Custard Pie

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). Fit the crust into a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges.
2. Line the crust with parchment and pie weights (or dried beans) and blind-bake for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment and bake 5 more minutes until just set but pale. Reduce oven to 350°F (177°C).
3. Whisk the filling ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth.
4. Pour the filling into the crust.
5. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the edges are set and the center jiggles only slightly when the pan is nudged.
6. Cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate at least 2 hours before slicing.

The Tale of Custard Pie

Story updated September 15, 2026

Custard pie is one of the oldest pies still being baked, with roots in medieval England. Fourteenth-century cooks were already filling pastry shells with cream or milk, eggs, sugar or honey, and spices, dishes then called doucettes or darioles, and a version was served at the coronation banquet of King Henry IV in 1399. The word 'custard' itself likely descends from the Anglo-Norman 'crustade,' related to the Italian 'crostata.' English colonists carried the technique to America, where it became a plain, reliable dessert for cooks without access to fresh fruit. Custard pie also picked up an odd second life in comedy: the pie-in-the-face gag of silent film became so associated with the dessert that England still holds an annual World Custard Pie Championship, a tongue-in-cheek tribute to just how identifiable, and throwable, a custard pie had become by the twentieth century.