Add a little chocolate decadence to your Thanksgiving table with this multi-layered take on a classic pumpkin pie. Featuring a smooth and lightly spiced pumpkin cream filling, with a hidden layer of dark chocolate ganache that’s not visible until you slice into it. Surprise chocolate? Count me in!
A traditional pumpkin pie this is not: with a pudding-like pumpkin filling that’s cooked on the stovetop rather than in the oven (freeing up your oven for other delicious things) and a black bottom of silky dark chocolate ganache, all nestled in a sweet and salty chocolate graham cracker crust, with a stabilized whipped cream to finish it off with a flourish.
I know, two pie recipes in a row! Usually I try to mix it up a little bit when I share recipes, but I figured y’all would want this pie recipe sooner rather than later (assuming you’ve already started to plan your Thanksgiving menus, that is, this pie should definitely be on it!)
I like to think of this as the pumpkin pie for pumpkin pie haters, but pumpkin lovers will adore it too. Assuming that most of the pumpkin pie hate comes from the texture: namely, the potentially-pastey and overly-thick baked custard filling of most traditional pumpkin pie recipes. Personally, I feel that a good pumpkin pie is anything but pastey if you do it right, but a luscious, creamy filling is certainly not the easiest feat to achieve.
Eyes on the Pies!
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Enter: Pumpkin Cream Pie. Think banana cream or coconut cream pie, but pumpkin (I know, right??)
The filling is more like a pudding rather than a baked custard, cooked on the stovetop instead of the oven. That means that, other than a few minutes to set the chocolate graham cracker crust (which you can certainly do ahead of time), the rest of the pie can be made without the use of the oven, freeing up that valuable rack space for other things. Not technically no-bake, but close to it!
The pumpkin cream filling is deceptively light and creamy, not dense and heavy like traditional pie can be. But there’s still plenty of pumpkin flavor, with a hint of pumpkin spice that only emphasizes the natural flavor of the pumpkin rather than overpowering it.
A splash of bourbon and a glug of vanilla round out the flavor profile, making for a creamy and chocolatey Thanksgiving pie unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before.
I topped my pie with a swirly border of stabilized whipped cream, grated chocolate (just run a chocolate bar over a microplane grater), and some milk chocolate twigs I had bought at one point and never used.
You could opt to do a full cream top instead of the piped border, in which case I’d recommend increasing the quantity of whipping cream to 1 1/4 cups to ensure you have enough to cover the whole thing.
Chocolate curls, chocolate sprinkles, or even some novelty chocolates in the shape of pumpkins would also make for wonderful decorations here!
Chocolate and…
If you know me, you know that I’m forever combining chocolate with other flavors. Call it a personal passion of mine, this “chocolate and” mentality. Chocolate and pistachio. Chocolate and orange. Chocolate and raspberry. Just to name a few.
And I’ve done my share of chocolate and pumpkin recipes before (chocolate pumpkin pots de creme, anyone? or how about chocolate pumpkin marble swirl bread? Oh, or wait! A pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake slathered with a deeply chocolate glaze. Oh yes, that’s the one.) It’s a seriously underrated combination. There isn’t nearly enough chocolate on the Thanksgiving table in my opinion.
Needless to say, the decision to add a layer of dark chocolate ganache on the bottom was a no-brainer for me (though you could certainly make it without, the pumpkin cream filling would hold up just fine its own).
Crust the process.
I originally intended to use the same flaky chocolate pastry crust as my chocolate banana pie, but a last minute snafu (and a bit more shrinkage than anticipated) called for a fast pivot. I ultimately landed on a chocolate graham cracker crust, and the results are nothing short of a dream (though I can attest to the fact that it’s good either way!)
This chocolate graham cracker crust is a solid replacement for my beloved chocolate wafer cookies, which were discontinued a few years back and I’ve yet to find another brand or recreate a homemade version of them (trust me, I’m trying!) But this crust is a great alternative, made with regular graham crackers (you could use vanilla wafers too), along with some dark cocoa powder, brown sugar, and a little melted chocolate for added chocolate flavor and structure.
The crust does require a quick bake in the oven (so this recipe isn’t technically no bake), but you can easily make it ahead of time if needed. Or, in a pinch, use a store bought graham or Oreo cookie crust when a shortcut is needed.
Let’s talk about our fillings.
The cream filling is actually quite similar to the filling of my chocolate banana cream pie, though I did make a few changes to account for the addition of the pumpkin puree.
While I tested a version that was solely cornstarch-thickened, I found it a bit too loose for my liking, so I went back to the flour-and-cornstarch combo that works best for me. The cream sets up nice and solid, making for clean slices and no ooze, while still preserving that luscious pudding-like texture.
Leftover egg whites? No problem! I’ve got plenty of egg white recipes to use up the leftover (you can also freeze them too!)
Unlike the chocolate banana pie where half of the pudding cream filling is mixed with melted chocolate, here I opted to add a layer of silky smooth chocolate ganache underneath the pumpkin cream.
My first ganache was a bit too stiff, which wasn’t a deal breaker but I always like the multiple layered components to be a better match, texturally. (Cream too soft, ganache too firm… it’s like goldilocks and the three pies over here!)
Luckily it only took me two more tries to perfect the various layers until it came out just right.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Graham Crackers: Feel free to use vanilla wafers if you prefer.
