Nutella French Silk Pie - Nutella and dark chocolate mousse pie. A variation on the very popular French Silk Pie, but with no raw eggs. This pie is light and airy, while being rich in flavour. Topped with silky whipped cream to finish, it makes the perfect, easy dessert. The filling is no bake, and it will be a huge crowd pleaser with anyone who loves chocolate.
Nutella French Silk Pie
Somehow, putting food on my little corner of the internet has led to some ridiculously awesome opportunities. A couple of weeks ago, just before we went home to New Zealand, Rich and I flew to Madison, Wisconsin to visit the Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove headquarters! We toured their factory, which is like a crazy awesome real life version of ‘how it’s made,’ and learned all about the history of the company, and what goes into making their beautiful appliances. I have been a huge fan of their products for a while now - we had no gas in our apartment so I relied completely on the Wolf Gourmet counter top oven for all of our meals, as well as everything for the blog, for three months, and it legitimately saved my life. Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove make incredible refrigerators, cooktops, ovens, and now dishwashers (we got to preview the new Cove dishwasher!), so it was amazing not only seeing how they were made, but to meet some of the people behind the company.
A trip to Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove HQ
Aside from touring the factory, a good chunk of our time was spent at the barn and organic garden, located on the company’s campus called Harvest Haven. Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove are committed to not only making quality appliances, but sharing their love for food with others at the Harvest Haven facility. The modern barn is beautifully built and houses one of the most kitted out kitchens I think I will ever see in my LIFE. Here we ate a whole range of incredible meals, paired perfectly with wines, while head chef Joel Chesbro led us through the whole cooking experience, sharing his knowledge and expertise with us.
Right outside the barn is the Harvest Haven garden, where all of the ingredients used to make the meals in the barn are grown. Chef Joel gave us an amazing tour of the garden - we were there just as the seasons were changing, so got to see the transition of ingredients used in the meals - the last of the tomatoes for the year, and the beginning of pumpkin season (including an 800 pound whopper they have grown ‘just for fun’). It is always so inspiring to eat food that is not only delicious, but thoughtfully prepared. I place huge value on preparing meals based on what is local and in season, and this couldn’t be a better example of that.
Nutella French Silk Pie
This Nutella French silk pie was inspired by the dessert we had on the last night at Harvest Haven. After yet another incredible meal, we finished off the night with a mind blowing French silk pie. It was actually the first time I had eaten French silk pie, and I knew immediately I was going to have to recreate it. It was made with a very dark chocolate, and was perfectly balanced with just the right amount of salt.
I started researching French silk pie as soon as I got home and was surprised to find that it wasn’t made in the way I was expecting at all - most recipes start with creamed butter and sugar, which raw eggs and melted chocolate are added to, before being folded through whipped cream to make a mousse situation which is then poured into a blind baked shell to set up. The result looks amazing in pictures, but I was concerned that the butter would take away from the taste of the chocolate, and I wasn’t entirely stoked at the thought of adding raw eggs (I love eating leftover pie, and leftover pie with raw egg doesn’t really do it for me), so I was on the look for a workaround.
Nutella French Silk Pie with No Raw Eggs.
I eventually figured that the eggs should be able to be tempered, and started the filling by making a sabayon from egg yolks and sugar, which is tempered over a water bath before being whipped up. I also wanted to incorporate Nutella, which gave me all sorts of other issues with seizing and the order ingredients were added, but it was 100% worth the eight recipe iterations it took to land on this - the PERFECT Nutella French Silk Pie. No raw eggs, just amazing, Nutella dark chocolate mousse pie, which is impossibly light and piled high with whipped cream and finished with chocolate curls and chopped hazelnuts. This one is going to be my new go-to back pocket recipe, and I hope it is yours too!
A few wee tips for Nutella French Silk Pie
- I have included a recipe for a blind baked pie crust, but you can use your favourite method, or a blind baked store bought pie crust will work too.
- I used a USA pan pie pan for this, which was needed for amount of filling - so go for something a teeny bit deeper if you can.
- PLEASE follow the recipe for the filling carefully - things need to be weighed because it really does make a difference to how the pie turns out. Promise.
- The filling will set up in about 4 hours, but give it overnight if you can.
- If you can, add the cream just before you serve!
- I used 90% chocolate for this - it will seem intense, but it will be totally balanced out by the Nutella and cream in the recipe, so don’t be put off. It mellows out.
- I did a braid on the edge of my dough - I watched an online tutorial to make a five strand braid. If you want it to go the whole way round, it needs to be 29 inches long, alternatively you could braid in sections.
- The dough recipe here makes enough for two standard crusts without the braid, so if you are just doing a crimped crust, you can use the other for another pie - it stores very well wrapped in plastic wrap in the freezer.
- If you want to cool your crust quickly, and it will pop out of the pie tin, I usually make sure that it is set, and then cool it outside of the tin on the rack. If this makes you nervous, cooling it in the pie pan is totally fine!
- There are two quantities of cream in the filling - the first gets whipped up and used at the end, and the second is used to loosen the mixture before the addition of the Nutella.
For more Chocolate Hazelnut Recipes, Check out:
- Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Puffs
- Brownie Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Filling and Mocha German Buttercream
- Chocolate Hazelnut Babka
- Nutella and Banana Sweet Rolls
Thank you so much to Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove for Sponsoring this post and having me in Madison! All opinions are my own.
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!
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!
