old fashioned chocolate cream pie

My husband's granny is a wonderful cook, and every time we go to visit, we look forward to all the fine dining we'll have. She gave me this recipe for chocolate cream pie, and it's great because it's a recipe you probably already have all the ingredients for (except maybe a pie crust, if you don't make your own), and it's cheap, easy, not too rich, and yummy. You can't go wrong.

I N G R E D I E N T S :

1 cup sugar
2 level Tbsp. cocoa
1/3 cup flour
2 egg yolks
2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pie crust
whipped cream-store bought or homemade*

D I R E C T I O N S :

Bake pie crust according to directions while you are preparing the following pie filling. Let cool.

Mix sugar, cocoa, and flour together in a bowl.

Beat 2 egg yolks with a fork and add 1/4 cup milk, and then add to the flour mixture.

Stir mixture on medium heat (I used a double boiler just so nothing would get burnt on the bottom of the pan) for about 2 minutes and then gradually stir in the remaining 1 3/4 cups of milk. Stir continually until mixture thickens (I just stir it every few minutes as I add the milk).

Once the mixture is thick with the consistency of pudding, remove from heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla

Pour into the cooked, cooled pie crust.

Best if cooled, in my opinion. I placed it in the fridge for about 3 hours before we ate it.

*Serve with whipped cream. To make your own whipped cream (which is an extra step but is cheap and less processed than the other stuff, and will make you feel more like Martha Stewart):

Take one small package of whipping cream, add a dash of sugar, a dash of vanilla, and beat or place in stand mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form.

I had a nice canister of hot chocolate mix that is made up of chocolate shavings, and I sprinkled a little over the top of the whipped cream just for a nice touch (and a prettier picture!). I'm not always this fancy :).