With a flaky, buttery crust speckled with coffee grounds and a silky and smooth chocolate filling, this Mocha Cream Pie is a dessert that’s both light and luxurious. Topped with a heaping mound of whipped cream and dusted with cocoa powder, this pie is utterly delicious and hard to resist.
Another week and the stress is still continuing to build. As someone who tries to avoid the news most of the time, it’s incredible how much my paranoia has increased. That means that I’ve been leaning on baking (and running, as is evidenced by my now taped up ankle) a lot. We’ve had a focaccia-off in my family recently (which this recipe is great for, by the way, even if you want to change up the toppings or just dimple and season), I baked this super easy and delicious vegan chocolate cake courtesy of Benjamina Ebuehi, and I’ve of course been making pie. I haven’t only been turning to bread and sweets for comfort (there’s been plenty of coffee as well–3 cups before noon is normal, right?), but as a baker, that seems to be where my mind goes first.
The action of baking is relaxing, and we can use all the help relaxing as we can get these days. I’m just counting the little wins as they come: I haven’t left the house for even a grocery trip in a long time, I’ve continued to find time to read every day, and I’ve managed to keep up with my small writing goal of one page per day which means that my current writing project is slowly beginning to come along. And then, there is this pie. This pie is a huge win for me, and not just because my wonky crusts are beginning to look a bit better (I credit this to the magic of having actual time to chill them properly before baking).
This pie is absolutely delicious. It’s been sitting in my refrigerator for the last few days since I took the photos just calling out to me to have another slice. The crust is flaky, butter, and tender. Not to mention, it has coffee grounds incorporated into it. The coffee is found only in the crust here, but that’s really all you need. Plus, it plays off the chocolate filling nicely. I polled a few people when I was developing this recipe–I couldn’t decide if I wanted a chilled pie, or a baked custard pie. The overwhelming result was to go for a chilled, cream pie, and I have to say–they were right! The filling is silky and smooth. Topped with whipped cream, each bite seems to melt right into the next.
This pie is simple and delicious. And it was just the thing I needed this week to feel like I was back in a coffee shop catching up with a friend or settling in to get some reading or writing done. Stay home, stay safe, stay healthy, and we’ll all get through this together, one week and many bakes at a time.
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30-35 minutes |
| Passive Time | 2-24 hours |
| Servings |
slices
|
- 300 grams all purpose flour about 2 cups spooned and leveled
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp ground coffee
- 170 grams unsalted butter cold and cubed (1 1/2 sticks or 3/4 cup)
- 1 Tbsp vodka
- ice cold water as needed (2-3 Tbsp)
- 1 egg white whisked with 1 Tbsp water for egg white wash
- 1 coffee pie crust as above
- 473 mL whole milk (nonfat or 2% will also work) (1 pint)
- 60 grams granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
- 2 egg yolks large
- 1 egg large
- 40 grams corn starch
- 60 grams granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 75 grams dark or semi-sweet chocolate melted
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter cold
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 30 grams granulated sugar (2 Tbsp)
- cocoa powder for dusting
Ingredients
Coffee Pie Crust
Mocha Cream Pie
|
|
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 2 Tbsp granulated sugar, salt, and ground coffee. Using your finger tips, rub in the cold cubes of butter until you have mostly pea-sized chunks of butter covered in flour with a few larger chunks as well. Using a knife or your fingertips, stir in the vodka until large clumps begin to form. Add in the ice water 1/2 Tbsp at a time until you can form the dough into a ball. Use your fingertips to pinch together any dry bits into the dough, sprinkle with water if needed to bring all the dough together into a ball. Shape the dough into a flat disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Lightly flour your countertop or work surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle, about 12" x 4". Fold the top 1/3 of the dough to the center. Fold up the bottom 1/3 of dough to overlap with the top half. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding process. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat one more time. Wrap in plastic. Using a rolling pin, gently press down to flatten the dough and bring any remaining dry bits at the edges together. Allow the dough to chill and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- BLIND BAKE THE PIE CRUST: Preheat the oven to 425°F and place a large baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven to heat up. Lightly butter a 9" pie dish. Roll out the chilled dough until it's about 1/4"-1/2" thick and the circle of dough is larger than the pie dish so that you'll have at least 1 inch of overhang; trim as needed if there is more excess dough. Fold the 1 inch of overhang over itself and gently press to make the dough flush with the edge of the pie plate. Crimp as desired. Chill the dough-lined pie plate in the freezer until solid, at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, dock the bottom of the pie with a fork. Line the pastry with a piece of parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or dry rice to keep the pastry from falling down the sides of the dish and from puffing at the center. Place the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet and return to the bottom rack of the oven. Bake 20-24 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and take out the parchment paper with the weights. Brush the bottom and the sides of the crust with the egg white wash (1 egg white whisked with 1 Tbsp water) to help seal in any moisture. Return to the middle rack of the oven and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until the bottom and the edges of your pie are golden brown and fully baked through. Remove the pie crust and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- In a large saucepan, heat the milk and 60 grams of granulated sugar over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the milk just begins to boil.
- In a separate, large, bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and whole egg. Sift the cornstarch, 60 grams granulated sugar, and salt into the eggs and whisk until smooth and combined.
- Temper the eggs by adding the milk a little at a time, whisking after each addition until the milk is fully incorporated into the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan and continue to cook over medium heat whisking constantly.
- Add the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate to the filling while still warm and in the process of thickening. Continue to whisk until fully incorporated and the custard is thick and begins to gently boil. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter until it's fully melted and incorporated and the custard is glossy.
- Pour the custard directly into the cooled pie shell, smoothing it out with a rubber spatula until you have an even surface. Refrigerate until cooled completely, about 1-2 hours or overnight.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or in a stainless steel bowl using a hand mixer, whisk together the heavy whipping cream and 30 grams of sugar. Whisk on high speed until medium peaks form. You'll know it's ready when you need to bang the whisk on the side of the bowl to release any whipped cream that gets stuck inside.
- Using a rubber spatula, smooth the whipped cream over the top of the chocolate cream. Dust with cocoa powder, slice, and serve. Keep covered and chilled.