Filling thickness is key to cream pies (2024)

There are recipes that are essentially foolproof _ almost no matter what you do, they turn out okay _ and some are inherently unstable; not only do they fail if you do the least thing wrong, they might fail anyway if the humidity is too high or maybe even if the wind comes from the wrong direction.

Plenty of other recipes are perfectly straightforward but can turn out badly if one or two points aren't clearly understood. A common stumbling block is how long to cook something: "Until tender" is fairly clear, "until done" is completely useless, and "until thickened" might be good enough and might not, depending on just how thickened whatever it is has to be.

The pudding base in this strawberry-banana cream pie is a good example. A sugar, milk and cornstarch mixture is cooked until it thickens and becomes slightly translucent (a moment that is abundantly clear if you're paying attention), egg yolks get added, and the mixture is cooked more to thicken it again.

The problem is that, no matter how long you chill the completed pie after that, if that second thickening isn't sufficient the perfectly delicious filling will ooze out of each slice when it's served. That's not good.

It's difficult to describe thickness, but it's not difficult to point out that this is a critical point in the recipe, and that, if in doubt, the mixture should be cooked more, not less. So that's what this recipe says. (You're welcome.)

Strawberry Banana Cream Pie

Pastry for a 1-crust 9-inch pie, homemade or purchased, refrigerated

12-15 small or medium strawberries

cup sugar

\ cup cornstarch

{ teaspoon salt

1} cup milk

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter

2 ripe bananas

Whipped cream if desired

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Fit the pastry into a 9-inch pie pan. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and bake about 10 minutes, until the edges are light golden, checking occasionally and poking a fork into any large bubbles. Set aside.

Wash and hull the strawberries, then cut the small ones vertically into halves and the larger ones into thirds and set them cut-side down onto paper towels to dry.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add a little milk and stir well to produce a smooth paste. Gradually stir in the remaining milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. When the mixture begins to thicken on the bottom of the pan, begin stirring constantly, scraping the entire pan bottom continuously. When it turns slightly translucent and becomes like thick sauce, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring, 2 more minutes.

Remove the pan from heat and pour { cup or so of the hot milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks and immediately stir until the mixture is well-combined. Pour these tempered egg yolks back into the pan containing the rest of the hot milk mixture and stir immediately until the mixture is smooth and uniform.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, 5-10 minutes until the mixture is thick enough to mound slightly _ until it looks more like pudding than sauce. If it is not cooked sufficiently at this stage, it will be runny even after it is chilled. If you're not sure, cook it more, not less.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and butter until the butter is melted, and all is well-mixed. Slice the bananas thinly into the mixture and stir in all but eight nicely shaped strawberry pieces. Pour into the prepared pie shell and arrange the reserved strawberry pieces in a circle near the center. Decorate the edge with whipped cream if desired.

Serves 8. Per serving: 330 calories, 48 gm carbohydrates, 4 gm protein, 14 gm fat, 60 mg cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, 80 mg calcium.

Diabetic exchanges per serving: 2 fruit exchange, 1 bread/starch exchange and 3 fat exchange.