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This Mini French Silk Pie has a silky, from-scratch chocolate filling and a crisp Oreo cookie crust, topped with soft whipped cream. It’s made for one or two, and the egg is cooked first, so there are no raw eggs.
Quick Look
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Cool/Rest Time: 30 minutes
- Chill Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Equipment: 5×5-inch baking dish, mini food processor, electric hand mixer
- Cook Method: Oven and stovetop
- Servings: 1 to 2
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Flavor Profile: Rich and deeply chocolate, sweet, and silky, with a crisp cookie crust.
This small French silk pie takes just 7 everyday ingredients, the simple, from-scratch way to make real French silk pie for one or two.
Why You’ll Love This Homemade French Silk Pie
This is the best French silk pie I’ve tasted, and it’s also one of the easier chocolate desserts I make. The filling is rich, smooth, and deeply chocolatey, with a crisp chocolate cookie crust with soft whipped cream on top. It looks like something you’d find at a bakery, but it’s made in a 5-inch dish and is just the right size for one or two people.
The crust is one of the easiest parts of this pie. There’s no pie dough to roll, chill, or crimp. Just crush chocolate sandwich cookies, press the crumbs into the dish, and bake for 10 minutes. A graham cracker or shortbread crust works just as well.
The one step I won’t skip is cooking the egg. Classic French silk pie is often made with raw eggs, so I gently heat the egg and sugar over simmering water until the mixture reaches 160°F. It only takes a few minutes and gives you that same silky filling without using raw eggs.
For more single serving chocolate desserts, try my small batch chocolate mousse or chocolate pot de crème for one. To stay in the mini pie family, make a mini cherry pie or mini pecan pie.
French Silk Pie Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this small French Silk Pie recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder.
Chocolate sandwich cookies: These make the Oreo crust for this French silk pie. Crush the cookies whole, the cream filling helps the crumbs hold together so you need only a little butter to bind them. Regular Oreos are what I use. Use extra cookies in small batch Oreo balls or a single Oreo brownie
Semi-sweet baking chocolate: This carries the flavor of the whole pie, so use a bar you’d eat on its own. Chop 2 ounces; it melts smooth and balances the sugar. Skip chocolate chips, which are made to hold their shape and won’t melt as cleanly. Bittersweet or unsweetened both work for a darker, less sweet filling.
Egg: One egg adds richness and a custard-like base to the filling. It’s cooked with the sugar over simmering water first, so you can make classic French silk pie without raw eggs.
Granulated sugar: Sugar sweetens the filling and dissolves into the warm egg, smoothing out any graininess before the chocolate goes in.
Butter: Use butter in two places: a tablespoon binds the crust, and 2 tablespoons of butter enrich the filling and help it firm up as the pie chills.
Vanilla extract: A little vanilla rounds out the chocolate.
Heavy cream: Heavy cream, sometimes labeled heavy whipping cream, works in two places. Folded into the chocolate, it lightens the filling to a mousse-like texture. Whipped with a little sugar, it becomes the topping. Use leftover cream in vanilla pudding for one.
Recipe Variations
A few simple swaps let you change the crust, make this mini French silk pie recipe gluten-free, or scale it up for more people.
Try a Different Crust
Although I use an Oreo crust, other crusts work just as well. For a French silk pie with graham cracker crust use our mini graham cracker crust. You can also use a mini shortbread crust for a buttery base, or a traditional mini pie crust for the classic pastry version.
Gluten-Free French Silk Pie
For a gluten-free French silk pie, swap in gluten-free chocolate sandwich cookies or gluten-free graham crackers for the crust. The filling and whipped cream topping are already gluten-free.
Make a Larger Pie
To serve more than two, double all of the ingredients and bake the crust in a 6×8-inch baking dish.
How To Make A Mini French Silk Pie
These photos show how the pie comes together. See the recipe card below for exact amounts and full instructions.
Make the Crust
- Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Crush 8 chocolate sandwich cookies into fine crumbs in a food processor, or seal them in a bag and crush with a rolling pin.
- Stir in the melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moistened.
- Press the crumbs firmly into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a buttered 5×5-inch baking dish, using the bottom of a measuring cup to pack them tight.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then let the crust cool.
Make the Filling
- Whisk the egg and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, keeping the bowl above the water. Whisk constantly until it reaches 160°F (71°C), then take it off the heat.
- Stir in the butter, chopped chocolate, and vanilla until melted and smooth. Let it cool for 30 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Beat the cream in a separate bowl until soft peaks form, then gently fold it into the cooled chocolate until no streaks remain.
- Spread the filling into the cooled crust, cover, and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight, until set.
Make the Whipped Cream Topping
- Beat the cream, sugar, and vanilla until medium peaks form, the tips should hold but bend slightly.
- Spread over the chilled pie and garnish with shaved chocolate if you like.
Expert Tips
Heat the egg to 160°F. Whisk the egg and sugar constantly over simmering water until an instant-read thermometer reads 160°F. This cooks the egg safely and keeps the filling smooth.
