This Andes Mint Chocolate Cream Pie has a chocolate mint pastry cream sitting in a buttery pie crust covered in whipped cream.
This Andes Mint Chocolate Cream Pie represents the Candy Crush chapter in my cookbook, Holy Sweet!
This recipe was originally part of some bonus recipes that were part of a pre-order promotion.
But I love this pie so much that I wanted to share it for everyone.
Andes Mints were one of the candies that my mother bought for herself and hid from us kids.
Which I used to think was cruel but now that I’m older I totally understand why she did that.
I remember thinking Andes Mints were so fancy because we got them with the check at restaurants when I was growing up.
Of course I grew up and learned that you can get them anywhere.
What I love about Andes Mints compared to other mint candies is that there is a hint of mint and not a I just brushed with peppermint toothpaste flavor that some super peppermint candies can leave in your mouth.
This pie is creamy and thick and all things that make this world great. Well, most things.
Ingredient Highlights:
As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found at the bottom of this post.
- Unsalted Butter: You need to make sure you use European butter with the highest butterfat you can find. Most of the butter you find at the store is 80%. European butter starts at 83%.
- Baker’s Sugar: Also known as Superfine Sugar. It is granulated sugar that has been finely ground so the crystals are smaller. As a result, it dissolves easier than regular granulated sugar.
- Andes Mints: You can find these almost anywhere. You can get them in baking chips as well. You can use either one.
- Semisweet Chocolate: While you can certainly use milk chocolate, this is a pretty sweet fudge due to it being frosted. So I went with semisweet to cut down the sweetness.
- Whole Milk: You need whole milk for the pie to be creamy.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is to be use. No half and half. There is no substitute for this.
- Egg Yolks: All recipes on the blog use large eggs unless indicated.
- Vanilla: I am a Rodelle vanilla girl through and through.
- Corn Syrup: The function of the corn syrup is to keep sugar from crystallizing. You can skip it but your texture may be different.
How To Blind Bake a Crust:
The process for blind baking a pie crust is pretty simple.
The reason we blind bake a pie for pies like this Andes Mint Chocolate Cream Pie is because you need the pie crust to be fully baked since the rest of the pie is not baked.
Blind baking is similar to par baking, but differs in that a blind bake cooks the crust fully, whereas a par bake partially bakes it so that it is set before going into the oven at a lower temperature.
Fill with beans, weights, or sugar – Prick the crust all over, then cover with a crumpled up piece of parchment paper. Fill the crust right to the edges with either weights, beans, or sugar. If you use the sugar method, which I use most often, the sugar will not melt. It will caramelize the sugar (that’s on top). You can still use this sugar and it makes for really yummy chocolate chip cookies.
Bake the pie crust for 15-18 minutes with the weights in, until the edges are beginning to golden, then remove the weights and return the crust to the oven. This second bake is just for a few minutes and will set up the crust that was covered by the paper. Bake until the crust is evenly golden brown. Do not worry if it puffs up here – it will sink back down.
You can blind bake crust ahead of time – just leave it to cool then store lightly wrapped in plastic wrap in an airtight container for up to a day.
Want More Pie Recipes?
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Apple Slice
Andes Mint Chocolate Cream Pie
Ingredients
- For the Crust:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp.salt
- 2 TBSP granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup chilled unsalted butter
- 4 to 5 TBSP ice water
- For the Pastry Cream:
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 cup corn starch
- Pinch of salt
- For the Andes Mint Chocolate Ganache:
- 6 oz. Andes Mint Candies, chopped
- 2 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 TBSP unsalted butter
- 1 TBSP corn syrup
- pinch of salt
- For the Whipped Cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 TBSP granulated sugar
- Green food coloring if desired
Instructions
- For the Crust:
- Using a food processor combine flour, salt, and sugar on and pulse for 30 seconds.
- Cut butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add to flour mixture and pulse until mixture looks crumbly, with bits of dough the size of peas, about 1 minute.
- Add 4 TBSP ice water, 1 TBSP at a time, mixing on low speed for 10 seconds after each addition. After final addition, dough should begin to clump together in a ball. If it doesn’t, continue mixing for about 10 seconds longer. (If it still looks too dry, add 1 more tablespoon ice water.) Gently mold dough into a disk, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Transfer unwrapped dough to a lightly floured surface.
- Roll into a 1/8-inch-thick circle large enough to cover bottom and sides of a 9-inch-diameter deep-dish pie pan; do not use a regular (shallow) pan. Transfer dough to pie pan, crimping edges with your fingers or a fork. Prick bottom with a fork.
- Cover pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. Frozen dough is less prone to shrinking while baking.
- Preheat oven to 375F and place rack in the center.
- Press parchment paper tightly against the crust, covering the edges to prevent them from burning.
- Fill with pie weights/dried beans/uncooked rice/sugar, making sure they’re fully distributed over the entire surface.
- Bake crust for 18 minutes, until parchment no longer sticks to the dough. Transfer crust to a wire rack and remove weights and parchment paper.
- Then place back into oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- For the pastry cream:
In a saucepan, combine the milk and heavy cream. Bring to a simmer. - In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment, combine the egg yolks, sugar, corn starch, and salt. Whisk on high until light and fluffy.
- Turn the mixer speed to medium and carefully pour the hot milk/cream mixture down the sides of the bowl into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk until fully combined.
- Transfer the custard back to the saucepan, scraping the sides of the bowl to get all the cornstarch into the saucepan. Whisk over medium/low heat until the mixture thickens, to the consistency of mayo.
- Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure that the wrap touches the surface of the cream to keep a skin from forming.
- Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.
- To make the Andes Mint Chocolate Ganache:
- Place the Andes Mint Candies and chocolate and pinch of salt in a medium sized heat safe bowl and set aside.
- Combine the butter, corn syrup, and cream in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Pour the cream mixture over the Andes Mint Candies and chocolate and allow to sit for about a minute.
- Whisk until the mixture is smooth.
- Cover with plastic wrap and have it come to room temperature.
- To assemble the pie:
- Spoon ¼ cup of the Andes Mint Chocolate Ganache into the crust and spread it evenly along the bottom and sides of the pie crust. This will help it from becoming soggy when the cream filling goes in.
- Chill in fridge for 15 minutes.
- Stir 1 cup Andes Mint Chocolate Ganache into the pastry cream and whisk until mixture is smooth.
- Pour into the prepared ganache lined pie shell and spread it into an even layer.
- Chill the pie until it is set, about 2 hours.
- For the Whipped Cream:
- Place the sugar into a mixing bowl and add the whipping cream.
- Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks.
- If using green food coloring, add a couple drops now and mix until the color if fully dispersed.
- Place whipped cream on top of cream pie and add Andes Mint Candies for garnish if desired.
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