One of my favorite desserts to bake is a pie. I love pie. A pie can be made any time of year with any assortment of ingredients. A pie can be sweet or savory. A pie can be assembled and baked just as quickly as a pound cake or a tray of brownies. Out of all the pies I make (apple, blueberry streusel, chocolate chip, pecan, pumpkin, maple, pineapple, and a few others), my favorite is the Filipino egg pie. I learned about egg pie when I was a college student and would spend my weekends at my aunt and uncle’s house in Vallejo. A bakery egg pie was preceded by a home-cooked dinner of fried Tilapia fish and stewed veggies. Egg Pie is like Filipino flan in a pie crust, but less sweet. I’ve researched a few recipes online, and what follows is my streamlined recipe with a few recommended tasty substitutions. Simple and delicious. Enjoy it at room temperature, warm, or cold but always with a cold glass of milk.
Filipino Egg Pie (Makes 8 servings)
Crust: (1) 9-inch Pie Crust fitted into a 9-inch glass pie pan and chilled for 30 minutes in the freezer. You can use a homemade pie crust.
Filling:
1 ¾ cups evaporated milk (can substitute whole milk or heavy cream, but the pie’s flavor will be a little different)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg, separated (place yolk in one bowl, place white in separate bowl)
1tsp pure vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar (most recipes call for 1 cup of sugar, which I find too sweet)
Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and set rack to the middle of the oven.
- Prepare home-made pie crust if using and chill in freezer while you make filling.
- For the filling, in a large bowl, whisk the 3 eggs and egg yolk from the separated egg until combined. Add the sugar and continue to whisk all together until pale-colored and well blended, about 1 minute. Set aside
- In a microwave safe measuring cup, heat milk (or substitutions) in the microwave for 2 minutes. The milk should be hot.
- Add hot milk a little at a time to the filling and whisk with each addition until all the milk is combined with the filling. The purpose of the gradual addition is to warm the eggs without scrambling them. If you scramble them, start over.
- Stir in vanilla extract and pinch of salt.
- Take the remaining egg white and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 minute.
- Gently fold egg white into filling.
- Pour filling into chilled pie crust and place on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips.
- Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes. The top of the pie should be brown and the filling barely set.
- Allow to cool on a rack on the counter before cutting into slices.
