Chocolate Mocha Cream Pie

You just happened upon what is quite possibly the creamiest, dreamiest chocolate mocha cream pie out there. The homemade mocha pudding filling gets its lush texture from a whopping five organic egg yolks, and boasts a kick of coffee flavor via a couple teaspoons of espresso powder. The chocolate is the real star, though: two bars of organic, Fair Trade Theo Chocolate Pure Dark 70% offer the ideal balance of sweetness with a rich, complex cocoa flavor.

To make the cookie crust

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Use a food processor to pulse chocolate sandwich cookies into fine crumbs. Add in sugar and melted butter and pulse again. Pour crumbs into a 9" pie plate and use your hands to press crumbs onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Bake pie crust for 10 minutes, then set it aside to cool while you make the filling.

To make the pudding filling

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, bring together the milk and sugar over medium heat. Allow the mixture to simmer together until sugar dissolves and the mixture gets hot, about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, add in the egg yolks, cornstarch, and espresso powder. Stir this mixture well to fully combine.
3. Temper the egg yolk mixture by adding about 2 tablespoons of the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking together to combine. This process slowly introduces the egg yolks to the hot milk so as to not cook the eggs. Next, carefully pour the tempered egg yolk mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the hot milk mixture.
4. Stir the pudding together constantly until it begins to thicken and bubble on the surface, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Add in cubed butter and chopped chocolate, and continue stirring until everything has melted through and you see chocolate pudding begin to form. Remove the pudding from heat and add in vanilla extract, then stir together once more to combine.

To assemble the pie

1. Pour the chocolate pudding into the cooled cookie crust. Use an offset spatula to smooth the top of the pie if needed. Cover the pie gently with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to set for at least 4-5 hours (or overnight for best results).
2. Once pie has set, spoon or spread the whipped cream on top and garnish the pie with chocolate shavings and mint leaves, if desired. Carefully use a sharp knife to cut pie into 6 slices and serve. Enjoy!