Warning: Once you’ve made this old fashioned chocolate pie recipe from scratch, there’ll be no going back to store-bought or instant pie fillings! Sometimes you’ll make it just for yourself! It’s velvety, smooth, and decadently delicious.

This old fashioned chocolate pie recipe is part of my heritage

This is another recipe from my great-grandmother, Ma Horton. My Aunt Helen gave me the recipe and taught me to make it when I was a young mother. Let’s just say that was eons ago!

When we first met, my husband said he didn’t like chocolate pies. I persuaded him to try this old fashion chocolate pie recipe and today he still says of all the chocolate pie recipes,  he will only eat this one.

I can remember family reunions and dinners on the ground when everybody wanted a piece of this pie. For those who aren’t familiar with the term “dinner on the ground,” it’s what we used to call the lunch shared at the celebration of a church’s anniversary, called a homecoming. 

We took quilts to spread on the ground, sometimes a few of the older grownups would have a folding chair and ate “dinner on the ground”. Each family brought enough food for itself plus extra for others.

All the food was placed on boards laid out between trees, sawhorses, and an occasional table, and you went around fixing your plate with whatever you wanted.

You better get your dessert on the first go-around, or it would be gone. Especially Ma Horton’s Chocolate Pie made with rich chocolate in a golden brown homemade pie crust.

Some people called it the “French silk pie of heaven.” I knew it as Ma Horton’s old-fashioned chocolate meringue pie that I loved to eat.

When my great-grandmother was no longer able to cook for these kinds of functions, my grandmother and my Aunt Helen took up the mantle. My Aunt Helen earned the title, “Queen of Chocolate Pie.”

It’s no wonder this velvety old-fashioned chocolate pie made from scratch is one of my family’s most requested for birthdays, holidays, and anytime we need comfort food. Your family will love it too!

FAQ About my Chocolate Pie Recipe

1. WHY DON’T MY GRANDMOTHER’S RECIPES TASTE THE SAME WHEN I FOLLOW HER RECIPE EXACTLY?

You must remember, that the ingredients most of our grandmothers used were different than they are today. It took me a long time to figure out this problem with my great-grandmother’s and Granny’s recipes.

Their flour was often home-ground or fresh from the local mill. There were no GMOs, pesticides, or herbicides in the food chain like there are today.

They used fresh raw ingredients, yard eggs fresh from their hens, salt that was unrefined (real salt), and unpasteurized raw whole A2A2 milk.

I have found that by using organic, non-Gmo ingredients, you can get pretty close to the way theirs was.

I know not everyone can have yard eggs or raw milk in the fridge. You will have to do the best you can with what you have access to. You’ll still get a delicious pie that will be one of your family’s favorite dessert recipes.

2. SHOULD CHOCOLATE PIE BE REFRIGERATED?

Let your pie cool on the counter at room temperature until the pan is no longer hot. If you put a hot pie plate in the fridge, it may crack, and you’ll lose the pie.

Also, putting a hot pie in the fridge will cause excess condensation to form on the top and bottom of the pie causing a soggy bottom.

Once the pie plate is no longer hot to the touch, you can refrigerate it. You should refrigerate any leftovers if there is such a thing!

3. WHY DOES MY CHOCOLATE PIE GET WATERY?

If your pie is topped with a meringue, this is probably the issue. To avoid a weeping meringue, try these tips:

Don’t overbake the meringue. When you overbake a meringue, the egg whites shrink, squeezing small moisture droplets from them.

Check the meringue at the minimum baking time. If it’s not done to your liking, check it every 30 seconds because it will quickly overbake or burn.

Make sure the sugar in your egg whites is completely dissolved when mixing. Mix the sugar and egg whites at low speed until the mixture has lost its graininess. Then you can turn up the mixer too high and whip up those peaks of perfection. I suggest using caster sugar or superfine granular sugar.

Prepare the meringue before you start the pie crust and pie filling. This ensures it has had plenty of time to chill. When you add it to the hot pie filling, it will spread easier and be less likely to shrink when you cook it.

When you spread the meringue on your pie filling, make sure you take it all the way to the edge and seal it there by spreading it onto the crust where they touch.

