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Chess Pie
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- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus at least 50 minutes’ chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 6tablespoons/75 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes, plus more for preparing the pan
- 1½cups/205 grams all-purpose flour
- ⅓cup/63 grams granulated sugar
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 1¼teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 2egg yolks
- ¼cup/58 milliliters cold water
- 3whole eggs
- 3egg yolks
- 1¼cups/260 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/40 grams medium-coarse yellow cornmeal
- ¼cup/58 milliliters lemon juice
- 1tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 1cup/230 milliliters buttermilk, preferably full-fat
- ¼cup/56 grams unsalted butter, melted
- Whipped heavy cream for serving
For the Crust
For the Filling
Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the pie crust: Generously butter a 10-inch round, fluted tart pan. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, salt, black pepper and lemon zest. Working quickly, rub the cold butter into the dry mixture using your fingers or a pastry cutter. Cut the butter into the flour until the pieces are the size of small pebbles. (Alternatively, use a food processor to pulse the dry ingredients with the butter.) Add the egg yolks and the cold water. Using your hands, combine just until the dough comes together in clumps. Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out chilled dough between two sheets of parchment or on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch round. Using the rolling pin, transfer dough into the prepared tart pan. Press the dough into the fluted sides and trim any overhang to ¼ inch above the pan. Chill the dough again for at least 20 minutes.
- Step 3
Line the pie dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the crust is lightly browned along the edges and beginning to firm up, about 18 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment and bake for another 5 minutes to lightly brown the edges. Press down the surface with the back of a spoon if the crust bubbles. Allow the crust to cool completely before filling. Adjust the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- Step 4
As the crust cools, prepare the filling: Whisk together eggs, yolks, sugar, cornmeal, lemon juice and zest and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in buttermilk and the melted butter.
- Step 5
Place the tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet and carefully pour the filling into the cooled pie shell. Bake until the filling is set and jiggles slowly when the tart pan is moved back and forth, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool pie completely before slicing. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar and serve at room temperature or cold, with some whipped heavy cream on the side.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Pour overage into custard cups and bake in a bain marie.
WAY to much batter for a 10 inch tart mold.
Looking at notes from those who made the recipe before commenting, I was curious about reports of too much crust and batter. I had both suggested pans; measuring both, my 10" tart pan had more volume than my 9" pie pan - maybe this is the problem? Otherwise Made the recipe as written with my 10" pan, had to press the dough into my fluted edges with my fingers but the total amount didnt seem too much. its still in the oven but looks like its going to be OK.
Buttermilk pie is one thing and Chess pie is another. The beauty of chess pie is that you could make a quick decadent desert with few ingredients: butter, eggs, sugar, a little cornmeal, maybe some vanilla and a partially baked traditional crust. Probably no one will notice if you use a frozen pieshell because the filling is so rich and good. Try this variation and enjoy it, knowing it's not really real Chess pie and then try a real Southern Chess pie recipe sometime for delicious reference.
Agree with the other comment (just one!): wayyy too much crust. This made it hard to roll and hard to place in the pie tin. I had to redo it three times which overworked the dough (also blame my lack of skills) but the amounts are off. The overhang was burnt after 30 minutes at 375, and baking the filling worsened that. Otherwise, the pie was good, especially next day. I would reduce the salt, maybe the sugar by 1/3. I topped with meringue from all the leftover whites, which I would recommend!
How I change up this classic Old South recipe. Use a plain crust (prebaked at 350 temp for 4 min, let cool). Follow ingredient list with these changes: only 1 egg yolk, 2 TA cornmeal, 1/4th tsp. salt, 1/2 cup milk (buttermilk not necessary), 1/3rd cup lemon juice, zest of 1 lemon. Bake at 350 for 45 min. Doesn't need whipped cream! One pie serves 8 -- very rich.
Chess pie is a traditional Southern pie that has a lot of variations. It's not a buttermilk pie even though some people put buttermilk in it. It usually has cornmeal in it because that's what people in the South had on hand to thicken a custard pie like this. Sometimes people don't put cornmeal in it, but that's not as traditional and many Southerners would not consider it a chess pie if it doesn't have cornmeal and lemon. And, yes, it's sweet!
I agree, too much batter for the recommended tart mold. I also found the lemon taste not quite as tart as I would have liked...and I put in a bit less sugar than the recipe called for.
Just whipped this up and I actually found that with a 10" wide by 2" deep tart pan (not 1"), the volume of crust and filling was perfect. The crust kind of falls apart after rolling it out, but easy enough to press into the pan. It is really a beautiful looking pie.
