We should all have a solid command of the ABCs of baking. Thankfully, Food52's Test Kitchen Manager Erin McDowell is here, with tips and tricks to help you master the most essential desserts and the simplest breads.
Today: We love custard pies as much as we fear them -- but not for long. Erin shows us how to tackle this sensitive dessert, just in time for Thanksgiving.
Custard pie is the elusive, creamy cousin of the fruit pie. And while these pies are some of the most beloved (I'm looking at you, pumpkin), they are also the most misunderstood. While they are more sensitive than other pies, they are no more laborious. In many cases, mixing the filling really just takes a whisk and a bowl -- there are no special ingredients or techniques.
The concept is simple, but it takes a deeper level of understanding to ace custard pies every time. In the end, success is about proper manipulation of the ingredients. With turkey day right around the corner, time to master it is a-wasting. Here’s what you need to know to make a better custard pie:
- Start with the right dough. As usual, the right dough is crucial to the success of any pie. For pies with high levels of moisture in the filling, especially custard pies, it’s important to use what is referred to as a "mealy" crust. It doesn’t sound appetizing, but it's just a measure of how fully you incorporate the butter into the dough.
For a flaky crust, you mix the butter into the flour until it resembles the size of walnut halves. For a mealy crust, you mix until the butter pieces are the size of peas. With the butter in smaller pieces, fewer flaky layers form. While flakiness is often desirable for fruit pies, when it comes to custard or cream fillings, it allows too many nooks and crannies where moisture can seep in -- which results in pie's enemy number one: a soggy crust.
- Perform the jiggle test to test if the pie is done. How do you tell if a custard pie is done? First, you should know what’s happening in the oven: As the pie bakes, the protein strands in the eggs start to coagulate and cause the custard to set. This is a complex process -- and to a nerd like me, one of the most fascinating in the food world (there are over 40 different types of protein in eggs!). Egg whites thicken at about 145° F and become tenderly solid at 150° F, at which point the egg yolks begin to thicken, as well. Egg yolks set at about 158° F, and the whole egg is firm around 165° F.
Sugar plays an important role, too -- not just for taste and flavor, but also because it helps to denature the egg proteins, ensuring that they break down (and eventually coagulate) properly. Without sugar, the custard is much more likely to curdle (it also wouldn’t taste great without it). Here’s what that nerdy stuff means for you when you look in the oven:
Most custard pies will soufflé up slightly. The key is to let your pie soufflé around the edges, but remove it from the oven before it puffs across the whole pie. In a properly baked custard pie, the filling will settle again as it cools, creating a flat surface. If the pie puffs up across its entire surface, it may crack when it settles (a big custard pie no-no, caused by overbaking and the over-coagulation of the egg proteins). If the pie soufflés around the edges, this indicates that the filling is beginning to set. The pie should continue to bake until the center jiggles slightly when nudged but is still somewhat "set"; this means that two-thirds of the pie should stay relatively still when jiggled (less than this will lead to an under-baked, loose filling).
Some recipes may reference a "knife test," which calls for inserting the blade of a sharp paring knife into the custard to test doneness. This may work on some pies, namely pecan, which contains large quantities of sugar (some of it inverted sugar from corn syrup, molasses, or honey) and caramelizes while it cooks, giving it a bit of a "crust" on the surface -- this makes it easier to tell when it’s properly baked and firm. However, other pies may appear relatively liquid even when almost entirely baked (pumpkin pie included), meaning that the knife may not come out completely clean. On top of that, you're left with a gash in the middle of your pie, and you just spent all of that time and effort to make it perfect -- why mar your masterpiece?
More: This Chai Masala Pumpkin Pie will spice up your Thanksgiving.
- Cool gradually. Just like cheesecake, custard pies need to cool gradually. Some folks recommend turning off the oven and letting the pie cool to an ambient temperature inside. This has the advantage of being very gradual, meaning the pie will continue to bake in the residual heat of the oven -- so it’s important to remember to shorten baking time by 10 minutes or so when you decide to go this route.
I prefer to just remove my pie when it’s done, and cool it completely at room temperature. I only refrigerate a custard pie when necessary; I’m not finicky about a custard pie sitting at room temperature for a few hours while my guests inch toward dessert. Refrigerating the pie doesn’t do any harm except, sometimes, to the bottom crust. I’ve found that refrigerating pie can soften the bottom crust, though this is largely due to the natural absorption of moisture over a certain length of holding time (meaning 8 hours or more). That being said, on a big pie day like Thanksgiving, I have to make the pies a full day ahead to free up the oven, and refrigeration needs to happen. Par baking and making sure that the crust is extra crisp will ensure that it doesn’t get too soggy with time.
Maple Chess Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie
1 prepared pie crust
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup superfine sugar
Good maple syrup, for serving
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Photos by Erin McDowell