Here’s how a new pie can happen at Moosewood. On Super Pi Day in 2015 (3/14/15), we of course wanted to serve pie, both savory dinner tarts and toothsome desserts. We had some particularly flavorful pears on hand, and we were thinking of milk tert, a South African comfort-food treat, and its wonderful triad of flavors: cinnamon, vanilla, and almond. Our customers loved the pie and so do we, so here it is.
Yields one 10-inch pie
Serves 8
Prep time: 30 minutes, with already prepared pie shell
Baking time: about 1 hour
dough for one 10-inch single piecrust
⅓ cup butter, melted
½ cup half-and-half
⅓ cup white all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
¼ cup turbinado sugar or packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 or 4 not-quite-ripe pears
Roll out the pie dough and fit it into a 10-inch pie plate. Trim the overhang to about 1 inch all around. Save the trimmings, because they may come in handy to patch sparse spots around the edge. Roll the overhang under and crimp to make a traditional fluted edge. Set aside.
When the pie shell is ready, make the custard: Put all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
Make the topping: Stir the sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Peel and core the pears. Cut lengthwise (from stem end to blossom end) into slices about ⅓ inch thick. Arrange the slices in a spoke pattern, thin ends toward the center and wider ends almost touching the outside edges. Make two layers of pear slices, using the smaller pieces of pear to fill in empty spots and the middle. Briefly whirl the custard in the blender and pour it evenly over the pears. Sprinkle the topping over the pie.
Bake for about 1 hour, until the middle is just set. When the middle is set, remove the pie from the oven.
Cool to room temperature before serving. Store this pie in the refrigerator, but before serving, let the pie sit at room temperature; the flavors are more vibrant when the pie isn’t cold from the refrigerator.