Sugar cream pie

Sugar cream pie

A slice of sugar cream pie
Alternative names	Sugar pie, Hoosier pie
Type	Custard pie
Place of origin	United States
Main ingredients	Flour, vanilla, cream, sugar

Sugar cream pie (also known as sugar pie or Hoosier pie) is a custard pie made with a simple filling of cream, sugar and cornstarch or flour. The consensus is that "a true sugar cream pie doesn't include eggs".^[1] Sugar cream pie has been made in Indiana since the 19th-century when fresh fruit was precious and eggs were not a common ingredient.^[2] It is sometimes called a "desperation pie" because it is one of the easiest pies to make with ingredients that most people already have in their pantries.^[3]

Sugar cream pie is the unofficial state pie of Indiana,^[4] where it is believed to have originated with Quaker settlers who came from North Carolina in the early 19th century, and thereafter settled in east-central Indiana, particularly around the cities of New Castle, Portland, Richmond, and Winchester. As the Shakers had to abandon their community of West Union (Busro) (near modern-day Vincennes, Indiana) in 1827, their only presence in Indiana ever (1810–1827), it is unlikely that they made the dessert popular in the state.^[5]

The largest producer of these pies is Wick's Pies, whose plant is in Winchester, Indiana, and makes 750,000 sugar cream pies a year. They are recognizable for their nutmeg dusting and shallow depth in a disposable aluminum pan. The recipe Wick's uses came directly from a family recipe originating from the nineteenth century. The pies sell in 25 states.^[6][7][8]

The only agreed upon aspect of this recipe is that it contains sugar. The filling is made with milk or cream, sugar and usually flour or cornstarch. Butter is optional. Thickening the filling on the stovetop is the most reliable technique. Even for experienced chefs recipes where the filling and pie shell are baked together can be "erratic".^[2] Eggs may be used instead of starch, but it is a contentious substitution.^[9] Most connoisseurs agree that "a true sugar cream pie doesn't include eggs".^[10][11]

• Stuttgen, Joanne Raetz (2007). Cafe Indiana: A Guide to Indiana's Down-Home Cafes. Terrace Books. ISBN 978-0-299-22494-3.
• Slater, Shirley (2008). Frommer's Exploring America by RV. Frommer's. ISBN 978-0-470-18404-2.

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American pies

Sweet

• Angel pie
• Apple crisp
• Apple pie
• Atlantic Beach pie
• Banana cream pie
• Bean pie
• Blackberry pie
• Black bottom pie
• Blueberry pie
• Buttermilk pie
• Butterscotch pie
• Cashew pie
• Cherry pie
• Chess pie
• Chiffon pie
• Cream pie
• Derby pie
• Desperation pies
• Fried pie
• Grape pie
• Grasshopper pie
• Green tomato pie
• Key lime pie
• Lemon ice box pie
• Maple custard pie
• Maraca pie
• Millionaire pie
• Mississippi mud pie
• Peanut pie
• Pecan pie
• Pumpkin pie
• Purple sweet potato haupia pie
• Rhubarb pie
• Shaker lemon pie
• Shoofly pie
• Strawberry pie
• Strawberry rhubarb pie
• Sweet potato pie
• Sugar cream pie
• Walnut pie

Savory

• Crawfish pie
• Pot pie
• Moravian chicken pie
• Natchitoches meat pie
• Tomato pie
• Clam pie

Snack pies

• Hostess
• Little Debbie
• Tasty Baking Company

Frozen pies

• Marie Callender's
• Mrs. Smith's
• Sara Lee
• Centerville Pie Company