This Peppermint French Silk Pie is such a crowd-pleaser! Rich, velvety chocolate filling is nestled inside a delightful crust, topped with fluffy peppermint-kissed whipped cream and a sprinkled of crushed candy canes. It’s a delicious blend of creamy, crunchy, cool, and decadent, all dressed up and ready for your holiday table.
Ingredients Needed
- Crust
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- butter flavored shortening – I recommend Crisco
- ice water
- Filling
- butter – softened at room temperature
- granulated sugar
- unsweetened baking chocolate
- vanilla extract
- peppermint extract
- eggs
- chocolate – for shaving into curls
- peppermint candies
- Peppermint Whipped Cream
- whipping cream
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- peppermint extract
How to Make Chocolate Peppermint French Silk Pie
This is a simple overview of the recipe, you’ll find a full printable recipe below!
- Crust:
- Combine flour and salt in a bowl.
- Cut in shortening until pea-sized pieces form.
- Sprinkle ice water in gradually, gently turning mixture to moisten (don’t mix).
- Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and chill.
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Roll dough to 1/8” thick, place in 9” pie plate, trim and shape edges.
- Prick bottom and bake 10–12 minutes until golden. Cool completely.
- Filling:
- Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract until light and fluffy.
- Add melted chocolate and mix to combine.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating each for 5 minutes (15 minutes total).
- Scrape filling into cooled crust, cover, and chill for at least 4 hours.
- Top with peppermint whipped cream, crushed candy, and chocolate shavings.
- Peppermint Whipped Cream:
- Beat cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract until soft peaks form.
- Serve immediately with pie.
Storage & Other Tips
- This needs to be made ahead of time to set properly, so I recommend planning for at least 4 – 6 hours of chill time. Overnight is best.
- You can store this pie in the fridge for 2–3 days, but if you expect to have leftovers, it’s best to serve each slice individually and add the whipped cream just before serving. If you top the entire pie with whipped cream in advance, it may lose its texture and become watery over time.
- You can prepare the pie crust a day or two ahead of time, and store at room temperature until you are ready to complete the rest of the pie.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe uses pasteurized eggs to ensure safety since the filling isn’t baked. If you can’t find pasteurized eggs, you can pasteurize raw eggs at home using a sous vide (140°F for 3.5 minutes) or sit them in warm water for about 3.5 minutes at 140°F to eliminate bacteria while maintaining smooth texture.
Each egg needs to be whipped for 5 full minutes to achieve a silky, fluffy texture. It may seem tedious, but this step is critical for the proper consistency of the filling.
This often happens if the butter isn’t fully softened, eggs weren’t beaten long enough, or the chocolate mixture wasn’t thoroughly combined. Using room-temperature ingredients and scraping the bowl well helps create a smooth texture.
Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, though overnight chilling results in firmer texture and cleaner slices. Whipped cream and peppermint topping are best added right before serving to prevent bleeding or melting.
Peppermint French Silk Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon butter flavored shortening we recommend Crisco
- ¼ cup ice water
Filling
- 1 ½ sticks salted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 ounces baking chocolate, unsweetened melted
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 3 large eggs, pasteurized this pie is not baked, so it is vital the eggs are pasteurized
- ⅓ cup shaved chocolate curls
- ⅓ cup crushed peppermint candies
Peppermint Whipped Cream
- 1 cup whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions
Crust
- Combine flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
- Add shortening in small cubes. Cut shortening with two knives or a pastry blender until you get pieces that are pea-sized.
- Sprinkle ice water by about a teaspoon at a time over the flour/shortening mixture.
- Gently turn the dough with your fingers so it gets exposed to the water. You’re NOT mixing, just trying to moisten all of the flour/shortening mixture. Gradually, all of the flour mixture will be moistened. Gently pat the dough into a ball (It should come together easily but not be sticky).
- Wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to use.
- Heat oven to 450°F. Roll the dough into a circle that’s about ⅛” thick. Carefully transfer the crust into a 9” pie plate. Trim the edges and shape as desired.
- Pierce the bottom of the pie crust and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Filling
- Cream the 1 ½ sticks of butter, vanilla, peppermint extract and granulated sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes) in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the melted chocolate and mix until combined.
- Add 1 egg and beat for 5 minutes. Add second egg and beat for another 5 minutes, and then add the third egg, beating for another 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides if necessary
- Scrape the chocolate filling into the pie crust using a rubber spatula. Carefully cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- When ready to serve, top with peppermint whipped cream, crushed peppermint candies and chocolate shaving.
Peppermint Whipped Cream
- Combine whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract in a large bowl. With an electric hand mixer, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Serve immediately with Chocolate-Peppermint French Silk Pie.
Questions & Reviews
I made this pie last Christmas and it was absolutely incredible! Delicious and so silky smooth. Rave reviews all around.
If I omit the peppermint extract will this be a good plain chocolate pie?
Yep, absolutely!!
I LOVE this website!! I will definitely be making this pie!
Tell me more about the chocolate shavings. You list it as an ingredient but it’s not like they can just be bought at a store. 🙁
What size chocolate bar do you use? Did you use milk chocolate? How are shavings made? Cold chocolate bar or can it be room temp?
To make chocolate shavings you can use any kind of chocolate bar you want. Do not use a cold bar, it needs to be room temp or just barely warm. I place mine on top of my fridge where it’s just slightly warmer for about 5 minutes. Then just use a vegetable peeler and peel slices of chocolate off. It will curl as you go. Hope that helps!
I always have trouble rolling out the dough. It sticks to my counter and makes a bad transfer to the pie plant. What do you use to roll out the dough on? Thanks.
Sprinkle a little flour onto a nonstick surface (A silicone baking mat or parchment paper will do the trick) and just be mindful of how it’s sticking to the surface. If it seems to be sticking, add a little more flour and keep turning the dough regularly. Hope that helps!