Eggnog Custard Pie

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Chill the beaters and bowl in the freezer for the best whipped cream.

Judith Ogden Larsen's pie shop had a beginning as humble as gooseberry pie. She spread a quilt on the tailgate of her pickup truck and sold made-from-scratch pies to travelers along Interstate 80 in central Nebraska. Between customers, she played her fiddle.

"A hunter bought a blackberry pie from me and later called from Washington, DC, and asked if I could send him a pie," recalls Larsen, 47. Then another happy pie customer called, then another. That sellout day in November 2002 gave Larsen the nudge she needed to open The Village PieMaker.

"I felt in my heart that this would work," Larsen says. While she lacked business know-how, she did know how to roll out a perfect piecrust and pack it with nearly 2 1/2 pounds of fresh raspberries or cherries or apple slices; "no canned stuff" is the company's motto. She had learned to crimp and primp a piecrust - lightly brushing milk and sprinkling sugar on top - at age 10 under the guidance of her grandmother Gladys Karre.

At first, Larsen transformed a bedroom of her home into a commercial kitchen. Freezers and mountains of flour and sugar quickly took over. Likewise, pie orders from grocery stores and coffee shops outgrew her 70-pie capacity Ford Escort. Larsen moved The Village PieMaker into a quaint 1920's brick creamery building in Eustis, NE (pop. 464), where 15 employees today turn out as many as 1,000 pies a day - every single one made by hand and plump with fresh or frozen fruit or custards. She delivers the frozen "take and bakes" by van to 175 commercial outlets across Nebraska and parts of Colorado and Kansas.

Although Larsen's day begins at 4 a.m. and rarely leaves time for playing the fiddle, she's living the pie-in-the-sky life she imagined.

"I am so honored when older women write and tell me that this is a dying art," Larsen says. "Imagine, being thanked for baking a pie."

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  • 8

Ingredients

  • Filling:
  • 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust
  • 2 cups eggnog
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tbsp brandy or rum (optional)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • Topping:
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 3 tbsp confectioner's sugar
  • 1 tsp brandy, rum or vanilla extract
  • Nutmeg

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prick holes in the bottom of piecrust. Bake 15 minutes to partially cook.

To make the filling, beat eggnog, eggs, brandy (if using), and vanilla in a large bowl. Add sugar, salt and nutmeg; mix well. Pour into piecrust.

Bake 25 minutes. Cover with foil and bake 30 to 40 minutes longer or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

To make the topping, beat whipping cream in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Add confectioner's sugar and brandy; beat until stiff peaks form. Garnish pie with whipped cream and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Nutrition Information:
Per serving
420 calories
28 g fat
7 g protein
33 g carbohydrates
0 g fiber
270 mg sodium

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