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A silken custard pie showcasing the paw-paw, America's largest native fruit, with its haunting tropical flavor of banana and mango, nestled in a flaky butter crust and crowned with billows of fresh cream.
The paw-paw is America's great culinary secret, hidden in plain sight along riverbanks and forest understories from Missouri to Michigan. Indigenous peoples cultivated these trees for millennia. Lewis and Clark survived on paw-paws when their provisions ran low. Yet somehow this fruit, with its intoxicating perfume of banana, mango, and vanilla custard, never found its way onto supermarket shelves.
Missouri claims the paw-paw as its own. The trees thrive in the state's river bottoms, their enormous tropical-looking leaves shading clusters of green fruit that ripen to a dusky yellow in September. Foragers know the secret: you must find them at the precise moment of ripeness, when the flesh yields to gentle pressure and the fragrance announces itself from ten feet away. Miss that window and the fruit falls, feeding raccoons and possums instead of pie plates.
This custard pie honors the paw-paw's natural tendencies. The fruit already tastes like dessert, its flesh so creamy you could eat it with a spoon. Here we fold that flesh into a simple egg custard, pour it into a butter crust, and bake until just set. The result tastes like something between banana cream pie and a tropical fantasy, yet comes from the heartland of America.
I learned to make this pie from a woman who ran a roadside stand outside Hermann, Missouri. She sold paw-paw everything: ice cream, bread, cookies, and this pie that people drove hours to taste. Her secret was restraint. Let the fruit speak. Don't mask it with spices or drown it in sugar. The paw-paw knows what it wants to be.
Quantity
1 1/4 cups (160g)
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
8 tablespoons (1 stick/113g)
cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Quantity
4 to 6 tablespoons
Quantity
2 cups
from about 2 pounds ripe paw-paws
Quantity
3
Quantity
3/4 cup (150g)
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
Quantity
1 cup
Quantity
2 tablespoons
melted and cooled
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
freshly grated
Quantity
1 cup
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-purpose flour | 1 1/4 cups (160g) |
| fine sea salt (for crust) | 1/2 teaspoon |
| granulated sugar (for crust) | 1 tablespoon |
| cold unsalted butter (for crust)cut into 1/2-inch cubes | 8 tablespoons (1 stick/113g) |
| ice water | 4 to 6 tablespoons |
| paw-paw pulpfrom about 2 pounds ripe paw-paws | 2 cups |
| large eggs | 3 |
| granulated sugar (for filling) | 3/4 cup (150g) |
| fine sea salt (for filling) | 1/4 teaspoon |
| heavy cream (for filling) | 1 cup |
| unsalted butter (for filling)melted and cooled | 2 tablespoons |
| pure vanilla extract (for filling) | 1 teaspoon |
| nutmegfreshly grated | 1/4 teaspoon |
| cold heavy cream (for topping) | 1 cup |
| powdered sugar | 2 tablespoons |
| pure vanilla extract (for topping) | 1/2 teaspoon |
Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold butter cubes and toss to coat each piece with flour. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until you have a mixture of pea-sized lumps and sandy crumbs. Some larger flat pieces of butter are desirable. These create flaky layers.
Sprinkle four tablespoons of ice water over the flour mixture. Toss with a fork, then squeeze a handful of dough. If it holds together, you have enough water. If it crumbles, add more water one tablespoon at a time. Turn the shaggy dough onto your work surface and press it into a cohesive disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
Slice ripe paw-paws in half lengthwise. The flesh should be golden to deep orange, soft as ripe banana, and intensely fragrant. Scoop the flesh into a bowl, discarding the large black seeds. Press the pulp through a fine-mesh strainer or food mill to remove any fibrous bits. You need two cups of smooth pulp.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a twelve-inch circle, rotating a quarter turn after each pass to maintain an even shape. Transfer to a nine-inch pie plate, easing the dough into the corners without stretching. Trim the overhang to one inch beyond the rim, fold under, and crimp decoratively. Refrigerate for thirty minutes while you prepare the filling.
Position a rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 400°F. Line the chilled crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for twenty minutes until the edges look set and pale gold. Remove the weights and parchment, prick the bottom with a fork, and bake another five to eight minutes until the floor of the crust looks dry and lightly colored. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt until smooth. Add the paw-paw pulp and whisk thoroughly to combine. Pour in the heavy cream, melted butter, vanilla, and nutmeg, whisking until the filling is uniform and silken. The color should be a rich golden-orange.
Pour the filling into the warm par-baked crust. Bake at 325°F for forty-five to fifty-five minutes. The pie is done when the edges puff slightly and the center jiggles like set gelatin when you nudge the pan. A slight wobble is correct. The custard will continue to set as it cools.
Let the pie cool on a wire rack for at least two hours at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. The custard must be fully chilled to slice cleanly. Rushing produces a weeping, shapeless slice.
Just before serving, combine the cold cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a chilled bowl. Whip with a whisk or hand mixer until soft peaks form, about two minutes. The cream should hold its shape but remain pillowy, not stiff.
Cut the chilled pie into wedges with a sharp thin-bladed knife, wiping the blade between cuts for clean slices. Crown each portion with a generous billow of whipped cream. Serve immediately to guests who will likely ask what fruit could possibly taste this extraordinary.
1 serving (about 285g)
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