The Trick For Not Spilling Custard Pie Filling Before It Reaches The Oven

If you like pie and creamy desserts such as pudding, flan, crème brûlée, and zabaglione, then it only stands to reason that you'll flat-out love custard pies. And while that title might immediately call to mind a straightforward coconut custard pie or banana cream pie, custard pie is actually a far-reaching category that includes many egg- and dairy-rich fillings. Pumpkin pie? That's a custard pie. Chess pie? It's a custard pie, as are buttermilk pie, chocolate meringue pie, and vanilla cream pie (via Better Homes & Gardens). But we think you get the point.

Custard pies aren't too difficult to make at home, but you'll want to pay close attention to a few key details in order to get them right. Firstly, you'll almost always want to blind bake your crust – weighted down with pie weights, naturally — because this will provide extra insurance against that crust going soggy under the moist filling (via Pioneer Woman). And secondly, when the crust is nicely par-baked, you'll want to make sure to fill 'er up with custard without spilling any of that precious, eggy liquid.

Have you ever made a custardy dessert at home — think cheesecake, crème brûlée, or flan — and the baking dish you've filled nearly to brimming spills over on your way from the countertop to the oven, wasting some of the sweet liquid inside? It happens. But the next time you whip up a custard pie, you'll want to avoid this sad fate with one easy step.

All you've got to do, according to Wholesome Farmhouse Recipes, is pour the custard into the pie shell after the baking dish is already set on the oven rack. Place your pie dish with baked pie crust on the oven rack — in fact, it should already be there if you've gone ahead and blind baked the crust – and pull the rack out a little. Then, pour your mixed custard filling into the waiting crust, carefully nudge the rack back into place, and proceed with baking the pie. And there you go! A beautifully creamy custard pie will be yours within the hour — without any crying over spilled custard.