October 27, 2019 (updated August 20, 2023) by Zoë François | chocolate, cookbooks I love, dessert, pie
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When I moved to Minneapolis from Vermont, I hadn’t expected to experience culture shock. I was raised mostly in New England with stints in Northern California. Somehow, those places, as far from each other as they can get on a map, are more alike than the vast land in the middle.
I understood the food of the coasts, including the pie, dominated by apple and pumpkin or even lemon meringue. But, the Midwest has a pie culture all its own. I first learned of French Silk Pie in the 1990s from a local Minneapolis newspaper’s people choice award. Every year Bakers’ Square would win “best dessert” in Minneapolis with their French Silk Pie. I was painfully aware of this because I was baking my heart out at a local restaurant and despite all my efforts, I could never touch this pie’s popularity. I did finally taste one, and IMHO, it was sweet and lacking in any real chocolate flavor, but the texture was certainly worthy of the name. Out of spite (I was young and sillier then), I never served a French Silk Pie in any restaurant I worked at and honestly, this is the VERY first one I have ever baked. It comes from the beautiful new baking book, Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland
, by Shauna Sever. Not only did Shauna change my heart about this pie, but has taught me so much about the culture of baking in my own backyard. This pie is everything people loved about the one from Bakers’ Square, but is all about the deep chocolate flavor. Be sure to use a high quality, bitter chocolate (70-75% cacao) or the pie can get very sweet, FAST! In her book the pie is topped with a homemade Cool Whip, which is 100% in keeping with the traditional pie. I left the cream unstabilized and unsweetened, because I like the contrast of the sweet filling to the clean, rich cream on top, you choose which way to go, I offer both ways below. This recipe uses raw eggs, which doesn’t bother Shauna or me in the least, but if you are at all worried about eating raw egg, then buy pasteurized ones.
Do you have pie questions or need to troubleshoot your recipe? Check out my guide onhow to make pie crust.
To make the chocolate shavings, scrape a bar with a sharp knife. This Knife by Shun Cutlery
is magically sharp, which isn’t something I can say about most of my knives.
After an hour in the refrigerator the pie was ready to slice and serve.
Thank you Shauna for the beautiful book!
French Silk Pie
This pie from Shauna Sever's book, Midwest Made, is all about the deep chocolate flavor. Be sure to use a high quality, bitter chocolate (70-75% cacao) or the pie can get very sweet, FAST! In her book the pie is topped with a homemade Cool Whip, which is 100% in keeping with the traditional pie. I left the cream unstabilized and unsweetened, because I like the contrast of the sweet filling to the clean, rich cream on top, you choose which way to go.
5 from 1 vote
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Course: Dessert
Author: from Shauna Sever’s Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 single layer pie dough (see note) RECIPE HERE
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, cool room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 3/4 oz (107g) bittersweet chocolate (70-75% cacao) Semisweet chocolate will be way too sweet!
- 3 large eggs COLD! – these are raw, so used pasteurized if this makes you nervous
Topping
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- Chocolate Shavings for sprinkling over the top
Instructions
Prepare the dough and blind bake the crust in a 9-inch, shallow pie dish.
Filling
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the melted chocolate and beat until blended. Add the cold eggs, one at a time and beat for about 5 MINUTES AFTER EACH EGG.
Spoon the filling into the prepared blind baked pie shell.
Whip the cream on medium speed, just to soft peaks. If you over whip the cream, it will not pipe smoothly. Whipping it slow and low, will create a cream that will hold up for hours, if not days.
Cover with whipped cream. You can pile it on in a cloud or pipe it in ruffles, as I did with a large rose tip (Ateco 180 – Large Flower Petal Decorating Tip).
Chill the pie for at least an hour and serve. The filling will tighten up as it chills, so the texture is just about perfect for the first several hours and then it becomes denser and loses a bit of the silkiness, but is still delicious.
To make the chocolate shavings, scrape a bar (I use the large chocolate bars at Trader Joe's) with a sharp knife.
Notes
Prepare the dough and blind bake the crust in a 9-inch, shallow pie dish. Learn more about pie dough in my guide to pie crust.
If you prefer, here is Shauna’s Homemade Cool Whip!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
