Page 151 - United States of Pie

Combine the egg yolks, cornstarch, and ¼ cup of water in a small
bowl, and beat until smooth.
In a medium-size saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, salt, and

vanilla, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often.
Remove from the heat.
Slowly add approximately ½ cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg
yolk mixture, whisking constantly until smooth. Slowly pour the egg
yolk mixture into the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan. Return
the pan to medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring
constantly. The mixture will thicken substantially and should coat the
back of a spoon.

Remove the pan from the heat, and stir 1 tablespoon of the poppy
seeds into the custard. Then pour the custard into the prepared
crust. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the
custard to prevent a skin from forming, and allow it to cool to room
temperature. Once the pie has reached room temperature, place it in

the refrigerator. The pie will keep for a day up to this point.
When you’re ready to serve the pie, remove it from the refrigerator.
In a medium-size bowl, combine the cream and the confectioners’
sugar. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Mound the whipped
cream on top of the custard, sprinkle with the remaining ½
tablespoon of poppy seeds, and serve.

TEMPERING

When making creams and custards, the technique of slowly
stirring some of the hot milk mixture into the raw eggs or egg

yolks is called tempering. This raises the temperature of the eggs,
ensuring a smooth emulsion when the eggs are stirred into the
hot milk. If you add cold eggs to hot milk, you risk having a
curdled or scrambled mixture.