Nutella French Silk Pie
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: one 9" pie 1x
- Category: Pie
- Cuisine: American
Description
Nutella French Silk Pie - Nutella and dark chocolate mousse pie. A variation on the very popular French Silk Pie, but with no raw eggs. This pie is light and airy, while being rich in flavour. Topped with silky whipped cream to finish, it makes the perfect, easy dessert. The filling is no bake, and it will be a huge crowd pleaser with anyone who loves chocolate.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 homemade pie crust, shaped into a disc and chilled*
Nutella Dark Chocolate Filling
- 360g heavy whipping cream
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 200g 85-90% dark chocolate, broken into chunks
- 80g egg yolks
- 150g sugar
- 2 Tbsp water
- 120g heavy whipping cream
- 200g Nutella
- ½ tsp salt
Whipped Cream Topping
- 360g heavy whipping cream
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- Extra chocolate and chopped hazelnuts to finish (optional)
Instructions
PIE CRUST
- I like to make my pie crust the night before or at least 2 hours before to give it time to rest.
- Once the dough has rested, unwrap the disc and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to ¼” (6mm) in thickness, turning the dough 45˚ often as you are rolling to keep it even. You want the circle to be slightly larger than your pie tin. Transfer to a 9” pie tin, and arrange to ensure that the dough is well settled.
- Trim the dough using scissors or a sharp knife, leaving about one inch excess around the edges. Gently tuck the dough under and onto itself, to give you a neat folded edge. Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, then remove from the fridge and crimp as desired. Dock all over with the tines of a fork, then chill for a further 30 minutes.
- While the crust is in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425˚f / 220˚c. Cut a piece of parchment slightly larger than the pie dish. Line with the parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans, filling right to the bottom of the crimps.
- Place the pie tin on a baking sheet, and place in the oven. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven, remove the parchment paper and beans. Return to the oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes, until the crust is evenly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
NUTELLA CHOCOLATE FILLING
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the 360g cream and vanilla bean paste until stiff peaks form. Transfer to another bowl and store in the fridge until ready to use. Wash and dry your stand mixer bowl.
- 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. Transfer to your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat the mixture on high speed for 7-8 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. Slowly stream in the 120g heavy whipping cream, and mix until well combined.
- Add the Nutella and salt, and mix on medium 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 blind baked 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, whip 360g heavy whipping cream with the vanilla until stiff peaks, then transfer 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
The recipe for homemade pie crust that is linked makes two crusts - this recipe uses one of them. If you need more help with par-baking, ready my post on how to blind bake pie crust
Keywords: French Silk, Nutella, Nutella French Silk, French Silk Pie, French Silk Pie no raw eggs
Comments
Hi- can we have the pie filling recipe converted to cups? Looks like the pie dough is converted but not the filling. Thanks!!
Hi! So sorry - I don't provide my recipes in cups. I used to post some recipes with cup conversions just for pie dough, but I have stopped doing this now as it is not accurate. I go into detail why I only bake in grams on my FAQ page if you wanted to check it out, but basically cups are not an accurate measure of baking and because I test in grams it does not make sense to then provide a less accurate version of the recipe, particularly for something like this where it is important to have the right quantity of ingredients to ensure that the filling works. If you need a scale recommendation I am happy to provide one! 🙂
Hi Erin,
Can this be made a couple days ahead of time? I want to make it today ( Friday) for a party on Sunday. Thanks,
Megan
Hi! So sorry I missed this! I hope it went ok! Yes you can make it ahead of time!
Turned out horribly for me... measured my ingredients by the gram, followed directions explicitly... Dunno what went wrong. But it did.
Oh no i'm so sorry to hear that! What went wrong specifically?
This is a recipe I will be revisiting again soon! A few notes on my end: timing can be improved if I bake the crust and let it start cooling before starting the filling... once filling was done if should go in the pie immediately- mine started to set 😬 I would also experiment with other chocolates (my taste preferences entirely, other dark chocolate lovers liked this a lot). Finally, why no sugar in the whipped topping? I might add a bit next time.
★★★★
Hi! So glad you enjoyed! There's no sugar in the topping because that's how I like it, but you are welcome to add some if you like!
Hi Erin.
I just want to know if it's possible to add some bloomed gelatin to the filling to make it set faster than the original time?
★★★★★
I haven't tried sorry - I would worry that it will make it rubbery
Uh okay, thanks. The reason I asked is that I plan to use your recipe when I take the assessment in my baking class, and since it will be under time pressure, I don't know if the filling would set in time. The kitchen we use in the school does not have a blast freezer.
★★★★★
Ahhh ok! Yeah i'm not sure sorry - I would test it to see how it goes! I hope it goes well!
Yeah, I do plan to test it but I wanted to wait for your reply first since you are already a pro and more knowledgeable about baking than I am. I am still studying after all. Thanks for replying. I will post an update here in this thread once I am able to try your recipe with the gelatin.
★★★★★
Hi Erin! I made this beautiful pie today for pi day. I love that your measurements are in grams, it's foolproof! The pie came out amazing, will definitely do again!
★★★★★
I am pregnant and can’t eat raw eggs; what can I use as a substitute?? Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi! This recipe doesn't have raw eggs - there is a section on it in the blog post 🙂 If you can't have them cooked in that method unfortunately I am not sure as they are an important part of the pie. Sorry about that!
I see that now—thanks! Can’t wait to try it!
Holy shit! This is such a showstopper! Took this to a Friendsgiving party and everybody loved it. Thoroughly appreciate the accurate measurements and instructions for all your recipes, this one included!
★★★★★
This pie was amazing! Not only did it taste delicious, it looked so impressive amongst all if the other pies put out for Thanksgiving!
This pie is such a hit! I’m not a great baker (yet!) so this one was a bit of a challenge for me. It is very rich, but so fresh at the same time. Super delicious! I learned my cream had curdled right before making it, so I had to substitute the heavy whip for a plant based alternative and it was still quite delicious. The plant based heavy whip didn’t turn into great whipped cream but the pie itself was perfect. Thank you for the awesome challenge!
★★★★★