How long does it take to make Custard Pie?

Pecan pie filling: 50 g melted butter, 80 g dark brown sugar, 100 ml maple syrup, 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla, poured over a baked crust with 200 g pecans; bake at 180°C (355°F) for 30–35 minutes and cool for a few hours until the pie sets.

4 hr 24 minTotal

6 minActive time

4 hr 18 minSetting

Step by Step

#	What to do	How long
1	Mix the flour and sugar in a bowl	1 min
2	Add the cold butter in cubes and rub it in with your fingertips	1 min
3	Add the egg and cold water and quickly bring together with your hands, without kneading, just	1 min
4	Whip the soft butter with the sugar	—
5	Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes	30 min
6	Roll out the dough and line a 24 cm Tart pan with it, sides included. Prick the bottom with a fork	—
7	Top with parchment paper and weights (or dried beans) and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (355°F) for 15 minutes	15 min
8	In a bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, syrup, butter and vanilla	1 min
9	Scatter the pecans over the bottom of the baked shell	1 min
10	Pour the filling into the baked shell, over the pecans	1 min
11	Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (355°F) 30–35 minutes	32 min
12	Cool completely, a few hours	3 hr

How to Tell It's Done

until coarse crumbs form
until the dough comes together
until pale and fluffy
until smooth
until the filling is set and the center still jiggles slightly
until the filling sets

Tips

The butter must stay cold: butter that melts in your hands gives a hard dough instead of a crumbly one. Work quickly, and if the dough warms up, put it back in the fridge.
Knead as little as possible: long kneading develops gluten, and the dough comes out tough and shrinks in the oven.
Cream the butter soft, at room temperature: cold butter doesn't take in air, and melted butter doesn't hold it.
Chilling firms the butter and relaxes the gluten: the dough rolls out easily, doesn't stick to the counter and doesn't shrink in the oven.
Roll from the center outward and give the dough a quarter turn between rolls: this keeps it even in thickness and stops it sticking to the counter. If it springs back, cover for 10–15 minutes and try again.
The weights keep the dough from puffing up and shrinking from the sides: without them the bottom bubbles and the shell comes out lopsided.

Common Mistakes

Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.

More Ways

In pecan pie filling, nuts are mixed with eggs, butter and sugar or syrup; the wet filling goes only into a baked shell, so the bottom of the pie doesn't get soggy.
Pumpkin pie: 850 g pumpkin purée, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and 3 eggs, in a shell blind-baked for about 7 minutes; bake at 170°C (340°F) for 25–30 minutes, while the center still jiggles slightly, and cool for 2–3 hours.
Lemon pie with condensed milk: 400 ml sweetened condensed milk, 4 egg yolks and 100 ml fresh lemon juice, whisked by hand and poured over a baked and cooled biscuit base; bake at 160°C (320°F) for about half an hour, chill overnight and serve with whipped cream.
A can of sweetened condensed milk, 3 egg yolks and three-fifths of a cup of lemon juice, poured into a baked shell and baked at 175°C (345°F) for 20 minutes.

The full recipe: Custard Pie →