Strive our Traditional Chess Pie Recipe and embrace the beloved creamy, flaky Southern dessert guaranteeing you delicacy and luxury in each slice.

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Hello Daring Bakers!
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: Only one chunk of Traditional Chess Pie, and also you’re hooked! With richly eggy custard nestled in a flaky crust, Chess Pie is a seemingly easy dessert that can shock you with its layers of deliciousness: sturdy vanilla sweetness, irresistible browned-butter nuttiness, and a contact of tanginess. Plus, this old style pie made with cheap substances has stood the take a look at of time for a purpose—it has a singular irresistible taste you’ll adore!
Desk of Contents
What’s Traditional Chess Pie?
- Traditional Chess Pie is a custard-like pie made with eggs, milk, sugar, and butter. Additionally, the addition of cornmeal and vinegar in chess pie offers it an intriguing, nice tanginess and a singular texture that differentiates it from a typical custard pie.
- Chess pie originated within the Southern United States, and its low-cost, pantry-staple substances replicate its humble roots.
- There are lots of tales behind the title. Maybe it comes from “pie chest” meals storage items first used within the 1800s. Nevertheless, some say Chess Pie developed from long-ago southern people drawling that this completely easy dessert is “jes’ pie”!
Key Components and Why
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1 Home made Pie Crust
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Butter
- Butter offers Traditional Chess Pie delectable richness, and browning the butter supplies a deep nutty taste.
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Entire Milk
- Milk fats offers the pie a velvety, indulgent mouthfeel.
- The fats and pure dairy sugars give the filling a recent style with caramel notes.
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White Vinegar
- Tart vinegar retains chess pie from being cloying by offsetting the pie’s sweetness and richness.
- Vinegar’s acidity works with the protein in eggs, milk, and butter to stabilize the filling.
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Fantastic Floor Cornmeal
- Cornmeal offers chess pie a fuller-bodied, thicker texture than most custard pies.
- As well as, cornmeal’s texture provides a delicate, pleasantly gritty distinction to the filling’s smoothness. Be sure to use finely floor cornmeal for this pie.
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Granulated Sugar
- Sugar sweetens chess pie. As well as, because the pie cooks, the sugar on the highest can caramelize, making a skinny, toffee-like taste.
- Sugar additionally aids in thickening the pie filling. Importantly, that lets this pie hit the right spot between creamy and awesomely gooey!
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Eggs
- Eggs give the chess pie filling its construction and wonderful texture.
- As well as, overwhelmed eggs incorporate air into the combination, making it lighter.
- Use room-temperature eggs for smoother mixing, which can give a greater incorporation of substances, and can defend in opposition to curdling.
How you can Make Traditional Chess Pie
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Pre-heat the oven and put together the crust
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F(180°C).
- Roll out the pie crust, place it within the dish, after which refrigerate it.
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Make the Filling
- Soften butter in a saucepan till it browns and has a nutty scent, and switch to a bowl to chill.
- Subsequent, add the milk, vinegar, and vanilla to the bowl. Then stir within the sugar, cornmeal, flour, and salt. Lastly, combine within the eggs.
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Bake the Pie
- Brush the pie crust edges with egg wash, after which pour the filling into the crust.
- Lastly, bake the pie for 45 minutes. You’ll know the pie is prepared when it’s set on the perimeters however nonetheless barely jiggly within the center.
Can I Make Traditional Chess Pie in Advance?
Sure, you may make Traditional Chess Pie upfront in case you’d wish to serve it chilly (and it’s great that method!).
How you can Retailer Traditional Chess Pie
You possibly can hold Traditional Chess Pie within the fridge for as much as two days.
FAQs
How can I hold my pie from having a soggy crust?
- For those who desire a firmer crust, try my article of How you can Blind Bake a Pie Crust. First, line the crust with parchment, fill it with pie weights, and bake for 20 minutes.
- Then, take away the parchment and weights and bake for one more 10 minutes. Let the crust cool fully. Fill with custard and proceed baking in accordance with the instructions.
- To make sure a crisper crust, bake your pie within the lower-middle a part of the oven.
How do I hold my chess pie from tasting too eggy?
- First, search for the tell-tale signal that the pie is prepared: The filling across the edges needs to be agency, however take it out of the oven when it’s nonetheless jiggly on the heart.
- Chess pie may need a extra pronounced eggy taste if it’s overcooked.
What if the crust or the highest of my chess pie is getting too brown earlier than the cooking time is over?
- Monitor your pie because it cooks. The highest of the pie will caramelize and have a golden brown crust, but when it will get too darkish too early cowl it loosely with aluminum foil.
Gemma’s Professional Chef Suggestions
- This pie is sort of candy and is subsequently significantly scrumptious served with sweet-tart berries or stone fruit.
- Make a chocolate chess pie by whisking 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder into the filling.
- One other good twist is making a lemon chess pie by including ¼ cup (2 fl oz/57 g) lemon juice plus 1 tablespoon of lemon zest to the filling.
- Additionally you may make this a coconut chess pie by mixing in 1 cup (3 oz/85 g) of unsweetened shredded coconut to the filling.
- Do this with my Flaky Bitter Cream Pie Crust!
- And make sure you use wonderful cornmeal for this recipe as it would prepare dinner effectively and disappear into the pie. Coarse cornmeal isn’t floor wonderful sufficient.
Extra Southern-Influenced Recipes
Traditional Chess Pie Recipe
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Strive our Traditional Chess Pie Recipe and embrace the beloved creamy, flaky Southern dessert guaranteeing you delicacy and luxury in each slice.
Servings: 8 servings
Strive our Traditional Chess Pie Recipe and embrace the beloved creamy, flaky Southern dessert guaranteeing you delicacy and luxury in each slice.
Servings: 8 servings
Components
- 1 Home made Pie Crust
- ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) butter, diced
- ⅓ cup (2½ fl oz/75 ml) entire milk
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups (10 oz/282 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fine-ground cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 massive eggs
- Egg wash
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
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On a flippantly floured work floor, roll out the pie crust to a 12-inch (30 cm) circle about ¼-inch (6mm) thick and line a 9-inch (23cm) pie dish. Subsequent, crimp the perimeters and refrigerate whilst you put together the filling.
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In a small saucepan, soften the butter over medium warmth, stirring continuously, till it browns and has a nutty scent. Switch to a big heatproof bowl to cease the cooking.
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To the bowl, add the milk, vinegar, and vanilla extract, then stir within the sugar, cornmeal, flour, and salt.
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Lastly add the eggs and blend till effectively mixed.
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Brush the perimeters of the pie crust with egg wash, then pour the custard into the pie shell and bake till the filling is ready however nonetheless jiggly, about 45 minutes.
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Let cool for a minimum of 45 minutes earlier than serving heat, or switch the pie, as soon as fully cooled, to the fridge to completely chill for a number of hours earlier than serving in case you want to serve it chilly.
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Retailer, effectively coated, within the fridge for as much as 2 days.