Recipe of the Week: Egg Custard Pie

I made something a little different for this week's featured recipe. This week was my dad's birthday, and for the occasion I decided to make my first attempt at an Egg Custard Pie. I remember my grandmother making these for my dad when I was still a kid. He loved them, but I don't recall him ever getting the recipe for it or attempting to make it himself, which is kind of odd because my dad's always trying new recipes. Anyway, my dad feels that he has basically everything he needs, and he'd much rather recieve a gift that someone made for him as opposed to something that's been bought, so for his birthday, I wanted to try this recipe.

I have to admit, I was a little clueless here. Not only had I never made this, but I've never even tasted one before! So I had nothing to compare it to, other than the memory of what my grandmother's pie looked like! And there were only about half a dozen different recipes to choose from in my books! So basically I went in to this, knowing that at the very least my dad would be happy that I even made the attempt and he'd be pleased that I paid attention and remembered that he liked this pie.

Well, that idea turned out to be a major understatement. When I showed up with the pie, my dad was thrilled! He said that he didn't think he'd had one since the last time my grandmother made one before she got sick, which was about 15 years ago! He was very surprised and happy, and upon tasting it, he said it was just as good as the one's grandma used to make. (yay!) I actually can't remember the last time I saw him react to a gift like that, so it was very touching, and made me very happy as well!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup self-rising flour
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Instructions: Spray pie pan with cooking spray or use melted butter. Mix sugar and flour together; then add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix well. Add melted butter last. Stir well and pour into deep dish pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until nicely browned.


Tips & Warnings:

-The batter is very thin and will almost spill over the side of the pie pan if you're not careful; yet there isn't really enough batter to separate it into 2 pies either. Use a large/deep dish pie pan if you have one. Also, if using a regular sized pie pan I recommend placing the pie pan on a large baking sheet so that when you place it in the oven, any spills will go on the the baking sheet rather than all over your oven.

-Also, for my pie, I chose not to use a crust, because my grandmother didn't use one; however, some of the recipes that I looked at did call for a frozen pie crust to be used.

-To spice it up a bit, other recipes call for 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg. You could also use allspice or cinnamon.

-I also baked my pie a little longer than the directions called for, about 40-45 minutes, but I think my oven just cooks a little slow.

These pictures didn't turn out to be the greatest in the world, but the pie does look good in person. And it was very easy to make, so if someone in your family likes custard, this recipe could be ideal for Thanksgiving or Christmas!

-Jerri