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From Our Recipe Collection With Love: Maple Cream Pie

For those lucky enough to grow up in Vermont, you may well have a recipe for maple cream pie in your own collection already.  In fact, I hope you do because although this pie doesn’t have the lofty status of, say, the official state pie (that would be the apple pie, which makes complete sense since the apple is the state fruit) it is AMAZING.  It’s also a classic addition to many Vermont holiday celebrations and one look at the main ingredients will tell you why: milk, maple syrup, egg yolks, and butter.  Uh… yum?!  It will probably come as no surprise to hear that when we offer pie tastings during the holidays, this is the flavor people keep coming back for.

I have no complaints about this pie.  It’s thick and custardy, heady with sweet maple flavor, and so rich that a little bit goes a long way.  Each and every bite deserves to be savored so that you can tease apart the complexities of textures and flavors.  Eating it is a lovely epicurean experience.

Making it, on the other hand, isn’t always an ideal enterprise.  Don’t get me wrong: it’s not a terribly complicated recipe, it doesn’t call for obscure ingredients, or anything like that.  It’s just a little… fiddly.  It requires patience, timing, and not a small amount of attention.  I do (or at least can) have all of these things.  It’s just sometimes, I don’t want to.  Sometimes, I want to bounce from burner to burner, watching many pots at once, and maybe even allow a small portion of my brain to wander to the Netflix movie that’s playing in the background.  Is that striking any of you with familiarity?

Thankfully, with this pie, I can have it both ways.  When I want to make it, I simply follow the recipe below and enjoy the experience of focusing intently on one (superbly delicious, completely absorbing, and ultimately satisfying) project.  When I don’t want to make it, I order it from our Bake Shop.  It is, in fact, one of the pie flavors we have available for pre-ordering for Thanksgiving!

However you approach it, it’s our great pleasure to share this pie with you.  Whether you take on the joy and challenge of making it yourself or the joy and simplicity of ordering it from our in-house bakery, you’re in for a real treat!

Our Bake Shop’s Maple Cream Pie

1 cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
5 cups milk, divided
3 cups maple syrup
8 egg yolks
4 oz butter, cubed
1 pre-baked pie shell

Combine cornstarch and salt in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and whisk together.  Slowly add 2 cups of the milk.  Whisk until cornstarch is dissolved.  Add the remaining milk and the maple syrup.  Whisk well.  Place the pot over low heat and whisk, stirring often, until the mixture has started to get hot.  Increase the heat to medium and whisk constantly until the mixture has come to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and whisk a small amount of the hot mixture into the yolks.  Repeat until the yolks are warmed.  Whisk yolks into the pot and return to medium heat.  Whisking constantly, bring the mixture back to a boil, reduce heat to low and boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, add the butter and whisk until smooth.  Pour warm filling into pie crust.  Press a sheet of plastic wrap onto filling and chill until set for 4-6 hours.  Top with maple-sweetened whipped cream.