I am going to do one of our family's favorite recipes here. Due to our busy schedule and large family, I look for recipes that are fast and easily doubled, tripled or more as the need arises. Cream pie is one of those; the actual hands-on time is minimal, and you just need a couple hours chill time before serving.
Here's a brief history of cream pie I found online in a quick search. The first mention of cream pie that I found is Boston Cream Pie created at the Parker House Hotel in 1856. While not a direct replica of today's cream pie, it was the predecessor to it. During the 19th Century the words 'cake' and 'pie' were used interchangeably. The Boston Cream pie was what we would call a double layer cake filled with creme patissiere, a type of custard.
So, on to the Law Family version of Cream Pie:
Here are the players: You will need flour, butter, salt, sugar, eggs, cream/whole milk, vanilla, coconut (optional) and baking cocoa (optional).
First step - You need to make a baked pie crust. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Mix your flour and salt together then add in your butter. Make sure you are working with cold ingredients.
Cut your butter in with a pastry cutter. I finally acquired one and it makes a world of difference! You want a large crumb, about pea size or smaller.
Add cold water until it just starts to moisten the flour and starts sticking together. Gather the dough into a ball. Don't knead it, just kind of push it together, squeeze a little bit, to form a ball.
Divide in half if you doubled the recipe. I always do for this crew, as one pie is not nearly enough. Let it rest for a few minutes while you assemble the ingredients for the filling.
Turn onto a floured surface, flatten ball and roll out pastry to fit your pie plate. I just take a knife and quickly cut the excess dough off around the edge. I've found if I do it this way, my dough doesn't slip down the edges of my pie plate, and I get a nicer looking crust.
Make sure to prick your pastry dough all over to prevent it from developing air pockets while it bakes.
Place in your preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until the dough is just starting to turn brown. Remove and let it cool. Now for the part that really counts - THE FILLING!
I wash enough dishes at my house so I'm always looking for ways to reduce the dish load. To that end I mix all my filling ingredients in my sauce pan. First, the eggs go in, and you can give them a good whisking if you like or wait until later and whisk it all together.
Next, I add salt, sugar, and flour or cornstarch, whichever you have on hand. Both work equally well. We try and stay away from cornstarch so I use flour. We like it better as it gives the filling a little more body. If you use flour, a good rule of thumb is 2 Tbsp. flour to 1 Tbsp. cornstarch.
If you are making chocolate cream pie, add the cocoa powder now.
Pour in your 100% Jersey cream, or you can use whole milk. Cream just takes it to a whole new level of goodness!
Now whip it all together, making sure to get the eggs all whisked in well, if you didn't do it earlier. Whisk all the lumps of flour out.
Now cook over medium heat, stirring almost constantly, especially after it starts to thicken. Once it starts to thicken and you see a clear trail behind the whisk, turn off the heat and add butter, vanilla, and coconut if adding it.
You can now turn the heat back on and whisk in your last ingredients and let it thicken a bit more until you see a clear trail behind your whisk that stays there. Be careful you don't cook it too long and it starts getting lumpy on you.
Pour filling mixture into prepared, baked pie crust, and top with coconut for a decorative appearance and to remember which one had coconut in it!
Plastic wrap will help prevent a tough layer from forming on top of the pie. Refrigerate at least 2 hours until set. If you are feeling extravagant you can top with whipped cream, however, we find that we like it just as well by itself.
Don't forget to go over to our dairy page and order up dairy ingredients for this awesome recipe!
This recipe is for one 9-inch pie:
Cream Pie
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch or 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups cream or milk
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
Coconut Cream add:
1/2 cup flaked coconut
Chocolate Cream add:
6 Tablespoons baking cocoa
1 1/2 cups of sugar
Add first 5 ingredients to sauce pan and whisk well. Heat, stirring constantly. When starting to thicken add butter, vanilla, and coconut. Finish heating until thick. Pour into pie crust and cool two hours.