Mrs. Fisher's Custard Pie
Try making this recipe for custard pie from What Mrs. Fisher knows About Old Southern Cooking, 1881, the first African-American cookbook!
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
- 8 oz flour, about 2 cups sifted plus more for rolling
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp lard
- Ice water
For the custard filling:
- 3 eggs
- 1 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 fresh nutmeg (about 1 teaspoon), divided
- 1 tsp vanilla (optional, this was not in the original recipe, see notes)
Instructions
To make the pie crust:
- Using a pastry cutter, combine flour, butter, and lard until butter and lard are pea-sized and covered by flour.
- Add enough ice water so the dough becomes clumpy and shaggy and begins to form a ball when pressed together. Be careful to not to add too much water! The dough should be sticky but not wet. For me it took about about 1/2 cup, use more/less water as needed.
- Place dough on a floured working surface and fold the dough together until all the fats are incorporated.
- Form dough into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
To prep the pie crust:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured working surface until about 12" in diameter.
- Place the dough into your pie dish (no need to spray/butter it first). Crimp the edges.
- Place parchment paper over the dough and fill with pie weights/beans/rice. Bake crust for 12 minutes. Let cool while making the filling.
To make the filling:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, and half of your grated nutmeg (about 1/2 teaspoon).
- Pour egg mixture in pie dish prepared with pre-baked crust. Sprinkle the top with remaining nutmeg (about 1/2 teaspoon).
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool on wire rack, refrigerate. Serve chilled.
Notes
- Vanilla was not included in the original recipe. However, it is common in custard pies today. I think it adds a nice complement to the nutmeg, depth, and more sweetness.
- Freshly grated nutmeg is much more pure and fragrant than store-bought ground nutmeg. If you do not have fresh nutmeg, you may want to double the amount used in this recipe.