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    Easy Chocolate Cream Pie

    Chocolate, pudding, and pie—the best of all possible worlds! Make the pie filling in the microwave and pour into a pre-baked crust. This make-ahead chocolate pie sets up in a few hours in the fridge, just in time for dessert.

    Photography Credit: Sally Vargas

    What is better than chocolate pudding? Chocolate pudding pie, of course!
    Don’t get me wrong, I love cake, but at the end of the day, the pies have it. Give me some fruit in a crust and you will be my BFF. But sometimes you just need chocolate.
    Video! How to Make Chocolate Pie

    This chocolate cream pie comes together quickly. The filling for this chocolate cream pie is dead easy to make—it’s actually a modified version of our Microwave Chocolate Pudding! It is easy to make the whole pie in the one day without feeling stressed.
    What Kind of Crust for Chocolate Pudding Pie
    Pick a crust—any crust!
    You could make this perfect pie crust or this graham cracker crust. If you want a chocolate crust, simply substitute chocolate wafers for the graham crackers.
    Or if you really need a pie in a hurry, here are a few store-bought crusts that Elise recommends.

    Easy Microwave Chocolate Pie Filling
    Once you have the crust, it’s onto the filling. Do you have 10 minutes? Because that’s all the time you will need to make it in the microwave.
    The only caveat here is to be sure the filling bubbles in the center at the end of cooking to be certain that the cornstarch cooks. Now pour that chocolate goodness into the cooled crust of your choice and wait.
    And wait.
    It feels like forever, but you can get on with your day knowing that by dessert time, you will have a deep, dark chocolate pie in the fridge. No one can argue with that.
    How to Store Chocolate Pudding Pie
    Chocolate cream pie will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, loosely covered. This pie will not freeze well, as the filling tends to weep or separate.
    Other Cream Pies to Try!

    Updated October 20, 2020 : We spiffed up this post to make it sparkle! No changes to the original recipe.

    Easy Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe

    A pie crust should be prepared and baked prior to making this recipe.

    Ingredients
    For the pie:
    1/2 cup sugar
    1/3 cup cornstarch
    2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
    1/8 teaspoon salt
    3 cups whole milk
    3 large egg yolks
    4 ounces (about 3/4 cup) 60 to 70% chocolate baking chips, wafers, or chopped chocolate
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 (9-inch) pie crust, prepared and baked, such as Perfect Pie Crust
    For the whipped cream:
    1 cup heavy whipping cream
    1 tablespoon sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    Chopped chocolate (for garnish)

    Method

    1 Make the pudding base: In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup of the milk and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the egg yolks. Gradually stir in the remaining milk.
     
    2 Microwave the pudding: Partially cover the bowl with plastic wrap, a paper towel, or a plate set slightly askew (so steam can escape). Microwave for 3 minutes. Remove from the microwave, take off the plastic, and whisk the pudding to distribute the heat.
    Partially cover again and microwave 2 more minutes. Remove and whisk again. The pudding have started thickening.
    Continue to microwave in 45-second increments, stirring the pudding between each increment. The pudding is ready when you see the mixture bubbling around the edges and it has thickened enough for the whisk to leave a light trail, or ribbon, through the pudding (it’s ok if it seems a little loose at this point; the pudding will thicken further as it cools). Total cooking time will be 6 to 8 minutes.
     
    3 Add the chocolate, butter and vanilla: Add the chocolate, butter and vanilla to the bowl and stir with a whisk until the chocolate and butter melt and the mixture is smooth.

    4 Fill the pie: Pour the filling into the pie crust. Let cool for 1 hour at room temperature. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill, uncovered, for at least 4 hours or until set. When fully set, the pudding will no longer jiggle when you nudge the pie and a paring knife inserted into the pie should emerge with just a little chocolate on it (not totally gooey).

    5 When ready to serve, make the whipped cream: In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir the cream, sugar, and vanilla together. Beat on medium-high speed until the cream forms soft peaks. Spread the cream over the pie and sprinkle the top with chopped chocolate.
    6 Serve: This pie is best served on the same day that it’s made, or the crust has a tendency to become soggy.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!

    This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy. LEGGI TUTTO

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    Double Chocolate Cupcakes

    Meet your new go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. These cupcakes have it all — moist, rich cake, thick fudgy frosting, even sprinkles on top. They’re perfect for birthdays, baby showers, holiday gatherings, and everything in between.

    Photography Credit: Cindy Rahe

    Chocolate cupcakes were one of the first recipes I became obsessed with perfecting.
    To me, the ideal chocolate cupcake is moist with a deep chocolate flavor. The recipe also should produce exactly one dozen cupcakes in a standard muffin tin, no more and no less.

