The French-Canadian culture has an extraordinarily rich culinary history and I hope to explore it more fully in the hockey season to come. In honor of our Québec hockey fans, I give you the traditional Québec Sugar Pie, Tartre au sucre. It is similar to a pie in the American south, the Chess Pie, or even a Pecan Pie, without the pecans, but with subtle variations. I love pies of this genre, with their subtle but incredibly rich flavors. A small sliver can go a long way with a mug of coffee. Even for breakfast!
I am exploring recipes for this particular pie and will provide updates as I narrow down my choices. If you have a favorite version of this pie, please let me know!
Tartre au sucre – Québec Sugar Pie
One Tartre au sucre recipe from Group Recipes looks very promising! Some recipes contain an egg (and yet another) and others do not. My advice: do not stint on the ingredients. Use fresh good butter. Likewise with the sugars and extracts.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pie crust, unbaked
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups packed brown sugar (or half brown sugar, or half maple sugar)
- 1 ½ cups low fat evaporated milk
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or maple extract
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Preheat oven to 400F
- In a saucepan, combine flour and sugar and mix.
- Stir in milk slowly to avoid lumps, then add butter and salt.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.
- Remove from heat, add vanilla or maple extract.
- Pour into an unbaked pie shell.
- Bake at 400F for 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 350F and continue baking for 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool in a rack.
- Serve cooled in small wedges, with vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream if desired.
Bon appétit!
Eat. Drink. Hockey. 