Famous Chocolate Cream Pie

This is a post written by my Mom after a recent trip she had. She made this while I was visiting them in Connecticut and it was amazing! Check it out:

On a recent weekend trip through Vermont, my husband and I happened upon a small, nondescript cafe in Hartland named Stella's. It didn't take long after entering to realize this was not your average small-town eaterie. It was clean, filled with locals, and the specials of the day were artfully described on the whiteboard. The deal-maker, though, was when a question about one of the menu items sent the waitress back to "ask the Chef." The chocolate cream pie on the menu was preceded with the moniker "Famous", so I had to try it to find out why. It certainly lived up to it's name! The crust provided a crisp and chocolatey base for a deep chocolate custard, topped with peaks of sweetened whipped cream, sprinkled with mini-chocolate chips and dusted with cocoa powder. Chef John would only disclose that the delicious crust included crushed vanilla wafers and cocoa powder. Here is my adaptation, which may or may not become as famous. . . . but is just as delicious.

Famous Chocolate Cream Pie

Crust:

45 Vanilla Wafers

1/4 C. cocoa powder
1/4 C. sugar

6 T. butter, melted

Crush vanilla wafers. Mix with cocoa, sugar and butter. Press in bottom of glass pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool.

Custard:

1 C. sugar

5 T. flour

3 T. cornstarch

1/2 C. cocoa powder

1/8 t. salt

2 C. half and half

1 C. milk

4 egg yolks

1 t. vanilla

1 T. butter

sweetened whipped cream

mini-chocolate chips

cocoa powder for dusting

Whisk together sugar, flour, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt in medium saucepan. Whisk in half and half and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl. Whisk in about one cup of hot liquid. Return to medium pot and cook till thickened. Stir in vanilla and butter. Place plastic wrap directly on top of custard and allow to cool. Pour into cooled crust. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top pie with sweetened whipped cream, sprinkle with mini-chocolate chips and dust with cocoa powder.