Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Old Fashioned Sugar Cream Pie

Lately I've been posting a lot of recipes that I've found on-line, especially foods that I have found on other food blogger's sites. I thought it had been a while since I've posted one of my own recipes (or even posted at all! I've been busy...), & after seeing the news a few weeks ago I got an idea.
You see, Indiana has just voted in the legislature to have an official pie.
And it's the Sugar Cream Pie!
Here's a picture of mine:

If you want to read about it, here is an article about how this came to be.
In a nutshell, it states that sugar cream pies are a tradition dating back to the 1800's in Indiana. It comes from the Amish & Shaker communities. They would start making these pies in the wintertime when the fall harvest fruits started running out. It also has a different recipe than mine that you bake, I might like to try it sometime.
Here is another article that tells about how it was a little controversial.
Quoted from the artical:

The resolution was not without controversy.
Besides private murmuring among members of the General Assembly about the primacy of pecan pie, some wondered aloud whether the legislature has more pressing issues.
"I think it sends the wrong message," House Minority Leader Brian Bosma said. "I'm not a critic of the issue, but I think we have more important things to deal with."


*snickers* I just got a little kick out of that.
So on to my recipe. I never had sugar cream pie growing up. Mostly we had apple pie, among others. I never tasted this delicious pie until I married my husband. His mother used to make it. I'm thinking this recipe had either been her mother's or her mother-in-law's. I can't remember which one it was. I just remember that years ago I asked her for the recipe & she got it out of an old cookbook that was falling apart. But the recipe may have been seperate from that, written on a piece of paper, if I remember correctly. And I *might* be remembering wrong, because I also have this same memory of her giving me the recipe for date pudding. LOL Either way, it's old. LOL It comes from my husband's mom, who got it from one of her moms.


Old Fashioned Sugar Cream Pie
1 C. sugar
1 stick butter
2 c. milk
1/3 c. cornstarch
1 t. vanilla
1/8 t. nutmeg
more pats of butter & nutmeg for the top if you desire

Mix cornstarch & enough milk to make a thickening ( I use about 1/2 c. of the milk). Set aside.
Stir sugar & remaining milk in pan over medium/low heat until sugar disolves. Add butter & cook over med heat until butter melts. Slowly add the cornstarch & milk. Mix while stirring constantly. Add nutmeg & cook until thick. Remove from stove. Add vanilla & stir well. Pour into baked pie shell. **This is where I stop. But the recipe does say to pat with butter & sprinkle with a little more nutmeg or cinnamon. Place in warm oven for 5 minutes or until butter melts. Remove from oven & let cool. I have done this before, but really, the pie has enough butter in it. LOL But if you want more on the top, by all means, add it. :)

You do need to let this set up for a little while. We do LOVE to eat ours warm though.
Cold of course is good too. This reminds me of something my dad said before he married my mom. My mom said, "I like to make pies. I sure hope you like pies."
My dad said, " I only like two kinds of Pie."
My mom thought to herself that she hadn't *thought* he was that picky, but before she could reply to him he said,
" The only two pies I like are HOT & COLD." !!!!!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hmmm...Is this vanilla-ish or just very sweet? Looks good either way. I find it funny that a legislature would vote on a state pie! Hope that didn't take too much of their time. :-)

Jane said...

Well, it is both.
It is vanilla-ish & very sweet. :)
I was laughing at some of the news stories on tv about this.
One fella was just shaking his head saying we had a lot more important things going on, like the economy, than to argue over pie. LOL

Hevinlee Melton said...

Hello! I LOVE the song playing AND I just LOVE this recipe U posted! I used half & half in my last recipe and although it was real good, I'd like to cut back on a few calories and I cannot wait to try this recipe!! Thank you for sharing it with all of us!!! It sounds yummy!
God bless you & your loved ones!
Hevinlee Melton
www.Hevinlee.com

Lisa said...

I had a recipe similar to this and couldn't find it anywhere. I finally ran across this one and it is the closest I have found and looks identical to the ones I made before. I used half and half instead of regular milk. I didn't add the butter to the top either because it was rich enough using the half and half and all the butter inside the pie. Thank you so much for posting this recipe.

Rex said...

My recipe is called a "Durbin Hotel Sugar Cream pie"

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. cornstarch
2 1/4 c. half and half
1 t. vanilla

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and cook over medium heat until
thick. Pour intoan already baked pie crust and sprinkle with cinnamon. Refrigerate.