Chocolate Cream Pie

Since I made two batches of marshmallows, I've had six egg yolks staring me in the face everytime I opened the fridge. So I decided to make Dorie's Pastry Cream again and thought chocolate sounded perfect. She didn't have a "playing around" option for chocolate so I found my old cook book from my college class and she said to keep everything the same and add 1/3 cup of cocoa to the dry ingredients. I added an extra egg because the mixture was too thick at first. It ended up cooking up nice and thick and delicious. I think next time I will also increase the milk by a 1/2 a cup or so. This pudding was a little thick to eat plain so I made it into a chocolate cream pie (and immediately took it over to the neighbors, it was way too tasty!) Forgive the store bought graham crust- I have a one year old and no food processor, okay? :) Next time! I also think this would be amazing in cream puffs. Mmmm...

Chocolate Pastry Cream (Adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan)
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks (I used 7)
1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted (I hate sifting)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk-- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. (I skipped this step and just added it immediately after the vanilla) Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold.

Spoon the pudding into a graham cracker crust and serve with whipped cream enjoy.