recipe is made in a 10-inch ceramic pie pan, which is a little larger than what I make most of my crusted pies in. A deep dish style 9-inch pan will also work great too. Because this has a crumb crust and then a set filling, if you have a little leftover filling you can always set it in a separate container for a sneaky snack later on.
I haven't tested making this pie without a thermometer, but the first step in making the filling is where you cook the egg yolks and sugar with a little water over a double boiler. You want to bring them to a food safe temperature, while also dissolving the sugar. It is possible to do this without the thermometer however you cannot guarantee your eggs are properly cooked, but if you are fine with this (I just use super fresh eggs), you can test if the sugar is dissolved by rubbing some of the mixture between a thumb and finger. If you cannot feel any sugar grains, you know it has dissolved.
Comments
Dani says
I love this pie recipe. I've made it 3 times now and it is perfect every time.
Mariah says
I spent at least 30 minutes just now trying to find the Nutella French Silk Pie recipe and ingredient list I screenshotted yesterday from Pinterest/your website. I thought I was going crazy. Then I realized the author edited this today (Nov 22 2023). Even though this updated version still has instructions on how to make it with Nutella I wish there was still a way to see the original one I was planning on making today for Thanksgiving. Would've saved me a lot of time & stress.
Erin Clarkson says
Hi! Sorry about that - food blogs are changing things and the recipe needed updating before thanksiving. I thought I made it clear enough that I had edited it as I covered it in the copy. So sorry that it was not clear enough - I will add a note under the recipe too so it's in lots of places
Lauren Delloue says
same thing happened to me! i was so confused and started to think i read this recipe on a different site, because i was sure the recipe i planned to use had nutella in the ingredient list which i used to shop. now im having to rewrite the instructions to make sure i dont make any mistakes with the nutella version. could you have both recipes on your blog?
Erin Clarkson says
I can't unfortunately for SEO reasons. Food blogs do tend to change so I always recommend that you print off a recipe if it is one that you need 🙂 sorry about that!
Linda Lindsay says
this pie was excellent. The instructions were very easy to follow. I don’t even like chocolate, but this was a winner. Cloudy kitchen is my first stop for a new recipe anytime I get the urge to bake.
Trudy Ahern says
A family favourite and for good reason. The smoothest filling, perfect crust. Its a winner every single time. The blog even answers all the variation questions, what a brilliant recipe.
Cali says
I initially was a little intimidated by this recipe but it turned out so great! It had the most gorgeous texture- smooth and set, but nice and light. The pie has a really rick flavor but doesn’t feel heavy. So good!
Cali says
*rich flavor
Nala says
Hi
If I want to make the Nutella version do I need to replace the chocolate with Nutella ? Or add it?
Erin Clarkson says
Hi, no you don't replace it you add the nutella - there's notes in the blog post on how to add the nutella!
Jazzmin Bleeker says
So yum! The steps are easy to follow and I will be making this recipe again… for Christmas Day so more people can enjoy this pie
Caitlin says
Beautiful recipe 😋 made it for a friendmas and was so easy to put together and so tasty!! Will probably make it again for Christmas Day. Thank you for sharing it!!
Brianna says
Made the Nutella version and it was a huge hit! Can't wait to make it again on new years for my friends! Super easy to follow instructions as well
Hayley says
Dana says
This was much easier than expected and so so good! I had my husband print it out and as he read through the post went “wow, she really talks you through everything and has tested this a bunch” which is accurate and also very reassuring when trying something new like cooking eggs in a double boiler. Will absolutely make again!
Delaney says
This pie comes together quickly and packs a delicious chocolatey flavor. I love that you can make it ahead of time if prepping for an event. I have made it with plain whipped cream and your espresso whipped cream topping, both are amazing!
Billie Lloyd-Bain says
Such a yummy mousse!! Had a request to make a mousse cake for a birthday so decided to use this mousse recipe as the topping and used the cloudy kitchen dairy free brownie recipe for the base.
It was delicious!!! Silky, light, decadent and not overly complicated to make! Will definitely be making again, thank you 😍🍫
Jab says
This recipe was so delicious and relatively easy to make. You have written it so well with the understanding of how humans think. The fact that you listed the streaming heavy cream separately! Saved me from a mess. Everyone loved it and will be making it again. Thank you!
Liz Kempton says
I made this a few weeks ago for a family gathering and it was a smash hit. Partner has declared it his nominated "new birthday cake"!!!
Instructions are very thorough, I made the crust a day or two before hand and then the chocolate layer the day before - great for being organised.
