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A cream pie or tart is where the filling is usually made from a custard base (or pudding or mousse) with both egg yolk and cornstarch or flour used to thicken the mixture of milk or cream, sugar, and flavoring, and then is heated together on the stovetop, until the starch gelatinizes. The filling is spread in a cooled, pre-baked pie shell, either pastry or an alterative crust made from cookie crumbs or nuts.
SARAH SAYS: Be sure that you let the filling cool slightly before pouring it into your cooled, pre-baked pie shell. A warm filling is ideal: if added hot to a cool crust, the filling is likely to create a soggy bottom crust; on the other hand, a completely cooled filling just won't adhere to the pie crust layer below it, and will separate from it.
If you're topping a pie with meringue, remember to spread it on warm filling, and all the way to the e
dge of the crust. This will prevent the meringue from shrinking and/or weeping and producing a watery pie edge.
The pie is then chilled until the filling cools and sets. Then, the pie can be topped with whipped cream, right before serving.
SARAH SAYS: All cream fillings are perishable, requiring that pie remain refrigerated. Cream fillings do not freeze well.
To serve, cream pies will cut more cleanly if you wipe the blade of a hot knife (dipped into a container of hot tap water) often with a damp towel. A pie crust made with cookie crumbs will sometimes stick to the pan when the pie is chilled. A quick remedy is to soak a dishtowel in very hot water, wring it out, and wrap it around the base of the pie plate for 5 minutes. The heat will soften the butter in the crust thereby loosening it for easy removal.
| Consistency | Smooth, holds soft shape when sliced |
| Flavor | Pleasing, well blended Characteristic of ingredients |
KEY LIME PIES: Key lime pie is an American dessert made of key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk in a prebaked pie crust. The traditional Conch version uses the egg whites to make a meringue topping. The dish is named after the small key limes (Citrus aurantifolia 'Swingle') that are naturalized throughout the Florida Keys. While their thorns make them less tractable, and their thin yellow rind more perishable, key limes are more tart and aromatic than the common Persian limes seen year round in most U.S. grocery stores.
Key lime juice, unlike regular lime juice, is a pale yellow. The filling in key lime pie is also yellow, largely due to the egg yolks.
During mixing, a reaction between the condensed milk and the acidic lime juice occurs which causes the filling to thicken on its own without requiring baking. Many early recipes for key lime pie did not instruct the cook ever to bake the pie, relying on this chemical reaction (called souring) to produce the proper consistency of the filling. The acid in the lime juice actually "cooks" the pie. Today, in the interest of safety due to consumption of raw eggs, pies of this nature are usually baked for a short time. The baking also thickens the texture more than the reaction alone.
(Wikipedia, 9-9-2011)
In Florida, Key lime pies are always made with local Key lime juice. In 1853, a struggling inventor named Gail Borden created condensed milk, which become popular in places where milk was unavailable -- like Key West.
Key lime pie evolved after someone in the area got the idea of making a "custard" with Borden's invention, combining it with key lime juice and putting it all into a pie crust. It turned out that the lime cooks eggs and milk and makes into a custardy consistency, and flavor of the limes kills the cooked milk taste of condensed milk.
Care for this mousse-like pie as you would whipped cream. Keep refrigerated for up to 5 days, or keep in freezer for 2-4 weeks. Key-Lime Pie should be eaten at refrigerator temperature. If pie has been in freezer, put it in the refrigerator for about 2 hours prior to serving, or cut the number of slices you wish to serve and leave at room temperature until they are defrosted completely.
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Too thin
Not enough starch or egg yolk
Flows when cut
Mixture not heated long enough before yolk is added
In lemon pies, excessive heating after lemon juice is added can cause thinning of starch
Grainy
Burner too high
Lumpy
Not enough stirring
Egg yolks not “tempered”
Cornstarch wasn’t combined with sugar and salt before adding water
Too Thick, Gummy, Sticky
Improper proportion of ingredients
Too much starch, egg yolk
Not enough liquid
