French Silk Pie Vs Chocolate Cream: What's The Difference?

The beauty of pie lies within its varieties. Chilled, hot, fruity, creamy... The world is full of seriously delicious pies. Depending on the household or bakery, the same pie might be made in slightly different ways. You may have had a chocolate pie before and wondered what exactly it was. Rich in flavor and smooth in texture, it might have had a chocolate pudding or chocolate mousse filling. Maybe it had an Oreo pie crust or a traditional flaky one. Either way, chances are the pie you tried was one of the two most popular chocolate pies: chocolate cream and French silk.

Chocolate cream pie and French silk pie are two classic American pie recipes, and only a few ingredients sets them apart. And yes, despite its European name, the French silk pie is an American creation originating from the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest in 1951. While the French silk pie is very mousse-like, chocolate cream pies are pudding-y to the core. The main thing they have in common? Both are a chocolate lover's dream.

As mentioned, the French silk pie is not actually French. But don't feel disheartened due to this fact. The word French makes it sound fancy, but honestly, comforting American pies are where it's at. Regardless, the French silk pie actually does take inspiration from French mousse. Chocolate mousse is made by whipping heavy cream and melted chocolate so the combination reaches an aerated, velvety texture. As such, the filling of a French silk pie must be given the whipped cream treatment. The pie's filling initially starts as a pudding-like mixture of butter, eggs, sugar, and chocolate. Then, freshly whipped cream is carefully folded into it, simultaneously lightening up the texture while rounding out the richness in flavor.

This silky smooth pie sits in a traditional pie crust, which should be blind-baked beforehand. As opposed to a crumb crust, traditional pie crust is the ideal pairing to a French silk pie because the flaky crisp helps balance the cushiony mousse filling. Both components are airy in their own ways, so they enhance the delicateness of this dessert. It's also worth mentioning that this pie is generally topped with even more fresh whipped cream, and dusted with elegant chocolate shavings.

On the other hand, chocolate cream pie is the opposite of French silk pie in many ways. For one, chocolate cream pie's filling is thick to the extent that it resembles pudding. While the French silk pie's incorporation of whipped cream effectively aerates the filling, the ingredients in chocolate cream pie help it stay thick. Recipes tend to call for only the yolks of eggs for density and use cornstarch as a thickening agent. The resulting chocolatey pudding is creamy, glossy, and moist — as a pudding should be.

Chocolate cream pie filling can either sit in a flaky pie crust or a crumb crust, but opting for the latter makes this pie more decadent, and you never even need to turn on the oven. The supreme crumb crust for a chocolate cream pie is made of chocolate Oreos, naturally. This chocolate-on-chocolate dessert is playful and, like the French silk pie, tastes best when served with a healthy dollop of whipped cream.