Cool the chocolate before you fold. Let the chocolate mixture cool for 30 minutes before folding in the cream. Warm chocolate melts the whipped cream and loosens the filling.
Fold gently and stop early. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate just until no streaks remain. Overmixing knocks out the air that keeps the filling light.
Chill at least 4 to 6 hours. The filling needs time to set, and an overnight chill gives the firmest texture and the deepest chocolate flavor.
Use good baking chocolate. The chocolate flavor comes through in every bite, so a high-quality semi-sweet or bittersweet bar makes the best filling. I use Baker’s or Ghirardelli. Chips have stabilizers that keep them from melting as smoothly.
Troubleshooting
If your French silk pie isn’t turning out quite right, here’s how to fix common issues.
Why is my French silk pie not setting?
It most likely needs more time in the fridge. The filling firms up as it chills, so give it a full 4 to 6 hours or overnight. If it’s still soft after that, the chocolate may have been too warm when you folded in the cream, which keeps the filling loose.
Why is my French silk pie filling grainy?
The chocolate probably seized or wasn’t fully melted. Stir the chopped chocolate into the warm egg mixture until it’s completely smooth before it cools, and use a baking bar rather than chips, which don’t melt as cleanly.
Why is my French silk pie dense instead of light?
The whipped cream was likely overmixed or folded in too hard. Whip the cream just to soft peaks and fold gently until the streaks disappear, so the air stays in and the filling stays light.
Frequently Asked Questions
No raw eggs are in this recipe. Traditional French silk pie uses raw eggs, but this version cooks the egg with the sugar over simmering water to 160°F, so the filling is safe to eat and still silky.
French silk pie is a chilled chocolate pie with a smooth, mousse-like filling in a cookie or pastry crust, topped with whipped cream.
French silk pie sets firm in a crust and is sliced, while chocolate mousse is lighter and usually served soft in a dish. The fillings are similar, but the pie holds its shape.
Up to 5 days. Keep it covered in the refrigerator.
Yes. The pie needs at least 4 to 6 hours to chill and can be made up to 2 days in advance, which makes it a good make-ahead dessert.
French silk pie gets its name from the silky texture of the chocolate filling. It was created by Betty Cooper for the 1951 Pillsbury Bake-Off.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
If you’ve made this mini French silk pie, please rate the recipe and leave a comment below to tell me how it turned out. And if you snap a photo, tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it!
Mini French Silk Pie
Equipment
- 5-inch baking dish or a 4×6-inch dish, 6×6-inch dish (this will yield a thinner crust and filling), or a 6-inch round dish
Ingredients
For the crust
- 8 Oreo cookies or other chocolate cream filled sandwich cookies
- 1 tablespoon butter – melted
For the filling
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter – at room temperature
- 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate – finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup heavy cream
For the topping
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the crust
- Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Blend 8 chocolate sandwich cookies in a food processor until fine, or crush them in a sealed bag with a rolling pin.
- Stir 1 tablespoon melted butter into the crumbs until evenly moistened.
- Lightly butter a 5-inch baking dish.
- Press the crumbs firmly into the bottom and slightly up the sides, packing them tight with the bottom of a measuring cup.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then let the crust cool completely.
Make the filling
- Whisk 1 egg and ¼ cup sugar together in a heatproof bowl.
- Set the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water, keeping the bottom above the water, and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160°F (71°C). Remove from the heat.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons butter, the chopped chocolate, and ½ teaspoon vanilla until melted and smooth.
- Let the chocolate mixture cool for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Beat ¼ cup heavy cream in a separate bowl until soft peaks form, when the peaks fold over gently as you lift the beaters.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate until no streaks remain.
- Spread the filling into the cooled crust.
- Cover and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight, until set.
Make the topping
- Beat ½ cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon sugar, and ⅛ teaspoon vanilla until medium peaks form, when the peaks hold their shape but bend slightly at the tips.
- Spread the whipped cream over the chilled pie.
- Garnish with shaved chocolate, if desired.
- Serve right away, or chill uncovered for a few hours before serving.
- Refrigerate any leftovers, covered, for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Why does the egg need to be cooked?
Cooking the egg using the double boiler method ensures it’s safe to eat while keeping that smooth, creamy texture we love in French silk pie. It’s an extra step for peace of mind and doesn’t affect the flavor.
Although it took a while to make and wait on, this french silk pie is delicious! I will gladly stand up against the scent of warm egg in a double-boiler to make this again down the road. I did make a few changes, including using semisweet chocolate chunks and cutting down on the whipped topping. Still amazing!
I’m excited to try this pie. I made the carrot cake
cupcakes and they were amazing.
Can I sub chocolate chips for bakers chocolate?
Yes.
Thank you for this. I didn’t have baker’s chocolate so I used cocoa powder with butter and sugar as a substitute. The fillings wasn’t as high as the picture but it was delicious all the same!
Great recipe.