French Silk Pie is a luxuriously smooth chocolate cream pie topped with whipped cream in a flaky crust. The silky, whipped filling melts in your mouth, offering an indulgent, rich dessert experience that chocolate lovers adore!
French Silk Pie
French Silk Pie is my number one favorite pie of all time. It's more than just a dessert—it’s an experience. It has smooth, luxurious chocolate filling contrasted with a flaky, butter crust topped with fluffy homemade whipped cream, that has a light, silky texture in every decadent bite.
Whether it’s a festive holiday treat or an everyday indulgence, French Silk Pie fits every occasion.
What Is French Silk Pie?
Despite its name, French Silk Pie is more an American dessert than a traditional French pastry. Its smooth, silky filling and luxurious flavor have made it a favorite in kitchens across the United States. The pie features a luscious chocolate mousse filling, to create a deeply satisfying flavor profile that pairs wonderfully with its buttery crust and fluffy whipped cream topping.
The Three Essential Components of French Silk Pie
The ingredients for French silk pie are very simple! With such few ingredients, it's important to use high quality ones for best results. Here are tips for each element to make the best French Silk Pie of your life:
- The Crust: The literal base of this recipe is the crust. In my opinion, the crust makes or breaks a pie. This pie crust recipe is so easy and results in a perfect, buttery, flaky pie crust every time. You will fully bake this crust, and allow it to cool before adding the filling. Head to the full recipe for tutorials about prep, rolling out, and finishing. If you want your pie crust to be perfectly symmetrical, instead of a little lopsidedly charactered, like mine in these particular photos, I recommend using pie crust weights to bake, like these ceramic ones. Alternately, you can use an Oreo crust for a no-bake version of this pie.
- The Filling: The filling is the heart of the French Silk Pie. Its luscious, velvety texture and intense chocolate flavor deliver a decadent experience with every bite. The mousse is enriched with the deep flavors of premium chocolate, and a hint of vanilla, making it irresistibly smooth and indulgent. Use a candy thermometer to get the mixture to the right temperature to melt but not burn the chocolate. Be sure to use a high quality semi-sweet chocolate. Good quality chocolate will make a huge difference!
- The Whipped Cream: The fluffy vanilla whipped cream topping not only enhances the visual appeal of the pie with its light, fluffy texture but also adds an extra layer of light creaminess that complements the rich chocolate filling. It creates a delightful contrast and brings a subtle sweetness that rounds out the dessert. You can learn how to stabilize whipped cream here, and get more tips from my homemade whipped cream recipe here.
More Decadent Pie Recipes You'll Love
- Mississippi Mud Pie - Decadent, fudgy layers of chocolate brownie and chocolate custard on a crunchy cookie crust.
- S'mores Pie - A delightful twist on the classic s'mores, featuring a graham cracker crust, chocolate filling, and a toasted marshmallow topping. Sweet and gooey.
- Butterfinger Pie - Decadent no-bake dessert with a rich chocolate crust, creamy peanut butter filling, and crunchy Butterfinger pieces. Sweet, indulgent, and totally irresistible
- No Bake S'mores Cheesecake - A dreamy dessert with a graham cracker crust, creamy cheesecake, rich chocolate, and toasted marshmallows for pure bliss
- Kentucky Derby Pie - decadent chocolate and walnut pie with a gooey, cookie-like filling and flaky crust. Sweet and nutty, it's a Southern classic that's simply irresistible!
French Silk Pie Video
French Silk Pie
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust baked and cooled
Chocolate Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 bars (4 ounces each) semi-sweet baking chocolate finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup heavy cream
Whipped Cream Topping
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Chocolate curls or mini chocolate chips for garnish
Instructions
- Follow directions for making and baking pie crust here. Then set aside to allow to cool completely.
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the granulated sugar and eggs. Set over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 160°F and coats the back of a metal spoon.
- Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Cool to just warm, stirring occasionally.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, and beat until creamy.
- Gradually add in the cooled chocolate mixture then beat on high speed for 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes.
- Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture gently, until just combined.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust, smoothing evenly. The pie will be tall with filling. Chill for 6 hours. At this point, the pie can be stored for up to 2 days ahead of time.
- To a large mixing bowl, add whipped cream topping ingredients. Whip on high until stiff peaks form.
- Top pie with whipped cream and garnish with chocolate curls or chips.
Nutrition
UPDATE INFO: This recipe was originally published in February 2015. It was updated with new pictures, tips, and video and republished in March 2025.
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Diane Ugo says
Yum Yum, I can taste it now. Diane @ Mrs U Makes.
Katherines Corner says
Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. I featured this yummy pie on facebook and google. Pinned to just desserts. xo
Kathryn says
Oh my goodness! This looks soooo goood! We can all indulge sometimes and this is definitely going to be added to my list of things to try! I saw you on The Shabby Next Frugal Friday.
Kathryn
nimblenote.blogspot.com
Tina Marie says
Oh My Gosh! This looks delicious! Congrats on being featured on Classic Dessert Recipes for GTTuesday!
Carmen says
Comment: As I was browsing your site - looking for a good pie crust recipe, I noticed the recipe for French Silk Pie, which I love but have never made. I was surprised to learn that other than the crust, the pie is not cooked? I would never have guessed that this pie that I love so much has raw eggs! Did I read that right? Thanks
Michelle says
Yes, that's correct! Using the freshest eggs possible and keeping the pie refrigerated will help avoid contamination.
Susanne says
Absolutely perfect!!!!! This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE pie. Ive always wanted to make one, but too intimidated by the raw eggs. Finally, I made this one & it was to die for. I used powdered sugar instead of granulated. It tasted just like the one at the restaurant. So pleased! Thank you
Michelle says
I'm so glad you loved it! It's my favorite too 🙂
Jennie says
This recipe sucks! Tried twice still gritty.
Michelle says
That always means you didn't beat it long enough. You have to beat it much much longer than your average cake or cookie batter. Close to 10 minutes on high, at least.
Klim2 says
Who goes to the trouble to make a French silk pie from scratch and puts canned whipped cream or cool whip of all things instead of making fresh whipped cream………
Michelle says
Someone who doesn't know how to stabilize whipped cream yet... We're all in different places in our baking and learning journey. The recipe ingredients also links to a homemade whipped cream recipe/instructions.
Candice Jones says
I braved this recipe and so glad I did. It turned out beyond my wildest dream. The family LOVED it and said it tasted like a pro chef from a 5 star restaurant made it. I did not put the stabilized Whip cream on top. It was perfect without. Thank you for all your successful recipes.
I also made the White Chocolate silk and served with raspberry thick sauce from my frozen raspberries from the garden. Out of this world! I forgot to take a picture...it was the most beautiful pie I have ever made in my 30 plus years of baking.
Candescence,
Candice