3 whole eggs AND 3 egg yolks? Rather EGGcentric I think. Any comments out there about the taste of the custard filling?
To be clear, fluted tart tins typically come in 1" or 2" depths. Excluding the crust, a 10" by 1" tin will hold roughly 5.5 cups of filling and a 10" x 2" tin will hold nearly 10 cups. For the dough, one will ALWAYS make a slightly larger batch of pastry dough than needed - the reason? Most American home cooks will NOT measure or weight ingredients like egg yolks. Half of the recipe make too little dough to fill the pan. A typical yolk in a large egg is 18 grams. Pull out the scale and adjust...
This was a whole lot of work for a chess pie that’s not nearly as good as the simpler, traditional version I usually make. The pepper added nothing (and I’m a pepper freak). The crust was a beast to get into the pan without melting and mushing all over the place. In the end, it’s pretty and it’s tasty, but it’s not worth all the time and effort.
I agree with the poster who said that a proper tart pan is required. A shallow pie plate or mold won't hold it all. Suggest to cut back on sugar and to sub some of the flour for more cornmeal. I sprinkled a bit of finely minced fresh rosemary on top of the dolop of whipped cream. Divine!
This was amazingly delicious! The amount of custard was perfect in my 10”x2” pie tin. I made a few edits based on the notes: increased the lemon: adding zest of an entire lemon and all the juice. I also wanted a workable crust, so I didn’t use yolks and prepped with vodka from the freezer in place of water. The pepper was interesting, but I would skip in the future. Served it with a simple blueberry-blackberry compote and homemade whipped cream: perfection.
For a classic chess pie a tablespoon or two of corn meal mixed in the batter is essential and makes the top of the pie crunchy.
These notes seem to be for Chess Pie, not Lemon Yogurt Cheesecake
I made this yesterday and it met my expectations. I am French and this is surprisingly similar to the lemon curd tart my mom used to make growing up (minus the cornmeal, which back home we never use - corn is animal feed :) I would recommend not overcooking this pie, 35 mn turned out to be too long for mine. Good, but would have likely been better if the filling was indeed “jiggling."
The filling is very nice, but the crust is very wet. I ended up making it twice, and it was still very sticky (used less water second time). Also, I used 1 tsp of pepper (instead of 1.25 tsp), and I’m going to have to throw the pie out. It’s just too powerful. I think the crust could be good on its own, if it was a little less wet, and the pepper omitted.
Made as written except for using powdered buttermilk which happened to be low-fat, since that’s what I had (and also used “00” flour). I had no problems with this recipe - I wonder whether using weight vs. volume measurements is the secret? Just a thought. It fit well into the 10”, it did not burn but the crust was AMAZING, and the pie was so sweet that it’s true the whipped cream served to tone that down a bit. I thought it was amazing!
By definition buttermilk is fat free, it is the liquid left over from making butter which is then cultured to keep it from turning. Great recipe however
Would it be possible to bake this in a cast iron skillet?
This pie is now front and center for thanksgiving! The crust instructions are a bit fussy, but the whole effect is magnificent with a most creamy and delicious filling. It is not much to look at, you might consider a fluted pan to improve the curb appeal. A permanent addition to my favorite pies.
Use the Lemon Chess Pie recipe from Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock's cookbook, "The Gift of Southern Cooking," Chapter VIII "It Doesn't Have To Be Fancy." A winner every time I've made it and to rave reviews from everyone who ate it. Every recipe I've tried from this cookbook has been a personal and a crowd pleaser.
Instead of using the "jiggle" method to test done-ness, it's far more accurate to give a specific temperature measurement for the middle of the pie. I've learned (the hard way) to not trust jiggling pie filling to judge when it's done. I've found that 148-150℉ works for the center of cheesecake, and it should work for this pie, also. That's the temp at which eggs will be set and safe to eat.
This took forever. I cooked it for 20 extra minutes and the center didn’t completely harden and the custard near the edge split. I wouldn’t recommend this recipe.
This was a disaster from start to finish, and the end result was inedible. I had to throw it out.
I made this for Thanksgiving, and it was a hit with people who don't normally like pie and a miss with those who do. It's very lemony, and has a satisfying texture, but it isn't super sweet. (Personally, I loved it!)
Follow all the steps and you will find that this will take 3.5 to 4 hours to make, not 1.5 hours.
I didn't love this recipe. I used to make lemon chess pie all the time when I was a kid, but don't have my old recipe. This just didn't taste as good. Definitely felt like the buttermilk overwhelmed all the other flavors. The cornmeal I used seemed too course to me. I will still search for another recipe that better recreates my childhood memory!
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