OMG! Chocolate Cream Pie (No-Bake & Egg-Free)

Yes.  You read that right.  I named this the "OMG! Chocolate Cream Pie" and for good reason.  Not only are you gonna say "OMG!" when you see this gorgeous thing, you're gonna say "OMG!" when you bite into it.  Creamy.  Chocolatey.  Crunchy.  Yup.  OMG pretty much describes it.  

Oh, and did I mention that you don't need to bake this pie AND you don't need to use eggs? Seriously. All you need to do is mix together the ingredients, pour it into a pie crust, chill it in the fridge and voila!  It's pie time!

So what's the magic behind this no-bake, egg-free chocolate cream pie?  Two things: whipping cream and instant chocolate pudding mix.  Now, normally you'd add milk to instant pudding mix to make, well, pudding.  But if you use whipping cream, it becomes this rich and creamy filling.  It almost tastes like chocolate mousse.  I mean, you can probably just spoon it into some pretty glasses and serve them as chocolate mousse if you want.  It's gonna be amazing.  But wait till you put this into an Oreo pie crust. Uh huh

For ease and convenience, I decided to use a ready-made Oreo pie crust but you can make your own from scratch if you want (here's a link to a recipe I found).  Now, a word of caution about the whipped cream.  The first time I made this pie, I used Reddiwip.  You know, that whipped cream in a can thing.  Well, if you're using Reddiwip, I suggest you wait until you're about to serve it because guess who topped the pie with a mountain of Reddiwip and put it back in the fridge?  Yessir!  I made that stupid mistake.  I opened the fridge hours later, only to find a puddle of what used to be whipped cream all around the pie.  It was really sad.  But we still ate the pie.  So a word to the wise: only use Reddiwip when you're ready to serve the pie and not a minute earlier.

I kinda got burned from that whole Reddiwip experience so the next time I made the chocolate cream pie, I decided to use stabilized whipped cream (see recipe below).  It behaves a lot better than regular whipped cream and I could even store it in the fridge overnight without the risk of it falling apart.

As for the toppings, you can go whichever way you want with this but I personally like using roughly chopped milk chocolate.  It really works well with the light whipped cream and chocolatey pie filling.  You can also use dark chocolate or maybe even toffee bits or caramel.  And for a touch of color and a contrast in flavor, I love using tart red raspberries.  It's like putting on red lipstick; it makes the pie go from "oh wow" to "OMG!"

Hey, hey!  Between you and me, I was actually thinking about calling this pie another "O" word, but I wanted to keep it PG just in case my grandma's reading this.  But if you wanna call this pie the other "O" word, go right ahead.  Just don't say anything to my grandma.  

OMG Chocolate Cream Pie (No-Bake & Egg-free)

10-12 servings

Allergy Note: Contains wheat and dairy ingredients 

ready-made Oreo pie crust

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup milk

5.1 oz. box Jell-O instant chocolate pudding mix

1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

1 Tbs. sugar

Reddiwip or stabilized whipped cream*

Milk chocolate (roughly chopped) 

Fresh raspberries 

To make the filling, combine whipping cream, milk, chocolate pudding mix, cocoa powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Gradually beat together the ingredients until thickened.  Transfer the filling into the Oreo pie crust.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.  Top with Reddiwip or whipped cream, chocolate and raspberries just before serving.

Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting:
4 Tbsp. water

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (1/4 ounce or 7.2 grams)

2 cups whipping cream, cold

1 8-ounce cream cheese, room temperature *

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a small bowl, sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the water. Let the gelatin bloom for a few minutes (it will absorb some water and swell up a bit). Add 1/4 cup of the whipping cream and microwave for a minute or until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Set aside.

Combine the whipped cream cheese, whipping cream, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Whip to soft peak stage. Add gelatin mixture and vanilla. Continue to whip to stiff peaks.