Recently, when leafing through the amazing book Killer Pies: Delicious Recipes from North America's Favorite Restaurants
Happily, the answer presented itself quickly enough, when I found the entry for Dangerously Delicious Pies in Baltimore, Maryland.
The pie in question? The "Bob Andy".
What's a Bob Andy Pie, you ask? Well, according to proprietor (part time baker, part time rock musician) Rodney Henry, this pie is "really awesome...I call it 'White Trash Creme Brulee.'" I didn't need any more backstory beyond that: I was already headed to the kitchen.
Happily, the Bob Andy is what is considered a "staple" pie, meaning it contains the basic ingredients most people have in their pantry at any given time.
Unhappily, it just so happened that just returning from a trip, my pantry was somewhat empty, and I found myself with roughly half of the milk and butter called for in the original recipe. But it occurred to me: is it possible to half a pie recipe? After all, I had split a pie in three parts before, why not just create a foil barrier and bake it as a half-pie?
So I gave it a try, and amazingly, it worked. I had a little extra filling, which I simply baked up as custards in cupcake-cups. I can't say it would work for every type of pie, but I was happy with the result.
Bob Andy Pie, Halved
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 unbaked round of pie dough (enough for a 9-inch pie), cut into 60/40 portions, of which you'll use the 60 part (use the rest for pie fries!)
Procedure
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Prepare your pie dough. Roll it out, and place it in your pie plate. Using a piece of foil, form a barrier in half of the tin, and shape your dough up the side of it, so that you have a sort of makeshift pie semicircle in which to pour your filling.
- Mix all of the filling ingredients except for the egg whites together to make a custard.
- With a hand mixer, beat the whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold the whites into the custard and pour into the pie shell. Bake for 1 hour.
- Remove when it's browned on top, and when (owner's words) "everything moves together. It shouldn't be jiggly like milk."