Custard, Cream and Ice Cream Pies

A custard pie which is curdled is a heart scald, a thin custard pie a disappointment. At a point between the two is the perfect custard, smoothly thickened, creamy, and delicate. True custard pies are thickened by eggs alone which act as a binder, leavener, thickener, stabilizer, and give texture as well as flavor. The temperature at which eggs coagulate is almost unbelievably low, and since we are accustomed to watching food bubble as it cooks, custard trouble is apt to happen now and then. Disastrous results follow too much heat...

LOUIS P. DE GOUY,

THE PIE BOOK, 1949