Vintage Vanilla Custard Pie
The Custard Pie seems to have gone out of style. Creamy custard is from a time of black and white televisions and the idea that all grandmothers set their freshly baked pies on the window-sill to cool.
We live in a different time now. A time of shortcuts and instant gratification. People buy pies from grocery store bakeries instead of baking them from scratch. In-store bakeries bake their pies in disposable foil pans. There is nothing unique about them, however they continue to gain a spot on the dinner table.
The fillings for the pies are made in factories in distant places and baked in huge ovens. Buying baked goods in grocery stores is the norm.
Even the grandmothers that used to be home cooling pies from window sills are proudly self-scanning them through the checkout lanes.
Twenty years ago, Dale and I attended North East United Church of Christ. There were some colorful characters there.
Doris was one of those characters, and I adored her.
She called me Steve instead of Doug. I’m not sure why she did and I don’t know why I never corrected her either.
Every Sunday after church service, during fellowship hour, Doris could be heard yelling “Has anyone seen Steve?” Of course no one answered, because no one knew Steve.
Doris was devoted to the church was gladly in charge of the bake sale at the annual community BBQ. She took her position quite seriously.
The weeks leading up to the event, during Sunday service, Doris would stand during announcements, demanding that everyone start thinking about what they were baking for the bake sale. It would not have occurred to her that anyone would disgrace the church with anything purchased at a store and no one in the congregation would ever think of letting her down.
The day after the bake sale, everyone gathered to find their empty pie pans that had been piled high by Doris, on a table in the social hall. It was fun to watch people straighten out the mess.
Doris has been gone a long time, but even now, when I bake a pie from my scratch, I imagine her somewhere saying, “Good Job Steve.”
Vintage Vanilla Custard Pie
The vanilla flavor explodes as you take your first bite of this vintage pie. You'll want to keep this recipe around.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 cups flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup butter
- 3-7 tablespoons cold water
Custard Filling Recipe
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 egg yolks- beaten
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 4 tablespoon vanilla
Instructions
Pie Crust instructions
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add flour into a mixing bowl with the butter.
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Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour.
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add salt and water.
Mix until dough is formed.
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Roll the dough out on a flat surface.
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put foil on the bottom of the pie crust and add dry beans or pie weights
Bake at 375 degrees until brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Custard Pie Filling Instructions
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Scald milk in a saucepan
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Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a pan and place on medium heat.
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Slowly, add scalded milk, ½ cup at a time while continuing to whisk. As the mixture starts to thicken, add the next ½ cup of scalded milk.
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Add milk, a 1/2 until all the milk has been added.
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Continue to stir while the custard starts re-thicken.
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Remove from the heat and temper the beaten eggs by adding ¼ cup of the custard mixture to the eggs at a time, continuing to stir.
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Once two cups of batter have been mixed with the eggs, add back to the saucepan at medium heat.
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Stir the custard until it thickens and resembles a thick pudding, remove from heat.
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Stir in melted butter and vanilla.
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Pour into baked pie shell and chill overnight.
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Add berries to garnish and whipped cream.
That looks so good!!! Cool story too.