old-fashioned custard pie...

custard pie lends itself to many different incarnations...add fresh fruit, or a nice tart coulis, chocolate sauce, even fresh homemade jam...                   

the other nice thing about this pie is the crust...sweet pastry crusts are wonderful as they are more like a cookie than a pie crust...

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour, for surface
• Sweet Pastry Dough
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 12 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons arrowroot
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for sprinkling
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/8-inch-thick round. Fit into a 9-by-2-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Line with parchment, and fill shell with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove beans and parchment, and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
2. With the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a saucepan, and add pod. Add cream and milk, and bring to a simmer. Remove pan from heat, and cover. Let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Whisk together yolks and granulated sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick, about 2 minutes. Still whisking, add warm cream mixture in a slow, steady stream. Add arrowroot and nutmeg. Whisk until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into cooled crust. Skim foam from surface.
4. Bake until edges of filling are set but center is still slightly wobbly, about 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight). Before serving, unmold, sprinkle with nutmeg, and dust with confectioners' sugar.
   
   
   
   

   Ingredients

   • 2 cups all-purpose flour
   • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
   • 3/4 teaspoon salt
   • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
   • 1 large egg yolk
   • 3 tablespoons ice water

   Directions

   1. Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add yolk and ice water, and process until dough just comes together. (It should not take longer than 30 seconds.)
   2. Shape into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes. (Dough can be refrigerated overnight, or frozen for up to 1 month.)