The first time I tried an Espresso was in 2005 in Italy. I was on a two week tour with my mom and we were enjoying an amazing dinner by the waterfront of Lake Garda. Being an inexperienced coffee drinker at the time, I ordered an after dinner Espresso. Let’s just say after a few sips I was the life of the table.
I’ve since become a huge coffee fan, but prefer a bit of sweet cream and flavor added to my cup. Now, I’m basically adding coffee to my cup of vanilla or chocolate cream. I know, all the true Espresso lovers just gasped.
So, instead of trying to convert you to enjoying my morning caffeinated concoction, I decided to make a pie with the flavors I enjoy sipping from a hot mug. This Chocolate Espresso Pie will not only satisfy the chocolate fanatic but also the flavored coffee drinker.
Let’s discuss the filling. Because let’s face it, thats’s the best part. To create a rich smooth texture I partnered with Eagle Brand to use their Sweetened Condensed Milk. Using just milk and sugar, its the perfect naturally sweetened thickener for a chocolate pie. This allows me to use less sugar overall, mixing in cocoa powder, espresso, and egg yolks for a decadent dessert.
Some chocolate pies are a mix and chill, but this beauty goes in the oven. A thin top layer of baked chocolate will form protecting the silky filling. I prefer to bake mine in a homemade pie crust in opposition to a frozen one. Besides the added buttery flavor of a homemade crust, you can also make designs like I’ve done with this one.
It’s a simple recipe that you can easily make the day of. I also recommend a cold slice with a hot cup of coffee for breakfast.
Tips for Chocolate Espresso Pie
- Pie crust can be made the day before, just thaw to slightly room temp for easy rolling.
- Use high quality cocoa powder.
- Make a hot espresso and add to your filling. Use either an espresso machine or by mixing instant espresso and hot water. You can add 4-5 Tbsp directly to the batter. Purely optional.
- If you’re not a huge espresso fan use only 1 Tbsp of espresso powder or eliminate it all together.
- Make sure pie crust is rolled out to no thicker than ⅛ inch thickness.
Otherwise the crust will rise too much and your crust designs will fall off. - Be sure to chill your pie 20 minutes to firm the crust before baking.
- Center may rise while baking, but will sink as it cools.
- Once cooled completely, cover and store your pie in the fridge.
Chocolate Espresso Pie
Ingredients
Chocolate Espresso Pie Filling
- 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, warm melted
- ⅓ Cup Light Brown Sugar
- ⅓ Cup Granulated Sugar
- 4 Egg Yolks
- 14 ounces Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 Tbsp Instant Espresso Powder, or 4-5 Tbsp of an actual Espresso Drink
- 6 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Prepare pie crust according to directions.
- Divide into two discs, cover in plastic wrap and let chill in fridge for 2 hrs.
- Use one crust for lining the 9 inch pie pan and the second for creating decorative pie crust squares.
- Roll out one crust to ⅛ inch thickness and line pie pan. Cut off overhanging crust.
- Make filling.
Chocolate Espresso Filling
- In a medium bowl combine the warm melted butter and both sugars. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Transfer to bowl of stand mixer.
- Add egg yolks and mix on medium speed with paddle attachment.
- Next, spoon in half the cocoa powder, espresso, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream. Mix until smooth. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl as needed.
- Add remaining cocoa powder and mix again.
- Pour filling into prepared pie crust.
Make Pie
- Roll out second pie crust to ⅛ inch thickness. Use a ruler and sharp knife, cut out 1 inch by 1 inch squares.
- Take a single square and very gently coat the bottom with a thin brushing of cool water. This will help the doughs to stick together.
- Place the first square diagonally on the rim of the pie crust.
- Repeat this process with the second piece covering half of the first. Continuing to layer squares around the rim of the pie.
- Gently paint the square crust design with a thin coating of egg wash.
- Place pie into the fridge for crust to firm for 15-20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F (190 C), place pie on a thin cookie sheet and bake on middle rack of oven for 45-50 minutes until crust is golden brown and a thin baked chocolate layer has formed across the top.
- Pie should not be jiggly like a wave when removed from oven. But, it won't be firm like a cake.
- Place pie on cooling rack until completely cooled.
- Store in fridge until ready to serve.
*This Recipe is Sponsored by Eagle Brand. All thoughts and text are my own. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make Two Cups Flour possible.
Terrisu Mann
Rich, smooth chocolate flavor with a hint of the espresso. Crust balanced the overall taste. My family loved it and I’ll for sure add it to my chocolate pie favorite.
Jenn
So glad to hear that!! Thanks for sharing:)
Bonnie
Should I dilute the espresso powder or just add in?
Jenn
Just add it in:)
Ashlee Coley
Just had this pie at your Mom and Dad’s house. Wow! Delicious!
Tina
What do you do with the other half of the espresso, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream? It mentions using half in step 3 of the chocolate espresso filling instructions, but never mentions it again.
Jenn
It is only half of the cocoa powder and then you add the second half of the cocoa powder in the following step.
Teri Ryan
I am very confused by the top crust instructions — pictures please! Also, why doesn’t your pictured pie match the instructions? The whole reason I wanted to make this pie was because of that yummy-looking chocolate crust top! Could you please instruct on how to make that version?
Jenn
Hello, There is not a top crust to this pie. The texture on top of the chocolate comes from baking the pie. The pie in the photo is the pie in the recipe.
PMC
My crowd loved it. Was told that the it tasted like brownies. They all liked it. Did I do it right ?