Skip to main content
Dessert

Chocolate Cream Pie

A layered pie made with buttered chocolate cake and a sweet cream filling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Chocolate Cream Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the cake layers

  1. Cream together the butter and powdered sugar.

  2. Add the beaten eggs, wine, milk, and sifted flour mixed with baking powder.

  3. Bake in four well‑buttered deep tin plates at 350°F (175°C) for about 15 minutes.

Make the custard

  1. In a double boiler, heat ½ pint of milk.

  2. Beat together the egg yolks, powdered sugar, and flour; stir into the boiling milk and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often.

  3. Add salt and vanilla to the cooked mixture.

  4. Layer two cakes on large plates, spread the cream over them, and top with the remaining cakes.

Make the topping and finish

  1. Beat the egg whites and gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla.

  2. In a small pan, combine shaved chocolate, sugar, and boiling water; stir over heat until smooth.

  3. Add cream or milk to the chocolate mixture and stir into the beaten egg mixture.

  4. Spread the chocolate mixture on the pies and let set for a few hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Creams with sugar to give the cake layers a tender, rich crumb.
Eggs
Add structure and richness to the cake batter and thicken the custard.
Flour
Provides the structure of the cake layers and thickens the custard.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the cake layers rise and stay light.
Milk
Adds moisture to the cake batter and forms the base of the custard.
Chocolate
Gives the topping its flavor and rich, dark color.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard. Flour-thickened custard must boil and be stirred often, or it can scorch on the bottom or stay starchy and lumpy. Cooking the starch fully makes it set smooth and thick.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate FudgeChocolate Fudge55 recipes