Chocolate Cream Pie

Step 1

Make the pie crust. Add the flour, salt, and sugar to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Remove the butter and shortening from the freezer and dice into half-inch size cubes, using a sharp knife. Add the butter and shortening to the bowl, cutting the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or two forks, continuing until the mixture is sandy and the butter chunks are the size of peas. Add in the cold water and mix together with a fork until the dough begins to form a ball. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, shape it into a flattened ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step 2

Roll the dough into a circle, rolling from the center of the dough to the edge, turning and flouring the dough as necessary. Drape the dough over the rolling pin and transfer it to a 9-inch pie pan. Once in the pan, trim the dough so there is an approximately 1-inch overhang past the edge of the pie pan. Using this overhang, crimp the crust by pressing the dough between the pointer finger of one hand and the pointer finger and thumb of the other hand. Freeze the crust for at least 10 minutes.

Step 3

Bake the pie crust. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork, then line it with aluminum foil and fill it with pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes, remove the pie weights and foil, and bake an additional 10 minutes until golden and fully set. Cool completely.

Step 4

Make the chocolate custard filling. In a large saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, heavy cream, and milk until well combined and no lumps remain. Cook the custard over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. Once the mixture starts to boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook an additional 5 minutes more, continuing to whisk.

Step 5

Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and butter until fully melted and well combined. Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl to remove any lumps. Use a spoon to stir the mixture through the strainer. Cool for 10 minutes. Pour the chocolate custard into the baked pie crust. Refrigerate until custard is chilled, at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Step 6

Make the whipped cream. Beat the heavy cream using the whisk option for an electric mixer or hand mixer. Once soft peaks have formed, add in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Continue to whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks.

Step 7

Spread the whipped cream across the top of the and garnish with sprinkles or chocolate shavings, if desired.