    The Secret to Moist, Rich Cupcakes
    I worked hard, trying a half dozen different versions. My original recipe called for sour cream in the batter, which produced a rich and slightly denser cupcake. But one day, I tried substituting buttermilk and it has now become my go-to.
    These cupcakes are just rich enough. They’re nicely moist and a little lighter in texture than my sour cream version, yet sturdy enough to hold a generous crown of whatever frosting you choose.
    The Best Chocolate Frosting for Cupcakes
    I’ve opted to top these cupcakes with a fudgy, dark chocolate frosting. It’s a little thicker than classic buttercream thanks to lots of melted chocolate, but it has a deeper chocolate flavor.
    To gild the lily, I like to finish the cupcakes with a shower of chocolate sprinkles on top—my favorite are Dutch dark chocolate sprinkles, like Deruyter brand. They actually taste like chocolate instead of wax! I find them at World Market, online, or even in the international aisle of some grocery stores.

    From the editors of Simply Recipes

    How Far Ahead Can You Make These Cupcakes?
    Frosted Cupcakes: You can store the frosted cupcakes at room temperature for a few days. If your kitchen is warmer than 70°F, or your cupcakes have been out for a while, refrigerate them.
    Unfrosted Cupcakes: Store the unfrosted cupcakes for in an airtight container at room temperature. Frost within 2 days.
    To freeze baked cupcakes without frosting, wrap them individually in plastic and seal in a plastic bag or tub. For the best favor, use within a month.
     Frosting: On its own, the chocolate frosting will keep refrigerated for up to a week, and frozen for up to 2 months. Give the frosting time to come to temperature before frosting the cupcakes.
    Swaps & Substitutions
    Do not swap the Dutch processed cocoa powder for any other cocoa powder. Dutch processed is important for both flavor and for the recipe to work properly.
    If you don’t have buttermilk, swap in some yogurt or sour cream thinned with a little milk. You can also make a DIY buttermilk substitute by combining a cup of milk with a tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar.
    Try another frosting! Regular vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting would be great.
    Love Chocolate Cake? Try These Recipes!

    Updated October 5, 2020 : We spiffed up this post to make it sparkle! No changes to the original recipe.

    Double Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

    Ingredients
    For the cupcakes:
    1 cup (4 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
    1/2 cup (2 oz) Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
    1 cup (4 oz) sugar
    3/4 cup buttermilk
    1/2 cup canola oil
    2 large eggs
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    For the frosting:
    8 ounces dark chocolate
    1 tablespoon corn syrup
    1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
    1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
    2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
    4 to 6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
    Pinch of kosher salt
    Chocolate sprinkles

    Method

    1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
    2 Make the cake batter: In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sifted cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together. In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just smooth and combined.

    3 Bake the cupcakes: Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups (each cup will be nearly full). Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
    Remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack before frosting.

    4 Melt the chocolate for the frosting: Place the chocolate for the frosting in a glass measuring cup and melt in the microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until completely smooth. Stir in the corn syrup.
    Set aside to cool to room temperature (I usually pour it into a wide, shallow bowl to speed up cooling).

    5 Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Beat until combined; it may be crumbly, but that’s okay. Beat in 4 tablespoons of the heavy cream and the salt and continue beating until the mixture smooths out.
    Beat in the room temperature chocolate and corn syrup into the mixture until smooth and incorporated. If needed, beat in additional powdered sugar and/or heavy cream to get a smooth and spreadable consistency that you like.
    Spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes using an offset spatula or butter knife, or transfer to a piping bag and pipe. Top with sprinkles if you want.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!

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    Cindy Rahe
    Cindy Rahe is the recipe maker and picture taker behind Hungry Girl por Vida. She loves to bake from scratch and make things that taste as good as they look. Cindy was born near Seoul but grew up in California and Nevada. She believes strongly in homemade birthday cakes, creamy coffee, and making room for dessert.
    More from Cindy LEGGI TUTTO

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    Easy Fantasy Fudge

    Method

    1 Prep baking pan and assemble ingredients: Prepare everything in advance and have ready to go — chopped chocolate, chopped nuts, the marshmallow cream already out of the jar and in a bowl that you can easily scrape out with a rubber spatula.
    Line a 9×13 baking pan with foil, butter the inside.
    2 Boil sugar, butter, and milk for 4 minutes: In a 3-quart, thick-bottomed saucepan, bring sugar, butter, and milk to a rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly once the mixture begins to bubble.
    Once the mixture reaches a boil, set your timer to 4 minutes. You will want to remove the mixture from the heat once it reaches 234°F on a candy thermometer (adjust for altitude as needed) which should take about 4 minutes. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, just go with the four minutes.

    3 Finish the fudge: Remove from heat. Quickly stir in chocolate and marshmallow creme.
    Once the chocolate and marshmallow creme have melted and are well mixed, stir in the vanilla and then the walnuts.

    5 Pour into prepared pan.

    6 Cool to room temperature before slicing (about 4 hours). You may want to chill in the refrigerator to get it more firm.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you! LEGGI TUTTO

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    Classic Chocolate Mousse

    Classic chocolate mousse makes any dinner feel a little more fancy. It’s great for a dinner party because it looks so pretty, everyone gets their own serving, and you can make it ahead.

