A simple, homemade chocolate cream pie, based on my grandma's recipe.
No melting chocolate or tempering eggs; you use cocoa powder, and heat the eggs with the pudding filling!
In a medium saucepan, whisk together eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and cocoa. Slowly stir in the milk and whisk to combine. The cocoa will make the mixture foamy.
Place saucepan on stove and heat over medium heat, stirring often and scraping the bottom and corners with your whisk or a wooden spoon. Stir and scrape the bottom more as you feel the mixture thicken.
Pause stirring for a few seconds to see if the mixture is bubbling yet. If the surface doesn't bubble yet, continue lazily stirring the bottom for a minute, then try again. (This process usually takes me about 10 minutes from when I put the pan on heat, but this will depend on your pan and stove.)
When the middle of the mixture starts bubbling, cook for another 3 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot constantly. (Again, this keeps the mixture from sticking and burning, and breaks up lumps. It's especially important at this stage.)
After the pudding has bubbled for 3 minutes, remove it from heat. Add the vanilla and butter and stir until completely combined. Pour into your pre-baked pie shell or crust. Place a layer of plastic wrap directly on the pudding to prevent it from forming a skin on top.
Let pie cool on the counter briefly, then refrigerate until chilled. To serve, remove plastic wrap and top with whipped cream. Refrigerate leftovers, which will keep for about 3 days.
Grandma's recipe originally called for 3 eggs, separated; the whites were used for meringue. I don't make meringue, so I just use 2 whole eggs. My mom uses 3 whole eggs, makes no meringue, and tops her pie with whipped topping.
If you don't have cornstarch, you can use ½ cup flour, which my grandma used. Flour clumps up, and it's hard to get the filling smooth, so I recommend using cornstarch for your peace of mind.
My mom always uses whole milk; I use 1% or 2% milk, and it always turns out. It is possible that non-dairy milk would work, but I can't guarantee it.
Grandma's recipe called for "1 pat butter." I've always guessed that's 1 tablespoon, and it works for me. My mother uses margarine in her pie.
Boiling the filling for 3 minutes works for me, as long as I know the center of the pot was bubbling. My mom cooks hers for 5 minutes with no problems, because she remembers making chocolate filling that didn't set. (I had that problem years ago too, but now I just know 3 minutes is enough.)
Calorie count includes filling only; it does not include calories for the pie crust of your choice, or whipped cream.