Chocolate-Chocolate Cream Pie

So we are still without an oven, but there may be hope on the horizon! My landlady assures me that they will be around over the weekend to install a new gas range, so keep your fingers crossed for me! In the meantime, people still need PIE! We were so desperate, that I had to take extreme and even slightly shameful measures. I actually broke down and bought a frozen pie shell (gasp!) to take to work to bake in the oven in our faculty lounge while I was doing my office hour on Monday. Then I carefully transported the crust back home to fill it with homemade chocolate cream pie filling, but then I topped it with chocolate Reddi-Whip from a can and some mini-chocolate chips. So this is definitely a cheater pie--not that chocolate cream pie is all that highbrow to begin with--but still, it is just heavenly...so homey and comforting! In fact, I thought I had already posted the recipe to a Yahoo group that I belong to, and I had to chuckle when I realized that on almost exactly the same date three years ago, my menu included both the potato corn chowder that I just posted the recipe for a few days ago, as well as this chocolate cream pie! So this must be a part of my seasonal repertoire for September. I also have been known to make this pie for Thanksgiving to have a chocolate option in and amongst all the pumpkin, pecan, squash or sweet potato pies. In fact, I have a little friend K, my office mate's daughter, who turns five today (I was lucky enough to attend her fabulous Charlotte's Web-themed party at this lovely farm last Saturday!), and for several years now, I have been making her one of these special "chocolate pudding pies," as she calls them. I usually take one for Thanksgiving as her mom, my dear friend, Lee Ann, is always kind to invite me and my roomie for the holiday. It is K's favorite pie and my favorite pie from childhood, too. And now I pass the recipe onto you so that you can make one for your special little friends--or big special friends--or you might not even want to share it at all because it's so darn good!

Chocolate-Chocolate Cream Pie
(Source: largely based on the classic Betty Crocker recipe)

9-in. pre-baked pie shell
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
6 tablespoons cocoa (I use five Dutch-process plus one black to make a darker chocolate filling)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk (I don't usually have whole milk, so I use 2 cups half-n-half + 1 cup 2% milk or 2 1/2 cups milk plus 1/2 cup heavy cream)
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
4 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix sugar, corn starch, cocoa and salt in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for one minute. Stir some of the hot mixture gradually into the egg yolks, then add this mixture back into the saucepan. Boil and stir for another minute. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla. (You may wish to strain the custard at this point to make sure it's ultra-smooth.) Pour into the cooled pie shell. Press a piece of plastic wrap down onto the filling. Refrigerate about two hours or until set. Serve with Chocolate Reddi-Whip and a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips (or regular-sized ones chopped up a bit or shavings or what you will).