If you can imagine a cross between a crème brulee infused with maple and a classic vanilla pudding poured into a crust of flaky whole wheat pastry flour and unsalted butter, then you can imagine a forkful of this perfect pie! It’s old-fashioned in its simplicity of ingredients and yet completely satisfies any dessert craving I might have.
In my search for a dessert that wasn’t loaded with sugar, I found myself experimenting with real local maple syrup and our local honey. In using these sweeteners, I had to make sure the extra moisture didn’t unbalance the wet/dry ratios. Puddings and custards seemed to have slightly more flexibility as long as I didn’t over sweeten them. Gently sweet and creamy desserts are my natural leaning anyway, usually with highest fat content possible. So this pie is my own, with some help on technique and such from Martha Stewart.
I like to use loads of cream, the fresher and closer to home the better and egg yolks, both abundant in the nutrients that especially potential parents and their wee ones need to thrive. When fat is combined with a sugar, even a healthy one like maple syrup, it helps slow down the absorption of sugar into the blood stream. I ate a quarter of a pie as part of an indulgent breakfast and felt great about eating it! Here are some more of the scientific details of why I feel so compelled to eat pie for breakfast: http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/feeding-babies
Serves 4-8, depending on if you have me at your meal.
This makes one full 9-inch pie (with some custard leftover for baking in a dish surrounded by hot water) or 2 very shallow pies.
Ingredients:
Unbaked Pie Crust or Perfect Pie Crust
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
12 egg yolks
½ cup Grade B maple syrup
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp. organic cornstarch
1/8 tsp. sea salt
Directions:
1.Heat the milk and cream together in a saucepan until small bubbles appear on the edges. Allow to cool somewhat.
2. Separate eggs, I just crack them into a bowl and scoop out the yolks with my fingers. This works best when the eggs are cold and the yolks more firmer.
3. Whisk the maple syrup and egg yolks together until well blended.
4. Slowly add the warm cream to the egg yolks while continuing to whisk until completely blended
5. Add vanilla, sea salt, and cornstarch, mix well.
6. Pour through a sieve into cooled pie crust.
7. Bake 35-40 minutes or until mostly set, the center should still be a bit jiggly.
Eat pie well-chilled.
Eastside Epicurean 
This looks incredible! You continue to inspire! I also enjoyed reading the link from Weston A Price, as we are now planning to try to conceive after Ilyria’s 1st birthday. That gives six months to try to attain better health and wellbeing in preparation, and I see much research in my future.
For this recipe, did you attempt it with honey? Maple syrup is expensive here, but fresh honey is available in profusion. Likewise, heavy cream is not readily available, but I’m wondering if home made yogurt might yield similar results? Either way, I look forward to attempting this either here in CM or once we’re Stateside!
Yes, Jasmine, honey would work, only a smaller quantity, 1/3 cup, rather than 1/2. It’s awesome that it’s available! I am so thankful for the WAP Foundation (though, as with anything, I try not to go too hog-wild on it). I am sure it’s worlds better than the typical American diet, however! I think using yogurt might be a bit iffy as mine tends to go all liquidy when I heat it. Cream cheese would work if you ommitted the cornstarch but it would also alter the taste a good bit. But it’s all about experimenting and using what you have anyway! The fact you’ll be ready to conceive soon says alot about your contentedness with Ilyria, wow! Good for you in getting ready!
What temperature did you bake the pie at? I can’t find it anywhere in your recipe. I was about to assume that you used the same temperature as the pie crust which was 375. Am anxious to try this recipe. Thanks.
Hi Michael,
Good catch on the temperature! I would bake the pie itself at 350 for a creamiest finish…
Good luck with baking!
Thank you so much for the quick response. Right after I wrote you about the proper temperature, I did a quick search on the web for similar recipes and came up with a workable solution. Many of them stated that you start at 325 degrees for the first 15 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 300 degrees for another 35 minutes. I went with that solution and had the most amazing results. One other thing that came as a shock was the amount of liquid that you called out. The other recipes had almost half as much. I thought I must have done something wrong when I quickly filled the first pie crust and had almost more than half the ingredients remaining. I concluded that you must have used a much deeper pie crush than mine, and did like you said and filled a second crust and a glass bowl (surrounded with water) and placed them all in the oven. About 55 minutes later, I removed everything from the oven, let them cool a bit, and then placed them all in the refrigerator as directed. After dinner this evening, I surprised my wife with the one in the glass bowl. Wow! I have to say that it was the BEST crème brulee I have ever had. Really fantastic! The two pies are chilling and will be enjoyed tomorrow with friends. Thanks for posting this amazing recipe. I really enjoyed making it, and I now have a new favorite dessert I can share with friends and family. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
Low and slow was an excellent choice! So glad that the custard worked for you too, it’s always gratifying when someone else approves!