The ingredients that are in a chocolate chess pie are sugar, eggs, butter and milk as well as vanilla and cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor.
And the chocolate chess pie is often thickened with some flour or cornmeal for a fudgy texture, which creates a classic Southern dessert pie.
Chocolate chess pies feature a rich, gooey custard filling in a pie crust that is made from the above simple ingredients.
The reason why it's called chocolate chess pie is due to several popular, though unconfirmed, Southern legends: maybe "chest pie" (stored in a pie chest) or "cheese pie" (similar texture) got mispronounced; maybe it was "jes' pie" ("just pie"); or possibly from chestnut flour.
The "chocolate" part in the chocolate chess pie is simply the addition of cocoa or melted chocolate to the classic custard-based chess pie filling, creating a rich, decadent version.
A chess pie is a Southern custard pie defined by its simple, rich filling of butter, sugar, eggs, and a thickener like cornmeal or flour, often with an acid (vinegar or buttermilk) to cut the sweetness, creating a uniquely sweet, gooey, and sometimes crackly-topped dessert from humble pantry staples.
The chess pies, distinctiveness comes from the textural contrast provided by the cornmeal, setting it apart from smoother buttermilk or sugar pies, and its name might come from "pie chest" or "jes' pie".