Question about custard pies....

[jusnikki]

Hi everyone (waving)

I am wondering why in some chocolate pie recipes some instruct you to add egg yokes before you thicken it and some say to add after thickening by tempering (sorry about the run on sentence, but anywhooooo). Does it really make a difference in the texture?

 

[Andy M.]

Hi, Nikki. I don't think it matters. The whole mixture will cook together in the ramekins after being tempered. Regardless of how you do it, strain the tempered mixture through a sieve to ensure no solids make it into the final product.

 

[jusnikki]

Hi, Nikki. I don't think it matters. The whole mixture will cook together in the ramekins after being tempered. Regardless of how you do it, strain the tempered mixture through a sieve to ensure no solids make it into the final product.

Ok thanks Andy. I thought I was doing something wrong. I always seem to get a few small bits of cooked yolk in the custard. Then I tried it adding the yolk with the flour and sugar and it was smoother but didn't seem to be as tight or thick... But was still good. Thanks again .

 

[bakechef]

Are you referring to pastry cream, like pudding and pie filling? Or a custard, of milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla cooked in the oven until set?

For a pastry cream/pudding, yeah, running through a sieve will get rid of any eggy bits. You can do this with the custard mixture before putting it in the oven to cook, but isn't always necessary.

This confused me when I moved to the south, pudding and pastry cream is often referred to as "custard" when to me custard was a baked custard set with eggs and no other thickeners, with a melt in your mouth texture.

 

[jusnikki]

Are you referring to pastry cream, like pudding and pie filling? Or a custard, of milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla cooked in the oven until set?

For a pastry cream/pudding, yeah, running through a sieve will get rid of any eggy bits. You can do this with the custard mixture before putting it in the oven to cook, but isn't always necessary.

This confused me when I moved to the south, pudding and pastry cream is often referred to as "custard" when to me custard was a baked custard set with eggs and no other thickeners, with a melt in your mouth texture.

Yes the pudding type. And the chocolate meringue pie may not be classified as a custard. I'm thinking I've seen it listed that way before...but maybe not.

I've usually made it using the tempering technique. But the last time I mixed the yoke with the sugar, flour, cocoa mixture and added the milk and heated until thick and added the butter. There were no eggy bits but just not as set as usual...but I can live with that. May not have used enough thickener.

 

[bakechef]

Yes the pudding type. And the chocolate meringue pie may not be classified as a custard. I'm thinking I've seen it listed that way before...but maybe not.

I've usually made it using the tempering technique. But the last time I mixed the yoke with the sugar, flour, cocoa mixture and added the milk and heated until thick and added the butter. There were no eggy bits but just not as set as usual...but I can live with that. May not have used enough thickener.

Thickener can be tricky. Most recipes that I've made call for too little, resulting in a pastry cream that was too slack, it's definitely something that you need to play with. The egg also helps thicken it.