This Chocolate Angel Pie is worthy of a special occasion! The melt in your mouth meringue crust is filled with luscious chocolate cream!

My husband’s aunt was a terrific cook. She made this dreamy  Chocolate Cream Pie with a Meringue Crust for us as newlyweds and I was delighted to add the recipe to my collection!

Close up of Chocolate Angel Pie in a white ceramic pie plate

Why Make This Chocolate Cream Pie

  • It’s “lighter” than your typical chocolate pie since there’s no buttery pie crust.
  • Every bite melts in your mouth!
  • It’s naturally gluten-free.

It is one of our holiday traditions to have a chocolate pie (are you surprised?) at Thanksgiving along with pumpkin. This pie would work equally well as a Christmas dessert with its heavenly meringue crust and creamy chocolate filling.

Bill’s Aunt Alice would make this chocolate cream pie recipe when we dined at her house. She’d always have a homemade dessert, and her pies were outstanding. And I’d go home with a recipe card in my purse that would soon become splattered from overuse.

The kids don’t remember ever having this pie, but they were definitely on board with my remake! I guess I need to go through my old-fashioned recipe box and pull out some more treasured dishes and share the memories along with the recipe. 

Slice of Chocolate Angel Pie on a white plate

Tips for Making Angel Pie

An angel pie is a dessert with a meringue crust with a pudding-like filling. The lightness of this dessert is what makes it heavenly. Lightness in texture, not calories, though it would be a lot more caloric had it been made with a pastry shell.

  • PRO-Tip: Your bowl and beaters must be scrupulously clean when beating egg whites. Any oil will prevent the whites from reaching stiff peaks.
  • You will also get more volume from your egg whites if they are at room temperature. So get your eggs out well before you plan to make the crust so they warm up. Alternatively, place them in a bowl of warm water while you prep the other ingredients.
  • Don’t overwork the meringue when working it into the shell. The goal is to make a nest for the filling.
  • As you can see below the meringue shell can crack while baking and it will definitely crack when cutting. That’s just the nature of the beast!
  • PRO-Tip: I didn’t have baker’s chocolate on hand the day I made this pie but found that you can substitute 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate plus 2 tablespoons of sugar for 4 ounces of Baker’s Sweet German Chocolate.
  • You can shave a chocolate bar to sprinkle over the whipped cream, make chocolate shards or chocolate curls.

Overhead view of chocolate angel pie

More Holiday Dessert Recipes

Slice of chocolate angel pie on a round white plate with a red handled fork

Chocolate Angel Pie

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Yield 8 servings

An exquisite chocolate pie in a meringue crust

Ingredients

  • 2 egg whites, at room temperature
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 4-ounce package Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate, chopped (or 4 ounces semisweet chocolate with 2 tablespoons of sugar)
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup heavy cream, whipped
  • More whipped cream, to garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 300º. Lightly grease an 8 or 9-inch pie plate and set aside.
  2. Beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar till foamy. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar at a time, beating well after each addition.
  3. Continue beating to very stiff peaks. Fold in vanilla.
  4. Spoon into a prepared pie plate to form a nest-like shell. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Cool.
  5. Gently melt the chocolate (and sugar if substituting semisweet chocolate) with water in the microwave, stopping to stir frequently until smooth. Cool to room temperature and add vanilla.
  6. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate, and spread the filling in the cooled meringue shell. Let chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
  7. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, curls, or shards if desired.

Notes

Make sure your egg whites do not have even a speck of yolk in them or that your bowls have any greasy residue or the egg whites won't whip properly.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1 slice

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 245Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 66mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 0gSugar: 21gProtein: 3g

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