24 Keys to Pie Perfection

These pies are pure and delicate, and the flavor of every element shimmers through. For this reason, it is imperative that ingredients are freshest of the fresh and finest of the fine.

* Eggs should be fresh. Milk should be fresh and whole, neither low-fat, nor nonfat, nor evaporated. For extra richness, you can use some part or even all half-and-half.

* Vanilla extract should be pure, not artificial.

* Cane sugar dissolves quickly and uniformly; beet sugar can be coarse and temperamental. Look for “pure cane sugar” on the label. Salt should be chemical-free kosher or from the sea.

* European-style butter contains less water than standard butter and is superior for baking. But use American butter for fillings--the extra fat in European may cause the custard to “weep” butter. The lard you may use in pastry will probably be from a package, not top quality--rendered leaf lard is best--so be sure it smells very sweet.

* Measure eggs by volume rather than by count to ensure uniformity.

* When beating the eggs or the custard mixture itself, do not beat more than to blend--excess air forced into the custard deflates once the cooked pie has cooled and can mar its fragile texture.

* Have all custard ingredients at room temperature. You can warm cold eggs in their shell by covering them with hot water for 5 minutes.

* Whenever butter is called for in a custard pie filling, do not add it melted, but soften it and whisk it in to disperse through the filling. In baking, melted butter in a custard can surface in droplets, then congeal unappetizingly when cooled.

* Most custard mixtures should be strained through a sieve as they go into the shell, to be sure the texture is silken.

* If you wish to turn a favorite custard recipe into a pie filling, you’ll need 4 cups--41/2 cups maximum--to fill a baked 9-inch shell.

* In an emergency, most custard fillings can be prepared and refrigerated for one day, but then they should be warmed before going into the warmed pie shell. Set the mixture in the top of a double boiler over simmering water and whisk or stir with a wooden spoon until warmed through. This can be risky, however, and the filling is no longer fresh.

* Curdling--the custard turning watery and separating after cooling--results from the eggs overcooking, the consequence of heat that’s too high or applied too long. A jump-start gets everything moving quickly. The first step is to pour the custard into a warm-to-hot pastry shell, then set the pie on a hot baking sheet and start the baking at a high temperature. The most critical step to avoid curdling comes at the end of baking, when you must remove the pie from the oven the instant the filling tests done.

* The best oven temperature to start most custards at is 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Custards with butter or chocolate--i.e., fat--in them are best started at 425 degrees.

* Some old-fashioned cooks start their custard pies on a hot baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven, closest to the heat, then move it to the middle rack for the rest of the baking. I do this when I feel I can safely move the hot pie on its hot sheet without the soupy filling sloshing over the pastry border.

* Remember that custard continues to cook after it comes out of the oven. It will set completely when cooled. Recognizing the instant to remove the pie from the oven--allowing for this residual cooking--is crucial. The moment can arrive quickly, three to four minutes after the last time you checked, so toward the end of baking, be vigilant.

* There are three ways to tell when it’s time to remove a custard pie from the oven. Because every custard has its own mysterious mode of setting, not all tests apply to all pies, but at least one will work for each.

First, try the jiggle test: Give a gentle shake to the pie and the center--it can be an area as large as the center half of the pie--will jiggle like gelatin, rather than look wet and soupy.

Or, try the quarter test: Remove the pie when the distinct pool of unset custard in the center has shrunk to the size of a quarter.

Finally, try the knife test: Insert a table knife just off-center--when it comes out with solid bits of custard attached, it’s ready. Be aware, though, that the gash will probably remain once cooled.

* For your beautiful custard pie, try to choose an aesthetic heatproof glass or ceramic pie dish rather than a utilitarian metal pie pan. The vessel itself is part of the presentation.

* Old-fashioned pie dishes had rims but some dishes today are made rimless. When possible, choose a dish with a rim--a border of golden crust is a matchless frame.

* For crisp pastry under custard pies, always use a flaky pastry dough. Crumb crusts become soggy. The shell must be fully baked before the filling goes in. This is called baking blind. Curiously, the pastry does not burn in its second baking, although a tent of foil is sometimes used to keep the rim from getting dark.

* It’s a quirky matter of taste, but I find all-butter pastry better suited to chocolate and vanilla-flavored custards, but half-lard pastry luscious in fruit-flavored pies (technically, squash is a fruit).

* The flavors of custards are at their fullest when barely warm or at room temperature. Chocolate pies, where texture takes precedence over flavor, are creamiest when almost cold.

* Usually, the pie will cool to serving temperature in 11/2 to 2 hours. Due to the danger of spoilage, you must refrigerate custard pie, lightly covered, for storing after it has thoroughly cooled. It will keep up to one week.

* If the pie is cold, remove it from the refrigerator an hour or so before serving or slip it into a very low oven to shake off the chill.

* If you decide to use a ready-made refrigerated pie shell, such as those by Pillsbury, place the crust in the pie dish and shape the edges. Prick the bottom all over with a fork. Bake the shell at 450 degrees until lightly browned, 5 minutes. Fill the shell with the custard, cover the exposed crust with strips of foil (in addition to a foil tent) and proceed with the pie recipe.