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Authentic Cream Pie Recipe United States of America, North America
JUMP TO RECIPEWe strongly advise you to read the cooking tips before jumping to the recipe though
Introduction & history
A diner classic, cream pie is perhaps the easiest of American desserts to prepare. A shortcrust pastry made with just flour, butter and sugar is pressed into a pie plate and usually baked at a medium temperature. Once cooled, a custard made with milk, sugar, yolks, eggs, and cream is poured into a pie shell and topped with whipped cream. Alternatively, the crust can be made with anything from wafers, chocolate cookies, even sugar cones, and cornflakes, while the standard vanilla custard, depending on the recipe, can be additionally flavored and decorated with, for example, coconut, chocolate, or bananas. Meringue can be used as topping instead of whipped cream in which case it must be baked. Coconut cream pie, as well as banana cream pie, are the most popular kinds, with chocolate cream pie coming in close second. Basically, there is no limit to how you can flavor a cream pie, all that is necessary is to add the desired flavor ingredient to the basic recipe.
Cooking tips
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crust
Besides shortcrust pastry, you can use graham crackers, chocolate cookies, and even sugar cones or cornflakes to make your pie crust. -
custard
It’s important that you avoid getting any lumps in your custard. If necessary, run the custard through a fine-mesh sieve to get the silkiest custard possible that is lump-free. -
flavors & additional ingredients
The beauty of cream pie lies in the fact that you only need to know one, basic recipe, that for vanilla cream pie. If you add bananas to the vanilla cream pie, you get banana cream pie. The same thing goes for coconut, chocolate, or any other flavor/ingredient you desire to incorporate into the pie.
Recipe variations
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Banana Cream Pie
Ready in 1h 15minThe following recipe teaches you how to make the classic banana cream pie. The recipe gives instructions for all the components of the pie: the crust, the custard, the bananas, and the topping. The pie is easy to make, but the recipe is very detailed to eliminate any possible mishaps during preparation.
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Vanilla Cream Pie
Ready in 1h 10minHere, the vanilla cream pie consists of three elements: the crust, the vanilla-flavored custard made with yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and milk, and the meringue, which are all prepared separately and then assembled to make a cream pie that is then baked. For a more festive look, the meringue should be colored two different colors. Also, remember to cool the pie completely before you serve it.
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Bavarian Cream Pie
Ready in 1hIn this variant, the main star is Bavarian cream, a custard thickened with gelatin, which is how this recipe got its name — Bavarian cream pie. However, there's much more to this pie. The Bavarian cream is also mixed with ice cream and whipped heavy cream, resulting in an extremely rich and decadent pie.
Chocolate Cream Pie
PREP 45min
COOK 15min
READY IN 1h
The following recipe gives instructions on how to make a chocolate cream pie. The crust is made with chocolate wafers, the custard is mixed with butter and melted chocolate, and the pie is topped with sweetened and whipped heavy cream.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cream Pie
FOR THE CRUST
1 ⅓ cups chocolate wafer crumbs
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
FOR THE FILLING
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
4 large egg yolks
3 cups whole milk
5 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), melted
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
FOR THE TOPPING
3/4 cup chilled heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
Preparation
1
Chocolate Cream Pie
Step 1/3
Position the rack in the middle of the oven, then set the oven to preheat to 350 °F. In a large bowl combine the crumbs, butter, and sugar until you get a pliable mass that you then need to press into the bottom and the sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then take out and set aside to cool.
Step 2/3
For the filling, take a large saucepan and add to it sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks. Whisk until combined, and then while continuously whisking, slowly pour in the milk in a thin stream. Next, set the saucepan over medium heat. Continue to whisk until it boils, then reduce the heat and cook for one more minute, however, do not stop whisking. Strain the cream through a fine-mesh sieve and into a bowl, then mix in the chocolates, butter, and vanilla. Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the cream and leave to first cool at room temperature for two hours.
Step 3/3
Once cooled, fill the pie crust with the cream. Cover the pie and place it in a refrigerator to chill for a minimum of six hours. To make the topping, add heavy cream and sugar to a large bowl and beat to stiff peaks. Pipe or spoon on top of the chilled pie and serve.
Other Variations
-
Banana Cream Pie
Ready in 1h 15minThe following recipe teaches you how to make the classic banana cream pie. The recipe gives instructions for all the components of the pie: the crust, the custard, the bananas, and the topping. The pie is easy to make, but the recipe is very detailed to eliminate any possible mishaps during preparation.
-
Vanilla Cream Pie
Ready in 1h 10minHere, the vanilla cream pie consists of three elements: the crust, the vanilla-flavored custard made with yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and milk, and the meringue, which are all prepared separately and then assembled to make a cream pie that is then baked. For a more festive look, the meringue should be colored two different colors. Also, remember to cool the pie completely before you serve it.
-
Bavarian Cream Pie
Ready in 1hIn this variant, the main star is Bavarian cream, a custard thickened with gelatin, which is how this recipe got its name — Bavarian cream pie. However, there's much more to this pie. The Bavarian cream is also mixed with ice cream and whipped heavy cream, resulting in an extremely rich and decadent pie.
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