Recipe from Lisa Ludwinski
Adapted by Margaux Laskey
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus chilling and freezing
- Rating
- 4(705)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Sort of a Yankee riff on the South’s chess pie, this buttery and rich custard pie is adapted from “Sister Pie: The Recipes and Stories of a Big-Hearted Bakery in Detroit” by Lisa Ludwinski. Use the best dark maple syrup you can find, and don’t forget the flaky sea salt. It takes the pie from simply sweet to sophisticated. Keep an eye on the crust while it's baking: If it’s browning too much for your taste, lightly cover the entire pie with a sheet of aluminum foil for the remaining time. —Margaux Laskey
Featured in: The Best Baking Cookbooks of 2018
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- Perfect Pie Crust, prepared for a custard pie and chilled
- ½cup plus 2 tablespoons/140 grams unsalted butter (1¼ sticks), melted and cooled
- 1cup/240 milliliters dark robust (formerly Grade B) maple syrup
- ¾cup/165 grams packed light brown sugar
- ¼cup/35 grams fine yellow cornmeal
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3large eggs, at room temperature
- 1large egg yolk, at room temperature
- ¾cup/180 milliliters heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1¼teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1large egg, beaten
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
358 calories; 21 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 36 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 248 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
On a lightly floured surface and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out a disc of dough into a circle about ¼-inch thick. Starting at one end, gently roll up the dough onto the rolling pin. Unfurl the dough over a 9-inch pie plate and press it in lightly, making sure it’s lining the plate.
Step
2
Trim so there’s about ½-inch of excess dough hanging over the edge of the pie plate. (If the dough feels warm, refrigerate it for 15 minutes.) Tuck the excess dough under itself so it is flush with the edge of the pie plate; leave the pie like this for a straight-edge finish, or crimp as desired. Freeze for at least 15 minutes. Heat your oven to 450 degrees with the rack on the lowest level.
Step
3
Remove the pie crust from the freezer, tear off a square of aluminum foil that is slightly larger than the pie shell, and gently fit it into the frozen crust. Fill the crust with pie weights or dried beans (they should come all the way up to the crimps) and place the pie pan on a baking sheet. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven, and bake for 25 to 27 minutes. Check for doneness by peeling up a piece of foil — the crimps should be light golden brown. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. After 6 minutes, carefully remove the foil and beans. You are now ready to fill the pie. Reduce your oven to 350 degrees.
Step
4
Make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter and maple syrup. Whisk in the brown sugar, cornmeal and kosher salt.
Step
5
Crack the eggs and yolk into another medium bowl. Add the cream and vanilla, and whisk until combined.
Step
6
Slowly pour the egg mixture into the maple mixture, and whisk just until combined.
Step
7
Place the blind-baked shell on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the crimped edge with the beaten egg. Pour the maple filling into the pie shell until it reaches the bottom of the crimps.
Step
8
Transfer the baking sheet with the pie on it to the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the edges are puffed and the center jiggles only slightly when shaken. It will continue to set as it cools.
Step
9
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool for 4 to 6 hours. Once fully cooled and at room temperature, sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt, slice into 8 to 10 pieces, and serve. Store leftover pie, well wrapped in plastic wrap or under a pie dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Ratings
4
out of 5
705
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Cooking Notes
RPCVKate
This has a nice maple flavor, but it is very, very sweet. I used 1/2 cup brown sugar. If I make it again, I would leave the brown sugar out entirely.
Chris M.
I browned the butter in the filling and got soo many compliments on the aroma. Not much extra work, and pairs nicely with the maple and brown sugar. Great pie!
Roz
Ive made this twice now, with the crust recipe from the book and both times at has been fabulous. The cornmeal in the batter is genius, brings a more complex texture and flavor to what would otherwise be overwhelmingly sweet. The sister pie cookbook is worth owning if you are a pie maker or lover!
H Slabaugh
Made this in store-bought Graham cracker crust and though different than the Sister Pie homemade crust, the maple complemented the Graham crust well. Not a bad shortcut! These store crusts are smaller so it filles ~1.5 crusts.
