Chess Pie

Pour overage into custard cups and bake in a bain marie.

WAY to much batter for a 10 inch tart mold.

Looking at notes from those who made the recipe before commenting, I was curious about reports of too much crust and batter. I had both suggested pans; measuring both, my 10" tart pan had more volume than my 9" pie pan - maybe this is the problem? Otherwise Made the recipe as written with my 10" pan, had to press the dough into my fluted edges with my fingers but the total amount didnt seem too much. its still in the oven but looks like its going to be OK.

Agree with the other comment (just one!): wayyy too much crust. This made it hard to roll and hard to place in the pie tin. I had to redo it three times which overworked the dough (also blame my lack of skills) but the amounts are off. The overhang was burnt after 30 minutes at 375, and baking the filling worsened that. Otherwise, the pie was good, especially next day. I would reduce the salt, maybe the sugar by 1/3. I topped with meringue from all the leftover whites, which I would recommend!

Buttermilk pie is one thing and Chess pie is another. The beauty of chess pie is that you could make a quick decadent desert with few ingredients: butter, eggs, sugar, a little cornmeal, maybe some vanilla and a partially baked traditional crust. Probably no one will notice if you use a frozen pieshell because the filling is so rich and good. Try this variation and enjoy it, knowing it's not really real Chess pie and then try a real Southern Chess pie recipe sometime for delicious reference.

How I change up this classic Old South recipe. Use a plain crust (prebaked at 350 temp for 4 min, let cool). Follow ingredient list with these changes: only 1 egg yolk, 2 TA cornmeal, 1/4th tsp. salt, 1/2 cup milk (buttermilk not necessary), 1/3rd cup lemon juice, zest of 1 lemon. Bake at 350 for 45 min. Doesn't need whipped cream! One pie serves 8 -- very rich.

Chess pie is a traditional Southern pie that has a lot of variations. It's not a buttermilk pie even though some people put buttermilk in it. It usually has cornmeal in it because that's what people in the South had on hand to thicken a custard pie like this. Sometimes people don't put cornmeal in it, but that's not as traditional and many Southerners would not consider it a chess pie if it doesn't have cornmeal and lemon. And, yes, it's sweet!

I agree, too much batter for the recommended tart mold. I also found the lemon taste not quite as tart as I would have liked...and I put in a bit less sugar than the recipe called for.

Just whipped this up and I actually found that with a 10" wide by 2" deep tart pan (not 1"), the volume of crust and filling was perfect. The crust kind of falls apart after rolling it out, but easy enough to press into the pan. It is really a beautiful looking pie.

3 whole eggs AND 3 egg yolks? Rather EGGcentric I think. Any comments out there about the taste of the custard filling?

To be clear, fluted tart tins typically come in 1" or 2" depths. Excluding the crust, a 10" by 1" tin will hold roughly 5.5 cups of filling and a 10" x 2" tin will hold nearly 10 cups. For the dough, one will ALWAYS make a slightly larger batch of pastry dough than needed - the reason? Most American home cooks will NOT measure or weight ingredients like egg yolks. Half of the recipe make too little dough to fill the pan. A typical yolk in a large egg is 18 grams. Pull out the scale and adjust...

This was a whole lot of work for a chess pie that’s not nearly as good as the simpler, traditional version I usually make. The pepper added nothing (and I’m a pepper freak). The crust was a beast to get into the pan without melting and mushing all over the place. In the end, it’s pretty and it’s tasty, but it’s not worth all the time and effort.

I agree with the poster who said that a proper tart pan is required. A shallow pie plate or mold won't hold it all. Suggest to cut back on sugar and to sub some of the flour for more cornmeal. I sprinkled a bit of finely minced fresh rosemary on top of the dolop of whipped cream. Divine!

This was amazingly delicious! The amount of custard was perfect in my 10”x2” pie tin. I made a few edits based on the notes: increased the lemon: adding zest of an entire lemon and all the juice. I also wanted a workable crust, so I didn’t use yolks and prepped with vodka from the freezer in place of water. The pepper was interesting, but I would skip in the future. Served it with a simple blueberry-blackberry compote and homemade whipped cream: perfection.