# Help with baked pudding hand pie recipe



## Guest (Oct 2, 2010)

Hello,

For my first post, let me give some background:

I want to start my own hand pie street vendor cart, and I've got a few recipes to get me through fall/winter, but the one essential recipe I can't seem to pin down is a good pudding pie recipe. 

I'm remembering Hostess Chocolate Pudding pies here, which I don't believe they make anymore.  The pudding was smooth, creamy, shiny, like a perfect cup of Jell-O Pudding in an overly sweet, sugar-coated crust.  However, when I make my own pudding from scratch and bake it into a hand pie, it either doesn't set up or becomes coarse (curdled?).  I've tried making a custard pudding, or using cornstarch, or using cornstarch in a custard.  I've tried boiling, I've brought it to 175, I've tried adding it in (via slurry) after taking the base off of heat.  Is the cornstarch getting too hot?  Not hot or long enough?  Would flour be a better thickener in this case?

I'm guessing that I'd get better results if I deep fried the pies, as the pudding wouldn't get as hot in the 1-2 minutes of frying as it does in the 30 minutes it takes for the crust to bake in the oven, but I'd like to avoid the deep fryer just to keep things simple and "healthy."

Could anyone offer tips on making a pudding that can stand up to the extreme temps of an oven while remaining smooth and creamy?

Thanks in advance!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

My neighbor used to make a pie that was really good and was baked with a pastry cream in it.  Her recipe, like most italian recipes, had no technique explained, and it came from a "housewife's diary" - a datebook with recipes and household hints from the 1940s or something - it was quite old.  But the pie was wonderful.    I made it a couple of times years ago. 

It was called Dolce Basco (Basque desert)

the ingredients of the filling were

1/2 liter milk (about two cups)

120 grams flour (that's about a 7/8 cup (probably the large quantity of flour is what makes it not curdle)

120 grams sugar (between 1/2 and 2/3 cup)

3 eggs

and vanilla or grated lemon peel

I would mix the flour and sugar, add the eggs and vanilla and beat to remove lumps and add hot milk and cook.  It becomes a dense cream, and you pour it in the crust, cover with the otehr crust and bake. 

I loved it.  The cream sets up a little, and in a pie form it's sliceable.  You might want to reduce the flour somewhat.  But in any case, consider that you need a lot more flour.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

It may very well be that the pudding is injected into the pie after baking


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Chefross said:


> It may very well be that the pudding is injected into the pie after baking


They do a lot of injecting of cream into pastries here - from croissants to pielike things, but I find the flavor is much better when it's cooked inside. I suppose it's a question of taste, but I don't like the pudding that wets the casing, which happens when it's injected later. If they;re cooked together, the flavors amalgamate more.


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback!  Siduri, is the filling in the recipe you posted above firm enough to not run out of a hand pie (essentially a turnover) shell?  I've tried putting runny fillings into the crusts, but they run out during baking.  Could I cook the custard on the stovetop, chill it, and then put it in the unbaked shell for baking?

Chefross, I thought about that, but I don't know how I'd keep the shell from collapsing.  Think of a calzone: you really can't add the pepperoni and cheese after the crust has been baked.  It's like that.

Thanks, and keep 'em coming!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Rick Hogg said:


> Thanks for the feedback! Siduri, is the filling in the recipe you posted above firm enough to not run out of a hand pie (essentially a turnover) shell? I've tried putting runny fillings into the crusts, but they run out during baking. Could I cook the custard on the stovetop, chill it, and then put it in the unbaked shell for baking?
> 
> Chefross, I thought about that, but I don't know how I'd keep the shell from collapsing. Think of a calzone: you really can't add the pepperoni and cheese after the crust has been baked. It's like that.
> 
> Thanks, and keep 'em coming!


Definitely it stays put. You slice the pie and it stays in one firm piece, but is still soft. It's wonderful warm. I hate custard pies with the custard cooked separately, so i'm no judge of that, but this is perfect. You can bite into it if you make it as an individual pie (i presume that's what a hand pie is) and it won;t all spill all over you!!!


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2010)

Thanks for the reply, but I guess my biggest concern is, how is it before it's baked? For hand pies/pocket pies/turnovers/empanadas/etc., you roll out your dough to a very flat circle, place your filling in half, and fold over the other half, sealing with egg wash, crimping, or whatever. This is what you end up with:



If you have a runny filling that won't stay put long enough for you to seal the pie, it'll just run everywhere. So I need the pudding to be somewhat firm beforehand. Guess I could freeze a runny filling and bake from frozen if all else fails, but I wonder if it would have time to thicken up by the end of baking. Either way, your recipe sounds really good, so I'll probably have to...erm...research it more in-depth...


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## supertaster (Oct 14, 2013)

I could not make them either!  I tried making a Hostess Chocolate Pudding Pie at home and it was a disaster.  They came out like lumps of oozing wet newspaper.  I threw the whole batch in the garbage.  For some reason they did not even taste good.  I used a recipe found on the internet and added the chocolate pudding in the center before baking.  Bleeech!  I can't understand why no one makes those pies anymore.  What a dearly missed dessert of Kings : (


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## hteardrop (Apr 4, 2014)

any luck? I'm also looking for custard filling for hand pies. i actually bought a premade bavarian cream the other day to try and it was a decent filling for cupcakes but i had some left over and started to wonder if i could use that. i contacted the seller and am awaiting a reply... maybe you have to purchase some?


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