View source for Custard pie

{{Short description|Pastry container with a sweet egg mixture}}
{{about|the dessert|the Led Zeppelin song|Custard Pie}}
{{distinguish|Custard tart}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name             = Custard pie
| image            = CoconutCustardPie.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = A version of [[coconut cream pie]]
| alternate_name   = 
| country          = 
| region           = 
| creator          = 
| course           = 
| type             = [[Pie]]
| served           = 
| main_ingredient  = Pie shell, [[custard]]
| variations       = 
| calories         = 
| other            = 
}}
[[File:Pear custard pie slice, November 2008.jpg|thumb|Pear custard pie]]
{{wikt | custard pie | custard}}

A '''custard pie''' is any type of uncooked [[custard]] mixture placed in an uncooked or partially cooked crust and baked together.<ref name="thenibble.com">{{Cite web|url= http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/desserts/all-about-custard.asp|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150518082923/http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/desserts/all-about-custard.asp |url-status= dead|archive-date= May 18, 2015|title= Types Of Custard|date= May 18, 2015}}</ref>  In North America, "custard pie" commonly refers to a plain mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, [[vanilla extract]] and sometimes [[nutmeg]] combined with a pie crust. It is distinctly different from a [[cream pie]], which contains cooked custard poured into a cooled, precooked crust.{{cn|date=July 2019}} In the United Kingdom, the comical or political act of [[pieing]] is conventionally done with a  "custard pie".  Some common custard pies include [[pumpkin pie]], lemon and buttermilk [[chess pie]], [[coconut cream pie]], and [[buko pie]]. True custard is defined as a liquid thickened with eggs. The often large number of whole eggs in custard pie make it very rich.

Cooks in [[Classical antiquity]] understood the binding properties of [[Egg (food)|eggs]].<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Grant
 |first1               = Mark
 |date                 = 19 May 2015
 |orig-date            = 1999
 |title                = Roman Cookery: Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchens
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=3o2CDwAAQBAJ
 |edition              = revised
 |publication-place    = London
 |publisher            = Serif
 |page                 = 87
 |isbn                 = 9781909150461
 |access-date          = 25 March 2024
 |quote                = 'Ordinary ''thrion'': an Athenian dish into which go pig and kid lard, flour, milk and the yolk of an egg to bind it. [...]' [Ancient commentator on Aristophanes['] [[The Acharnians | ''Acharnians'']]]
}} 
</ref>
During the [[Middle Ages]], the first custard pies - in the modern sense of the term - began to appear. Initially, custards were used only as fillings for [[pie]]s, [[pastry|pastries]] and [[tart]]s.<ref name="foodtimeline.org">{{Cite web |url= http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpuddings.html#custard |title= The Food Timeline: history notes--puddings |work= [[The Food Timeline]] |first= Lynne |last= Olver |author-link= Lynne Olver |access-date= 2007-07-11 |archive-date= 2018-05-09 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180509195526/http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpuddings.html#custard |url-status=live }}</ref> Both Europe and Asia had recipes that contained custards.

The word "custard" derives from ''crustade'' (a pie with a crust),<ref>
{{oed | custard}}
</ref>
or from ''{{linktext|croustade}}'' (an edible container of savoury food). After the 16th century, custards began to be used in individual dishes rather than as a filling in crusts.{{clarification needed|date=March 2025}}<ref name="thenibble.com" />

Today, custards are used as filling in pies and tarts, and as individual dishes.{{clarification needed|date=March 2025}} Ideally a custard pie should be light and delicate, but still have good body. Custards can be made in two ways: baked or stirred upon the stove, but most custard-pie recipes call for baking.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}} The eggs in custard mixtures, when cooked, turn from liquid to solid. If cooked over excessive heat, the eggs will curdle, which is extremely undesirable. Curdling can be prevented by using lower temperatures and stirring. As such, making "true" custard pie is a very delicate process.{{original research?|date=March 2025}}

==History==
Savory pies with meat fillings were far more common than sweet pies in the [[Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies]]. Sweet pies, when they were available, were made with a simple custard base of fresh milk, sugar and eggs. Some of these traditional pies like [[buttermilk pie]], [[almond custard]], [[Irish potato pie]] and [[bean pie]] (associated with the [[Nation of Islam]]) are uncommon in modern times.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McDermott |first1=Nancie |title=Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan}}</ref>

==As a comedic device==
{{main|Pieing}}
[[File:Custard_Pie_Flinging.jpg|thumb|Custard Pie Throwing at Coxheath, during the World Custard Pie Throwing Championship]]
In [[British English]], pies thrown or pushed into the face are usually referred to as "custard pies".<ref name="guardian">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/jul/20/culture-flash-custard-pies-murdoch|title=Culture flash: custard pies|first=Tim|last=Jonze|authorlink=Tim Jonze|date=July 20, 2011|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=December 25, 2017|archive-date=December 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226130645/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/jul/20/culture-flash-custard-pies-murdoch|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/custard-pie|title=Custard pie definition and meaning &#124; Collins English Dictionary|website=www.collinsdictionary.com|access-date=2018-01-08|archive-date=2018-01-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109063806/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/custard-pie|url-status=live}}</ref>  Custard pies are used as a comedic device by clowns in many circus performances,  in practical jokes for harmless fun and also for throwing into the faces of public figures as a sign of disapproval. UK Saturday morning programme [[Tiswas]] had custard pies as a regular feature and even had a character called The Phantom Flan Flinger, a masked man who pied people.<ref name="guardian" /> The World Custard Pie Throwing Championships take place annually in the village of [[Coxheath]] in [[Kent]], [[England]].

==See also==
* [[Bougatsa]]
* [[Coconut pie]]
* [[Chess pie]]
* [[Cream pie]]
* [[Egg pie]]
* [[List of custard desserts]]
==External links==
* {{commonscat-inline|Custard pies}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Custard desserts]]
[[Category:Sweet pies]]