4. DO YOU MAKE CHOCOLATE PIE FILLING FROM SCRATCH WITH COCOA POWDER?

I personally use cacao powder instead of cocoa powder. You can use them interchangeably so use the one you want to. They both come from the cacao bean.

The difference between Cacao and Cocoa is in their processing.

Cacao is made from fermented cacao beans processed at low temperatures, so it retains most of the beneficial nutrients, enzymes, and minerals found in the raw bean. It’s slightly more bitter than cocoa. Cocoa is made from fermented cacao processed at high temperatures, so it loses pretty much all the nutrient values. Most cocoa is sold with sugar added to it to avoid the bitter taste so check the label to avoid excess sugar.

Ma Horton’s Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pie Recipe

Prepare and bake the pie crust and set it out to cool.

Once you begin cooking the filling, you cannot leave the stove for any reason. It will scorch and pop bubbles that will scald you if you leave it.

Ingredients For Pie Filling:

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt – I use real salt
• 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder or cacao powder
• 3 eggs
• 10 ounces heavy whipping cream
• 6 ounces milk – I use grass fed A2A2 whole milk
• 4 ounces of water
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2-3 teaspoons vanilla extract flavoring to taste

For Fluffy Meringue:

• Egg whites (separated from yolks used in the pie filling)
• 5 Tbs fine grain sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

For Whipped Cream Topping: Yields 2 1/3 cup whipped topping

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 Tbs fine grain sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

1.Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Separate three eggs and put the egg yolks in a medium saucepan. If you want to make meringue for your pie instead of whipped cream, put the egg whites in the mixing bowl you’ll use to make your meringue and refrigerate them. (I make my meringue first and refrigerate it while I’m preparing the filling.)

3. Whisk the egg yolks together in the saucepan, then add the liquid ingredients to the saucepan.

4. Whisk these ingredients together well. 

5. Cook over medium-high heat on the stovetop while using a long-handled wooden spoon to stir constantly until begins to boil.

6. Once the mixture reaches a low boil, add the dry ingredients to the pot. I whisk them to mix well and then go back to stirring with the wooden spoon.

7. Add the butter and continue to stir continuously.

8. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat until desired thickness is reached. It needs to be thick like pudding.

9. When the filling is thickened, remove from heat and add 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla (I use 3 because we like vanilla)

10. Pour the filling into your prepared pie crust.

11. Let cool on the counter until the pie plate is not hot to the touch. Cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on top of the pie while cooling. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

If you want a meringue, add it to your pie before you refrigerate.

To make the meringue recipe:

Whip the egg whites in a large bowl on high speed of an electric mixer using your whisk attachment until fluffy. Reduce speed to low and slowly add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until all 3 Tablespoons are added.

Beat on low until the sugar is fully incorporated into the eggs (the graininess will be gone). Return mixer to highest speed and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Spread the meringue over the freshly cooked pie and brown under your broiler. Remember to watch it carefully, the meringue will brown and burn before you know it.

My family prefers homemade whipped cream on their pie.

To make sweetened whipped cream, all you need is heavy whipping cream, vanilla flavoring, and sugar.

Yields 2 1/3 cups whipped cream:

Put 1 cup of heavy whipping cream into a chilled bowl. Using the whisk attachment on your mixer, whip at the highest speed of your electric mixer until the cream begins to stiffen.

Gradually add 3 Tablespoons sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Store in refrigerator until ready to use. I put mine in a glass jar or bowl with a tight-fitting lid.

You can make the whipped cream any flavor you like. For this old fashioned chocolate pie recipe, we like vanilla flavoring. To flavor, after you’ve added the sugar, add 1 teaspoon of flavoring to heavy whipping cream, and beat as directed above.

Notes for homemade chocolate pie recipe:

If you don’t have the time to make the flour crust you can make a graham cracker crust in your pie pan or use a grocery store-bought prepared crust to pour in the hot filling to make your own old-fashioned chocolate cream pie.

I can’t wait to hear how you like the pie. This old fashioned chocolate pie recipe is one of my favorite things to make. Will you make meringue or whipped cream? Do you have a family secret for meringue or whipped cream?

As always, I’m here to help.