by Amélia Ávila (’24) | February 2, 2024
During my virtual English class the day before Thanksgiving break, I noticed a message in the Zoom chat from Ms. Yang referring to the previous article for my column: “The chicken dish you made for Mr. Quinn looked delicious! I must say, I’m jealous!” Surprised she had seen the Instagram reel so quickly, I asked her if she’d like to be my next feature, to which she replied with a resounding yes.
Besides being a passionate poet and an entertaining English teacher, Ms. Yang expresses her love for authentic Southern cuisine, namely her favorite dessert, egg custard pie. “It’s exactly what it sounds like,” she said when I asked her to describe the dish. Some of Mrs. Yang’s fondest childhood memories consist of eating egg custard in her home state of Georgia: “My Aunt Stelle used to make this custard when I visited her in Athens, Georgia.”
The original recipe for egg custard pie traces back to Ancient Rome, from where it spread. Many historians believe egg custard was first recorded in 1390, in one of the first English cookbooks, Forme de Cury. Much later, in 1884, Americans rushed to bake the trendy classic as it was published in the Boston Cooking-School CookBook by Fannie Farmer. According to Ms. Yang, egg custard pie remains a true staple in the south: “My mother was religious and we went to the Baptist church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. But on Wednesdays, I was always excited because the older ladies brought in egg custard pie.”
As I scoured the internet, I found what seemed like hundreds of varieties developed by Southern grandmothers and even cooking influencers who tried to recreate the classic. Some preached starting with a high oven temperature and gradually decreasing; others warned against blind-baking as it might dry out the pie. Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed, so I picked a recipe and began.
I am not an avid pie baker, but I decided to challenge myself and make the pie crust from scratch. With the assistance of a food processor, I was able to combine the flour, cold butter, salt, sugar, and a few tablespoons of ice water until it was at the desired consistency. I rolled out the dough and put it in the fridge to stay in its form while I prepared the custard. The first recipe I found used nutmeg and cinnamon in the custard and did not require any warm milk, which surprised me. The major concern I had was the infamous custard mistake; if you temper the eggs incorrectly or add hot liquid to cold eggs without whisking quick enough, the custard essentially becomes a lightly-sweetened version of scrambled eggs. After simply combining the sugar, a couple spoons of flour, eggs, milk, nutmeg, and cinnamon, the liquid mixture appeared ready to separate. However, I hoped for the best as I poured the liquid into the ten-minute blind-baked crust. After ten minutes in the oven, I realized the butter was splitting; thirty minutes later, I realized a hard skin had bubbled up on the custard and it was not baking correctly at all. Eager not to become a weeping Great British Bake Off contestant—“I can’t serve this to Paul Hollywood!”—I remained hopeful, ditched my horrible attempt at a Yorkshire accent, and started over.
After remaking the crust, I chose a new recipe. This time, a woman named Amy Lynn told me to refrain from blind baking and to scald my milk—heat it in a saucepan until the sides start to form tiny bubbles and emit steam. After heating the milk, I used a small soup ladle to pour the hot milk a little at a time into the simple mixture of beaten eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. In the oven, this pie fared significantly better than the first, and I took it out when the sides of the custard were stiff but the middle was still jiggly. I was pleasantly surprised it was cooked perfectly and held its shape when cut. To add an extra flavor, I topped the pie slice with cinnamon.
During collaboration, Ms. Yang tried the egg pie as I explained my endeavor. When she took a bite, she told me, “Tastes just like my aunt’s pie! Wow, food really has the ability to bring back so many memories.”
Overall, I enjoyed the challenge of baking and creating something new. While it did take two tries, I’m happy I was able to learn from my mistakes and improve for next time. If you want a simple dessert that is sure to be a crowd pleaser, buy premade pie crust and simply whisk together the custard. I’m sure your guests will remark, “This pie is egg-squisite!”
