When I married my husband, I adopted a few of his holiday traditions, including his family’s favorite Sugar Cream Pie.  At most family gatherings, whether it was a holiday, a reunion, a birthday, or just a get together, we always had this delicious treat.

  

We currently live far away from family, and have missed those wonderful family gatherings for the past four years.  So I am teaching my children how to make this pie so they will know in the future how to pass on this special tradition, and the stories that go with it, to their own families in the future.

This pie is very easy to make with kids in the kitchen.  I have simplified the instructions into three easy steps, and my kids enjoy making this delicious treat.


History

The history of this pie is fascinating! Sugar Cream Pie came to Indiana from North Carolina when the Quakers migrated there in the early 1800’s. My husband’s maternal family were Quakers several generations ago. The Quakers brought the original Sugar Pie recipes over from Europe. The Sugar Cream Pie is also known as the Indiana Pie, Finger Pie, Sugar Pie, Hosier Pie, Hosier Sugar Cream Pie, and the Indiana Farm Pie.

The Amish people in Indiana have also contributed to the popularity of the pie and have made it a staple food in their culture too. By selling it in their local shops, they helped popularize the pie even more as the tourism interest in the Amish people has increased.  Check out the wikipedi for more history about this pie.

There are lots of variations to this pie. So don’t be afraid to do an internet search and check out the variety of recipes available and find a recipe you enjoy. Check out all these pictures of Sugar Cream Pie I found on the internet to see some of the variety.

The color of this pie may change based on what ingredients you make it with.  For example, depending on what kind of sugar you use, and if you use nutmeg, butter, cream, milk, or buttermilk, all of these choices will all affect the color of this pie. One way is a light colored cream pie made with milk and white sugar like Wick’s Pies makes it in Indiana.  Another way is using all cream and no milk.  Another old fashioned way is with brown sugar, or with maple syrup. The version I made in the picture below is with fresh whole raw milk, brown sugar, sea salt, flour, vanilla, and I left out the optional nutmeg and butter.  Isn’t it lovely?




How To Make

Sugar Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar (you can use white, brown, or maple syrup).
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt (I use Celtic Sea Salt).
1 cup milk (I use fresh whole raw milk straight from the cow.  It is 1/3 rich with cream and really tastes great.  But you can also use store bought whole milk, or half cup milk and half cup cream, or 1 cup of cream, or 1 cup buttermilk.  The variations are endless!)
1 tsp vanilla
1  8″ unbaked pie crust

Optional: 2 Tbsp butter (Broken into small pieces and dropped around the filled pie before baking.  If you leave this step out, you still have a really good Sugar Cream Pie and save on a few calories too).
Optional: 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (Sprinkled on top of the filled pie before baking. I leave this out due to one of the children is allergic).



Step 1
Gently stir ingredients together and pour them into an 8 inch unbaked pie shell. 

Or if you prefer, stir together the old fashion way by placing blended dry ingredients (sugar, flour and salt mixture) into the bottom of the pie crust and lightly stirring in the blended liquid ingredients until it is all mixed together. If you use your finger to stir it, then you can call the pie “Finger Pie”.  Funny name for a pie, don’t you think so?

Step 2
Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, and reduce heat to 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Step 3
Remove from heat, and allow to cool before serving.



It can be served warm, or cold, and with whipped cream or no whip cream. But no matter what it looks like in the end, I can promise it will turn out great and be delicious!

This has to be one of the simplest and most delicious pies there is. It is a true old fashioned comfort food and a tradition worth keeping. Yummy!

                                                                    
This post will be linked up with
Raising Homemakers
Sharing Time
Comfy In The Kitchen