Homemade Chocolate Pudding Pie

For the Crust

1. In a food processor, (I use my Blendtec) pulse together flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and pulse until you have coarse crumbs. Slowly drizzle in the ice water until a dough forms.
2. Remove the dough from the processor, and knead it into a smooth ball, adding a little more flour if it is too sticky.
3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and shape into a flat disk. Chill for 2-3 hours before rolling out, or freeze until you are ready to use it.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
5. On a well floured surface, roll the dough out into a circle. You want to have about 2 inches of extra dough on the outside of your pie tin. You may need to pat the cracks in the dough back together and be patient as you roll.
6. Roll the dough back up onto the rolling pin to transfer it to the pie tin. Without stretching the dough, let it settle into the bottom of the tin. Trim off excess dough, leaving 1/2 inch all around. Fold the edge under itself and crimp.
7. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork.
8. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is just golden brown.

For the Filling

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and egg yolks. Slowly add the egg mixture to the saucepan, whisking as you pour so that lumps do not form.
3. Turn the heat to medium, and whisk constantly it cooks.
4. When the pudding starts to boil, turn the heat to low and whisk one more minute.
5. Remove the pan from the heat, and add butter, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips. Stir until smooth.
6. Pour the pudding into the cooled pie crust, and place plastic wrap over the top directly on the pudding so a skin will not form as it cools.
7. Depending on the size of your pie crust, you may have extra pudding. We like to pour it into little jars for individual servings.
8. When completely chilled, top pie with whipped cream and garnish with chocolate curls.
9. Refrigerate until serving.

For the Whipped Cream

1. In a chilled metal bowl (I use my KitchenAid stand mixer with the whisk attachment), add heavy cream, softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. On low speed, whisk until combined and mixture begins to thicken (about 1 minute). Then gradually increase the speed to high until the cream has reached the stiff peak stage (about 3 minutes).