    Photography Credit: Sally Vargas

    This Chocolate Mousse is thick, rich, creamy, and a perfect dessert for entertaining! Not only is it pretty, everyone gets their own serving, and you can make it a day ahead of time.
    I found this recipe years ago in the Bouchon cookbook by famed chef Thomas Keller. It is somewhat of a “chef-y” recipe with melting chocolate over a double boiler, whipping egg whites, and whipped cream.
    But if you follow the tips I outline below, you should have success with the recipe and a beautiful, luscious chocolate mousse dessert!

    Best Chocolate for Chocolate Mousse
    If you want a truly chocolate-y chocolate mousse, use a bittersweet dark chocolate, anywhere from 62% to 70% cocoa.
    For this chocolate mousse I’m using the darkest chocolate I could find (Trader Joe’s has some Belgian 70% cocoa 1 pound bricks).
    If you are going to serve the mousse straight–with no added cream or fruit–and you love the taste of barely sweet dark chocolate, your mousse will be perfect with the 70%.
    If you layer in fruit (raspberries complement the chocolate quite well) and or more whipped cream, you’ll want either to add sugar or use 62% bittersweet chocolate.

    Tips for chocolate mousse success
    Chocolate mousse can be a little bit tricky! Here are some tips to help you be successful with this recipe:
    Gently melt chocolate: Melt chocolate over barely simmering water in a double boiler. You can set up a double boiler by placing a metal bowl over a saucepan with barely simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water.) If you don’t use a double boiler, the chocolate can break or separate.
    Cool chocolate until barely warm: Once you’ve melted the chocolate with the butter and espresso, you’ll want to cool it until it is barely warm when you dab some on your lower lip. That will be the right temperature for adding the egg yolks. Too warm and the eggs will cook. Too cool and the chocolate will seize up when you add the other ingredients.
    Separate eggs when cold, but whip at room temp: Eggs separate easiest when they are right out of the fridge. But egg whites will whip more easily when they are room temp. So separate the eggs first, and then let them sit at room temp for several minutes.
    Clean equipment for whipping egg whites: Egg whites will refuse to whip properly if there is any residual fat in the bowl or bowl beaters you are using, or if there are any bits of egg yolk that made their way into the whites. So make sure you are using very clean equipment, and you have picked out any bits of egg yolk that may be in the whites.
    Fold, don’t stir, egg whites and whipped cream: Gently fold egg whites and whipped cream into your chocolate mousse and your mousse will be fluffy.
    A Note About Raw Egg Whites
    This classic chocolate mousse recipe uses raw egg whites and raw egg yolks. For most people this is not an issue, but people with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, very young or old people, should avoid raw eggs due to the risk of salmonella. You can buy pasteurized eggs at the store if you feel uncomfortable using raw eggs in this recipe.
    You might also try this recipe for Vegan Chocolate Pudding.

    From the editors of Simply Recipes

    The Best Dishes for Chocolate Mousse
    Mousse can be chilled and served in any individual-sized cup, tumbler, or ramekin. Even small canning jars or tea cups work!
    A Make-Ahead Dessert
    Chocolate mousse is best if chilled at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours before serving. This makes it the perfect make-ahead dessert!
    How to Serve Chocolate Mousse
    While chocolate mousse is just fine all on its own, you can fancy it up by adding a dollop of whipped cream to each dish before serving. You can also layer the mousse with raspberries and whipped cream; if you do this, serve it in glasses so you can see the pretty layers when you serve.
    More Decadent Chocolate Desserts

    Classic Chocolate Mousse Recipe

    This recipe uses raw eggs. If you are concerned about salmonella risks, you can use pasteurized eggs. 
    Recipe adapted from Bouchon

    Ingredients
    1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
    4 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
    2 tablespoon (1 ounce) unsalted butter, cubed
    2 tablespoons brewed espresso or very strong coffee (I used decaf espresso from a local Starbucks)
    3 large eggs, separated
    1 tablespoon sugar
    Raspberries and extra whipped cream, optional to serve

    Method

    1 Whip the cream: Whip the heavy whipping cream to soft peaks, then chill.

    2 Melt the chocolate: Put the chocolate, cubed butter, and espresso in the top of a double boiler over hot, steamy water (not simmering), stirring frequently until smooth.
    Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and let it cool until the chocolate is just warm to the touch. Don’t let the chocolate get tool cool or the mixture will seize when the other ingredients are added.

    3 Whip the egg whites: Once you’ve taken the chocolate mixture off the heat and it has started to cool, whip the egg whites until they are foamy and beginning to hold a shape. Sprinkle in the sugar and whip until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

    4 Add egg yolks to chocolate: When the chocolate has cooled until it is just warm to the touch, stir in the egg yolks.
    5 Add whipped cream and egg whites: Gently stir in about one-third of the whipped cream to thin and loosen the chocolate mixture. Then fold in half the egg whites. Fold in the remaining egg whites. Fold in the remaining whipped cream.

    6 Spoon into serving dishes, chill: Spoon or pipe the mousse into a serving dishes. If you wish, layer in fresh raspberries and whipped cream. Chill in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!

    This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

    Elise Bauer
    Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family’s recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
    More from Elise LEGGI TUTTO