Cocoa powder: to make the crust suitably chocolate. Feel free to omit it as well as the melted chocolate for a classic graham cracker crust.
Dark Chocolate: For the ganache, I recommend using a good quality 50-70% dark chocolate. I ended up using mostly 70% dark, with about an ounce worth of 35% milk chocolate (I’m not up for maths right now but I assume the result was about 60% cacao in total). I also find a little bit of milk chocolate in my ganaches produces a much smoother texture that is less prone to splitting, likely because of the additional stabilizers and emulsifiers in milk chocolate.
Using slightly different cacao percentages may affect the final set of the ganache, but it’s a pretty forgiving recipe. As long as it’s not so loose that it oozes out of the pie when you slice it, any chocolate should work just fine here.
Glucose syrup: A pastry chef’s best kept secret for super silky ganache. Corn syrup works almost as well, or you can leave it out entirely.
Pumpkin puree: I used Libby’s pumpkin here, which has the deepest orange color. The version I made with Trader Joe’s pumpkin tasted great, but the filling looked a bit more like a peanut butter pie than pumpkin.
I don’t recommend using a homemade pumpkin puree for this recipe, as it’d be a bit too watery and just not as smooth or deeply orange as the canned stuff.
Bourbon/amaretto/brandy: A small splash of booze in the cream filling adds a complex depth of flavor, but it’s not enough to make the filling taste like booze. We used bourbon, but I think amaretto or brandy would be tasty as well, or even a dark spiced rum. If you want to leave out the alcohol, increase the vanilla to 1 tablespoon instead.
Pumpkin pie spice: This is a lightly spiced pie, as I wanted the pumpkin itself to be the foremost flavor. If you want to increase the spice feel free to do so to taste.
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, add 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon and ginger, plus a pinch of nutmeg and either allspice and/or cloves.
Guar gum: If you plan to make this pie ahead of time, adding a tiny bit of guar gum to your whipped cream is a game changer. It stabilizes the cream, essentially allowing it to keep for a day or two without collapsing or weeping as homemade whipped cream is wont to do. You can leave this out, but I recommend waiting to whip the cream until at most an hour or two before serving.
Chocolate Pumpkin Cream Pie
Not your typical pumpkin pie: with a smooth and lightly spiced pumpkin cream filling, silky chocolate ganache, all nestled in a sweet and salty chocolate graham cracker crust, with a stabilized whipped cream to finish it off with a flourish.
For Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust:
For Chocolate Ganache Layer:
For Whipped Cream & Garnish:
For Crust:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pulse graham crackers, cocoa powder, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground.
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Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave on half power in 15 second bursts, stirring between each interval, until fully melted and smooth. Drizzle into food processor and pulse a few times until mixture is evenly moistened.
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Press crumbs into a standard 9-inch pie pan, using a smooth bottomed glass or measuring cup to press the crumbs firmly into the bottom and up the sides.
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Bake for 8-10 minutes to set (it won’t look much different). Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
For Ganache:
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Finely chop chocolate and place in a heat proof bowl.
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In a small saucepan, combine cream with glucose and heat over medium heat until it starts to steam and just barely bubble around the edges (do not let it fully boil).
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Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds, then whisk gently, working from the center out in concentric circles, until chocolate is fully melted and cream is incorporated. Add cubed butter and stir until melted and smooth.
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Pour ganache into prepared crust, then place in the refrigerator to set while you prepare the cream filling.
For Pumpkin Cream Filling:
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In a medium saucepan, mix 1 ½ cups of milk with pumpkin puree, then heat over medium heat until mixture starts to steam and bubble around the edges (do not let it fully boil).
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In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt with the egg yolks. Drizzle in the remaining ¼ cup of milk to thin, then whisk until smooth. Temper the egg yolk mixture by slowly drizzling in some of the hot milk, about ¼ cup at a time, whisking constantly. Repeat with another ladle or two of hot milk, until the yolk mixture is warm to the touch. Pour into the larger saucepan with the rest of the milk.
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Return saucepan to low heat and cook, stirring regularly and scraping the sides and bottom as you go (I like to switch to a rubber spatula at this point), until mixture starts to bubble and thickens to the consistency of thick pudding. This will take about 10 minutes, you don’t want to rush it by using higher heat.
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Remove from the heat and stir in butter, bourbon, and vanilla until smooth. If your custard appears slightly lumpy, you can press it through a fine mesh sieve to remove any stray lumps of egg or flour, but this step is optional. Set aside and let cool slightly, about 20 minutes.
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Your ganache should be set firmly at this point. Pour lukewarm cream filling on top, smoothing into an even layer all the way to the edges. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour until fully cooled (but you can make it a day or two ahead of time if needed, cover lightly with foil or plastic wrap).
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The day of, whip heavy cream with an electric mixer until frothy. Whisk sugar with guar gum (if using). With the mixer running, slowly pour in sugar, then increase speed and beat until cream holds medium peaks. Stir in vanilla. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe a decorative border around the edge of the pie. Garnish with chocolate curls or grated chocolate if desired.
- Increase cream to 1 ¼ cups if you want a full layer of cream on top instead of just a piped border.
- A tiny bit of guar gum in the whipped cream helps stabilize it. If you want to make your pie ahead of time I highly recommend this addition!
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