Vanilla Cream Pie

September 2025

Recipe from The Perfect Pie, Americas Test Kitchen, 2019, p. 46; also available online

Flipping through the ATK Pie book, looking for something we haven't tried it, I came across this recipe for a vanilla cream pie. We enjoy several chocolate cream pie recipes from ATK and this inspired me to try their recipe for a vanilla cream pie.

The recipe for all-butter pie dough was used to make a one-crust pie. After chilling the dough was baked blind. It was a warm day and the dough had softened after rolling and so was not fluted. For the filling sugar, cornstarch, and salt were whisked together. Evaporated milk was whisked into the mixture, followed by egg yolks, and finally milk. A vanilla bean was split in two and the contents and the bean were added to the sugar mixture. It was brought to a simmer while being whisked until it reached 180° (which happened very quickly). Off heat butter was whisked in. The brandy specified in the recipe was not used. After a brief cooling period the vanilla bean was removed and the filling was poured into the cooled crust. The pie was covered with oiled parchment paper and chilled in the refrigerator. 

The pie was good and we enjoyed eating it for dessert for four nights. It was very smooth, creamy, and flavorful. I ate it with whipped cream while Diane had it plain. While the pie was good I don't expect I will make it again. The recipe was wasteful, using only a small fraction of a can of evaporated milk. Also, the recipe specifies using half a vanilla bean. One bean cost $20 so I used a whole bean since I had no plans to make something to use the other half bean. It also took some time to make the pie including the four hour chilling time after everything was assembled.