Jen
Add pecans!
kimvanantwerp
Well, I failed -twice- to make a crust, not the NYT recipe. Long story. Anyway, we forged ahead with a quick graham cracker crust and used an old-school 1qt Corning Ware casserole to make this, a square one. It turned out beautifully! We used semolina in place of cornmeal because we had it, and poured extra filling into a greased ramekin. That gave us the idea to make little individual custards next time. My boyfriend enjoyed it with a super dark beer and promptly conked out in bliss. Great one.
Shannon
This was so good! It's almost like a big, chewy, sweet pretzel. I will make again for holidays.
Christine
This is like a big syrup soaked pancake inside a pie crust. It is very sweet, but full of flavor. I hear they serve it with slices of bacon at the Sister Pie bakery in Detroit. A couple of breakfast sausages wouldn't be bad either. A perfect pie for when you don't have fruit.
Ellen Tabor
It might need the sugar for density.
kimvanantwerp
Kelley, we used Semolina flour and it turned out great. I think this element is just to soak up liquid/add body. the finished product is almost like a syrup-soaked cake. I found lots of advice online searching for Chess pie, buttermilk pie, custard pie tips.Have fun!
Amy
If I were to make this again, I would leave out the melted butter-- it's just too much, and it fries out into the crust. Based on a previous comment, I cut the brown sugar and would probably leave that out entirely, too.
Jennifer Rowe
Absolutely delicious. Breakfast flavor in a dessert!
Arthur
Very good flavor, but this pie separated on me even though I followed the recipe to a tee.
Erica
My family didn't like this pie. The flavor was good (maple syrup) but the texture did not hit. It's just a buttery syrup bomb with an almost tapioca mouth feel due to the cornmeal. I would just make a chess pie or a pecan pie next time.
Claire
Love this! I wasn’t able to find grade b maple syrup, so I mixed in about 1.5 tsp of molasses to add to the brown sugar flavor and it turned out beautifully. There was a bit of leftover filling for me so I used more pie crust to make mini pies in muffin tins. I’m in love. It’s like the caramelized part of pecan pie, but without the pecans. My boyfriend can’t eat nuts so I’m THRILLED there’s something similar he can enjoy. I’ve enjoyed some herbs tonight and worry there won’t be any pie soon.
Jennie
We love this pie. The salt is an absolutely key ingredient--otherwise it's a bit one-note. I wish I'd used my deep-dish pie plate, because I had filling left over that I baked separately as a baked custard. A note on the crust--I diverged from the directions and added the water in the food processor rather than by hand, and my crust ended up quite tough. However, it was much easier and it's still flaky. Overall: A solid A. Just delicious!
Jennie
Also, we found that creme fraiche was a great complement when serving. Unsweetened whipped cream would be good too.
lyndz
I used Claire Saffitz‘s pie crust recipe and also browned the butter. Those are the only alterations I made. Absolutely wonderful, dreamy flavor, but I would’ve preferred a smoother custard. I probably did something wrong! Any ideas?
Alan
4/23/22. Interesting. Salt helps, probably needs whipped cream, coffee, milk. Used Trader Joe’s crust which worked well.
Andrea
What is with the eggs? Why not say 4 beaten eggs and a yolk?
Madeline
Looks like they mean it when they say 1/4 inch thick! I burned the crust in the blind bake.
VMonc
Try this with coarsely chopped walnuts for an absolutely delicious maple-walnut pie!
Julie
How much walnuts did you add in? Thanks.
Christina
Got my best-ever food compliment after making this pie and bringing it to a potluck! And that was using a purchased crust. I'm sure it's even better with the homemade one.
Tory W
Do you it's possible to freeze this?
Lauren
Used store-bought crust to save on time. The flavor of this was nice but I think I overcooked the custard as mine was grainy/slightly curdled, so I didn't love the texture.
Ernest
The filling worked well and was delicious though very very sweet and buttery. The linked crust was less successful for me. I may have rolled it too thin but the end result ended up crunchy instead of flaky. I probably would not make this again—even if the crust had been better, the sweetness factor without, say, pecans to mitigate it, was too intense for my taste.
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