Custard is a classic taste and texture that has been a staple in the pie world for many generations. The smell of this pie baking will take you back to your grandmother’s kitchen. This same custard can be used in individual custard cups and baked for a simple, yet delicious no-crust dessert. You can use this custard recipe as a basis for your crème brule dessert in ramekins with a hardened sugar crust.

The basis of a good custard is quality ingredients and again, this pie has easy to find bare-bones ingredients from the kitchen besides being fast and easy to mix up and bake. If you didn’t grow up with custard pies, this is your time to start a tradition for your family. Light and delicate, a perfect combination for the perfect dessert after dinner or as a stand-alone dessert with friends and family. 

Classic Custard Pie

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 2 2/3 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat your eggs slightly, then add sugar, salt, nutmeg, vanilla, and milk.
3. Beat well and pour into the unbaked pie shell and place on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. The pie will set up firm as it cools.
5. Sprinkle the top with fresh nutmeg and serve with whipped cream if desired.

Source: lilyinkitchen.com

Chocolate Cream Pie…I can’t think of anything more delicious. But again, I love chocolate and especially dark chocolate. When you think of chocolate cream pie you may think, “I will just mix up a box of pudding and pour it into a pie shell.” I will admit, I USED to do that. This pie will convert you to the SCRATCH side of baking. The flavor is delicious and it’s so easy to make. This chocolate filling is cooked on the stove while the crust is baked. Then the filling is poured into the baked pie shell, cooled, then refrigerated. I love fruit paired with chocolate. Raspberries and strawberries are two of my favorites. The pies that we have been blogging have for the most part been bare bones ingredients. I love this since we are spending so much time at home and have time to prepare delicious desserts for family meals. 

Pie Hint:  Since this pie shell is pre-baked for the filling, my hint to you is to pie beads. You can use a pie bead necklace or beans baked with the shell. This will eliminate bubbles in the bottom of the crust that can form while baking. I also used a whisk and potato masher to blend my dry ingredients for the filling. You could also sift. You want to make sure the ingredients are free from any lumps before cooking.

Chocolate Cream Pie

• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cocoa of your choice (I used dark)
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 pastry shell, baked (I made a regular pie shell, not a deep dish)

Instructions:

1. Bake a pie shell according to package or the recipe. Place pie beads, necklace, or dry beans to prevent bubbling. Place the pie shell on a cookie sheet.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the first 6 ingredients. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. 
3. Whisk 1 cup hot mixture into the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Return all to the pan; bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from the heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Cool slightly.
5. Pour want filling into crust. 
6. Cool for 1 hour. 
7. Chill in the refrigerator until set. 
8. If desired, top with whipped cream, fruit, and chocolate curls or cocoa.  Enjoy!!

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Ever heard of a Water Pie? It is often referred to as the Great Depression Water Pie. Six bare-bones ingredients blended together create a delicious easy pie. As I think of the depression, we learn about that time of history in school. I am fortunate enough to hear first-hand stories. One of my grandmothers grew up in the depression. As a little girl, she remembers people knocking on the door and asking her mother for food. I would read stories of this in school, but to have firsthand experience brings gratitude to how much we have today in our lives. I have found that I love depression era fabrics, quilt patterns, and recipes of a time that can teach us so much in developing character and our integrity in creating beauty, clothes, and delicious meals.

This pie is so delicious and yet so simple. I will admit, I was apprehensive to try a recipe so simple and a wonderful flavor which has a tint of lemon that can be detected. Hygge times are so important to me and making memories with my family. This pie is Hygge; comfort food, people gathering, laughs, and memories. I look forward to sharing this pie with my family as a piece of family history and hearing stories of generations ago and how we can share with others this year.

Pie Hint:  This pie is cooked for 40 minutes and then another 30 minutes at a lower temperature. During the second 30 minutes of cooking be sure and use a pie shield to protect your crust. Kitchen Kneads has everything you will need or even want to begin your pie baking experiences or to add new gadgets to your kitchen if you are an experienced pie baker.

Great Depression Water Pie

• 1 9-inch deep dish pie crust, unbaked
• 1 ½ cups water
• 4 Ttablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 5 tablespoons butter, cut into 5 pieces

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 and set empty pie crust on a baking sheet.
2. Pour 1 ½ cups water into the pie crust.
3. In a small bowl, stir together flour and sugar. Sprinkle evenly over water in crust.  Don’t stir.
4. Drizzle vanilla over water in pie crust. Place pats of butter on top of this.
5. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and cover sides of crust with a crust shield if needed to prevent burning.  Continue cooking for additional 30 minutes.
6. Pie will be watery when you pull it out of the oven but will gel as it cools. Allow to cool completely and then cover and place in the fridge until chilled before cutting.

This pie doesn’t have a lot of color. Gardens were huge in the depression. I have garnished this pie with mint, blackberries, and raspberries. These 3 crops that grow easily and wild and to add color and flavor. With so many families having livestock whipped cream would have been available as well. Enjoy!!

Recipe from Southern Plate