French Silk Pie is an American classic but barely known in the UK. A flaky pastry crust is filled with a rich & decadent no-bake chocolate mousse then topped with piles of freshly whipped cream and chocolate curls. It really is one of the best desserts I've ever eaten and should become a UK classic too!
Melt 150g Dark Chocolate in a small bowl in a microwave or in a small pan on the hob.
Leave the melted chocolate aside to cool.
Beat together 220g Salted Butter and 250g Caster Sugar for a good 5 minutes using the regular beater in a stand mixer.
Pour in the cooled melted chocolate along with 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder and 1 tsp Vanilla Extract. Mix to combine making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add 4 Eggs one at a time. After each addition, you need to mix on a medium speed for a full 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl after about 30 seconds with each egg and again when you add the next egg.
This will take 20 minutes in total and you will see the texture of the mix totally change.
Pour the filling mixture into a 9” Fully Baked Pastry Case and allow to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. You can speed this up by chilling for an hour in the fridge then an hour in the freezer.
(Now is a good time to make your chocolate curls if making them from scratch)
Once the pie is chilled, pour 300ml Double Cream in a mixing bowl or stand mixer along with 1 tbsp Icing Sugar.
Whisk until it has soft peaks. It just wants to hold its shape but not be stiff.
Top with pie with the whipped cream. Pile the cream right in the middle of the pie.
Push it towards the edge with a knife or spatula but don’t go all the way.
Pile on 50g Chocolate Curls into the centre of the pie, slice and serve!