It is rich, smooth and beautifully chocolately but light and non-stodgy. An absolute winner!!! Thank you...
Nadya S says
The fact that this is not the first link when you google french silk pie is truly unbelievable! (But I also always come here first for a recipe anyway). I have never been so highly complimented on a pie before! I am not the biggest chocolate person, but this really reminded me of my grandma's chocolate mousse so basically it means the pie is addicting. I also really appreciate how you separated doing the sides and bottom of crust just to make it easier to even it out. Keeping this as a go-to!!
Glenda D says
Ahhhh I managed to mess this up a little bit - I guess nothing is foolproof with me around haha (a me problem, not the recipe’s!).
Next time I’ll have to remember to REALLY beat the chocolate mixture with the cold liquid cream, and to scrape the hell out of the bowl. Unfortunately my eggs/chocolate mixture was really clumpy and seized at the initial stage, and then I didn’t quite beat it enough so after folding the whipped cream I had quite a few lumps. Again, my fault, but might be useful for others to note!
Haven’t tried the whole assembled pie yet, but the filling was yummy, even if not silky smooth!
Carlie says
I had never made a French silk pie but needed one for Thanksgiving. This was so easy to make and was absolutely DIVINE. Yes it's technical and precise, but it's NOT hard. I did this with my toddler if that shows a measure of manag ability. 10/10 would recommend and will be making again.
Katie Thompson says
Erin does it again.
This French silk pie is pure perfection! The silky, smooth chocolate filling is decadently rich without being overwhelming, and the biscuit crust provides the perfect balance. Every bite melts in your mouth, and the whipped cream topping adds a light, creamy finish. It’s truly a masterpiece of texture and flavor! This pie is easily the highlight of any dessert table—highly recommend!
Emma says
This was a big hit for Turkey Day dessert. Used a mix of 72% and 64% chocolate since that is what I had on hand. Dusted with a little black cocoa instead of chocolate shavings. Was rich and decadent but not too sweet because of the dark chocolate. Would definitely make again.
Amanda says
Loved this! The recipe was fun to make and was the hit of Thanksgiving!
Jenny O says
This pie is a dream! Make it and enjoy!
Lily says
Love this recipe, I did make some tiny changes like using 1/4 of semi sweet chips & 3/4 dark chocolate and adding powdered sugar to the whipped cream. Definitely a chocolate lovers dream.
Kristine Bachicha Hintz says
Soooo yummy. I wanted to make the Nutella version but since my dad isn’t a fan of Nutella but a big chocolate fan, I made it as written and it was delightful. I had no idea I would enjoy it so much. A little bit of a process, but worth it.
J says
Hi, can this be made a few days ahead and frozen without the whipped cream on top?
Erin Clarkson says
I haven't tried freezing it sorry!
Michelle says
Hello! Would it work to use the cream cheese whip from your malted dark chocolate cream pie with cream cheese whip instead of the cream in this recipe? Or would that be too much going on? Thanks heaps.
Kerri says
This is one of my favorite pies of all time. I want to make it for every holiday! Everyone I’ve shared it with loves it and I’m constantly telling everyone I know to make it. Thanks for sharing your gift of baking (and humor) with us!
Rachael says
How far ahead can you make this pie? How would you split it up? Will the whipped cream on top hold, or does that need to be whipped and put on the day of? Thanks!
Erin Clarkson says
Hi! I would make the crust and the filling up to a day (or two if you're ok pushing it) ahead, then add the whipped cream a few hours up to right before serving. It isn't the end of the world if the whipped cream has to go on the day before and it should hold as long as it is well whipped, but it is definitely nicest if you freshly whip it!
Carol G says
Foolproof, exactly like described. I had a moment when I was putting in in the crust that I thought it was not thick enough, but it set up beautifully, cut absolutely perfectly. French silk is my son’s favorite pie, and it was a real treat for him on his birthday. Thank you, Erin, I really appreciate your carefully crafted recipes.
Katelin Walker says
This was absolutely delicious and a favorite at family dinner! Everything came together nicely and the recipe was easy to follow. Thank you!
Tamara says
This was delicious! This was the first time I’ve attempted a pie like this and the background details and notes in the post were very helpful. Will definitely make again!
Mariel says
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit. Everyone said it was reminiscent of 1990s Perkins, but better. I will be making this again
Ritisha says
Make this now!! I made this for Thanksgiving and it was awesome! Erin never misses!
Melissa says
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and it was a hit with my kiddos! I especially appreciate that the directions were clear and ingredients were listed in weight.