Beat butter and sugar until no graininess remains.
Add cocoa powder and beat well.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating several minutes after each.
Beat in vanilla.
Spoon into crust and smooth top. Chill for 3 hours, at least - overnight is recommended.
Serve with whipped cream, chocolate shavings or other garnish.
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Notes
Pregnant women, very young children, and people with weak immune systems are cautioned by the FDA to not ingest raw eggs. Please research carefully and come to your own conclusions.Storage:If you have some leftovers, they'll last refrigerated for 3-4 days.Just be sure to cover the leftover pie with plastic wrap or aluminum foil to prevent any odors from leaching into the soft chocolate mousse. You can freeze French silk chocolate pie but do so without any of the whipped topping or use Cool Whip. Wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic, then a layer of foil, and store for up to three months.Thaw in the fridge until softened.Tips:
Nervous to use a traditional pie crust recipe and the blind baking method? Never used pie weights before? Grab some parchment paper and check out these tips. Spoiler alert: it's easy to make homemade pie crust when you have the right recipe!
Make sure your butter is cold when making pie dough, but at room temperature when beating the sugar for the pie filling into it.
Good butter makes a difference! I use Kerrygold, Plugra, or Challenge for high-fat content, which means flavor! If you live in Texas, Braum's used to have a European-style butter that was nice as well.
Check the texture of the butter/sugar mixture by rubbing a bit between your fingers—if it still feels grainy, your French silk pie filling will taste grainy. Beating it 'til smooth can take around ten minutes or more.
Pulse your sugar in a food processor or blender to make it finer so that it dissolves more quickly into the butter.
You can use a handheld electric mixer with the whisk attachment, but fair warning: your arm will get tired!
If you've mixed your eggs together for pasteurization, simply add a quarter of the egg mixture in four increments, beating in between each.
For the best homemade French silk pie, be sure to use the darkest Dutch cocoa powder you can find. Not melted chocolate, and definitely not a premade chocolate pie filling, either. Dutch cocoa powder is best.
Use a vegetable peeler to make easy, quick chocolate curls. I like using dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate for garnish.
It's tempting to cut into your pie, but be sure to let it set for at least three hours, if not longer.