Maple Custard Pie

By Helen Lee — Custard pies are my favorite ever since I was a kid and my grandmother would make homemade custard pies! They are great because they use simple ingredients and are so easy to make! I prefer to make home made custards over store bought pudding mixes because the powdered mixes have so many preservatives and artificial colors and ingredients added to them. What I love about this recipe is that it is 100% completely all natural, with only five ingredients this is stuff that I always have in the house.

I enjoy using maple syrup because it is one of the simplest and most natural of all sugars. The production of maple syrup in North America predates European colonization; early Native American societies in Canada and the northeastern United States were distilling maple syrup and sugar before those geographic boundaries existed. Syrup is made from the sap of the sugar maple tree that is found across North America and Canada. It can only be made for a short period of time typically from the end of February until the end of March when the temperatures go below freezing at night and above freezing during the day time.

Ingredients

1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 cool baked pie shell

Directions

1.        Whisk water with flour until smooth; stir in syrup.
2.        Stir in egg.
3.        In a small heavy saucepan, cook over medium -low heat, stirring, until thick, 5-6   minutes.
4.        Add butter & stir till melted.
5.        Pour into a cool baked and pie crust.
6.        Let cool.

The maple syrup you use is also very important! All maple syrups are not created equal there are different grades of maple syrup that effect the flavor and thickness of the product.
Since maple syrup recipes usually do not specify any particular grade to use, take into consideration that darker colored syrups will produce dishes that a have a pronounced maple flavor. There are two well known systems of maple syrup grading in use today. One system is used in Canada (where 80% of the world’s maple syrup is produced) and another system is used in the United States of America. Both systems are based on color and translucence with relate to the flavor of the syrup. Different grades are produced by the same trees over the length of the season.

The custard is a great consistency and uses little dairy.  You could easily substitute the butter with butter flavored shortening to make the pie dairy free! This is a great custard pie when made as is I have even made the custard and served it as a dessert on its own. I think that a pie is only as good as the crust recipe you are using, so be selective of the recipe you choose.

If you are in the grocery store and are shopping for maple syrup for cooking I recommend using Grade B syrup because it is darker in color and much richer in flavor. The dishes I have made with Grade B have a much more pronounced flavor and in some cases you do not need to use as much.

By Joseph Ford