This no-bake Chocolate Cheese Cake Pie is a perfect recipe for the beginner cook!

All it takes is just 5 ingredients:

• 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
• 1/4 cup of dark corn syrup
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 1 9-inch crumb crust

The hardest part is that before you get to dig in, the pie has to set (get firm) in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving it!

***

There are many pre-made crumb pie crusts available at the grocery store, including ones made from graham crackers or from chocolate wafers.

If you are up to making your own crumb pie crust, all the better! I have done a photo-tutorial on How to Make a Graham Cracker Pie Crust. You can choose which crumb crust you would prefer, depending on your cooking skill level.

***

Start by finely chopping 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate. (A serrated edge knife actually works the best for chopping both chocolate and nuts.) Put the chocolate into a heat-proof glass bowl or a metal bowl.

Now measure out 1/2 cup of the heavy cream (the remaining cup is going to get whipped!) and 1/4 cup (which is 4 tablespoons) of corn syrup.

You can buy either light or dark corn syrup. In this recipe I am using the dark (which has a more robust flavor), but you can use the light if that’s what you have on hand.

For those of you who live in parts of the world where corn syrup is not readily available, there is a fabulous description of liquid sweeteners and the appropriate substitutions at Cooks’ Thesaurus.

Add the cream to the finely chopped chocolate…

…and the corn syrup.

These three ingredients need to get melted together on top of simmering water.

In a medium sauce pan, bring about 2 inches of water to a simmer. (A simmer is when you see small bubbles on the bottom of the pan.)

Set the chocolate mixture on top of the simmering water. The water itself should not be touching the bottom of the bowl that the chocolate mixture is in.

Give the chocolate an occasional stir.

Do not remove it from the stove until the chocolate is totally melted. This will take only a few minutes at most.

Remove the chocolate from the stove and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes.

***

While the chocolate mixture is cooling, beat the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream…

…until stiff peaks are formed. (For a quick review on whipping cream, check out my post on How to Make Whipped Cream)

Set the bowl of whipped cream aside for just a moment. With an electric hand mixer, beat in the softened cream cheese.

Using a rubber spatula (not the electric hand mixer!), the whipped cream needs to get folded into the chocolate mixture. This lightens the chocolate mixture resulting in the perfect taste and texture for the final pie.

Folding is a technical cooking term that means to combine generally a lighter ingredient (the whipped cream) into a heavier ingredient (the chocolate mixture) by first placing the lighter mixture on top of the heavier mixture. Then vertically cutting through both ingredients in the center of the bowl, across the bottom and back up the side, across the top and …well that just sounds way more complicated than it is! Check out this video at Expert Village on How to Fold!

By the time you have finished folding all the ingredients will have a uniform look.

The filling is now ready to pour into the prepared pie shell.

This pie will take a good 3-4 hours minimum to set in the refrigerator. Once it does, it will develop a perfect “Cheese Cake” consistency, which no one can resist!

Enjoy!

You can view and print this recipe here.

If you are new to startcooking, or are a regular visitor here, please consider subscribing for free.