Description
A creamy holiday dessert with gently spiced, silky custard wrapped in a flaky pie crust, perfect for festive occasions.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon (or 1 cinnamon stick, steeped)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, scraped)
- Pinch of salt
- Optional: ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, 1 tsp orange zest for holiday flair
Instructions
- Pre-bake the crust by preheating the oven to 375°F (190°C). Roll out your pie crust into a 9-inch pie dish, crimp the edges, and line with parchment paper filled with weights. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove weights and bake another 5 minutes until lightly golden. Let cool slightly.
- In a medium saucepan, combine whole milk, heavy cream, ground cinnamon, and vanilla. Heat over medium until steam rises; do not boil. (If using a cinnamon stick or vanilla bean, steep for 10 minutes.)
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and a pinch of salt until smooth and pale.
- Slowly pour some of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking to temper, then combine all back into the saucepan. Strain through a fine mesh sieve for smoothness.
- Lower oven to 325°F (160°C). Pour the custard into the pre-baked crust and bake for 35–40 minutes until edges are set and center jiggles.
- Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Serve chilled with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg, and optionally with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 25g
- Sodium: 200mg
- Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 100mg