Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie 1.1

You may recall in an earlier post I described and gave the recipe for Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie 1.0. I consider this pie to have been a failure on 2 counts: first, it is too chocolatey (!) and second, the texture and consistency are that of frosting, not pie. (For those who eat chocolate frosting out of the can, this could be the perfect recipe. You're welcome.)

image by freepik.com

Today I decided to alter the recipe to see if I could remedy both problems. I want the pie to be chocolatey but not too chocolatey. I also want to be able to taste the cream cheese. I want the texture to be more cheesecake or even mousse like. So, exit the chocolate instant pudding mix which I blame for the texture. Enter a small splash of vanilla extract to mitigate the chocolate.

The result tastes great! But the texture is still off. Instead of being frosting like, it is more of a thick chocolate soup or a thin pudding. Not something you can slice when put into a pie shell and chilled. Remedy: put the whole thing in the freezer! Not a long-term solution but it will do for this version.

I did change one other thing in version 1.1. Version 1.0 had a standard graham cracker crust as called for in similar recipes. Version 1.1 has a pecan crust!!! That's right. Diamond, the nut company, makes a pie crust from crushed pecans! You can find it in the baking aisle right next to the graham cracker crusts. Yummy!!!

<several hours later>

I let the pie sit in the fridge and for a while in the freezer, but it still did not set up properly. I am really surprised at this as the recipe is based on another recipe which contains only cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk as the base, no pudding. Still, the pie did not set properly and it's back to the drawing board.

A search through recipes on the web turned up any number of recipes for chocolate cream cheese pie but all had what in my mind are fatal flaws. First, many relied on Cool Whip for texture. Now, nothing against Cool Whip but that's not really the texture I'm going for. Second, all had way too many ingredients. This is supposed to be a quick, easy recipe that you can whip up on a moment's notice, let it sit in the fridge for an hour, and voila, a pie that tastes like you made at least one trip to the grocery and used one of these other, more complicated, recipes. My recipe, so far, has only 5 ingredients, including the crust!

What will I do for version 1.2, you ask? I'm planning that already. After version 1.1 is gone, which should take several days, and after a few additional days have passed to recover from chocolate overload, I plan to begin with version 1.1 and add more cream cheese. This will make the cream cheese flavor more pronounced, which I want. Additional cream cheese should also alter the texture. In addition, I plan to reduce the chocolate syrup a bit. This should not change the chocolate taste appreciably but may alter the texture by reducing the amount of liquid in the pie. I might also add a healthy dollop of ... peanut butter.

Peanut butter, you might ask. Yes. I love the taste of peanut butter and chocolate, and I don't plan to add enough to make the pie scream "peanut butter." I just want a hint of the flavor but, perhaps more importantly, I want the texture change I should get from this.

Still trying to avoid that pudding mix.

Too many variables being manipulated at once, the scientists out there may say. Yes, that's true. Even though I know my various Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie experiments will be edible if I manipulate only one variable at a time (as a good scientist would), I don't want to be eating chocolate experiments indefinitely. Version 1.2 will be the last of this line of pies for a while. I grow impatient. Three chocolate pies in less than 6 weeks are more than enough.

As I read this, I realize that this may be my longest post to date. If you've read this far, thank you. (If not, well, you'll miss my ending.)

Why spend this much time and energy on yet another Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie recipe, you might ask? Because it's a bit of a challenge. Because I like to create experiments that I can enjoy even if they are technically failures. Because it isn't sewing, making handmade books, or any of the other crafts I enjoy; I do occasionally need a break from those. Because I like chocolate and cream cheese and the combination seems irresistible. Because, as my dissertation would suggest if you read it (which I don't suggest), I suffer from structured imagination or an inability to conceive of a solution which does not resemble my prior experiments.

Or the best reason for creating anything that I can think of, because it, as I envision it, isn't there.

dks, 16 Oct 2025