Monkey pie -- Do you have a recipe? Have you eaten it?

[Storygirl]

As a child, we ate a dessert called monkey pie. My mom made it, but it was my paternal grandmother's recipe. I've never been able to find the recipe online; anything called monkey pie is a different kind of dessert.

 

We recently located my mother's recipe box, and my sister tried to make monkey pie for my dad's birthday, but it didn't turn out. Doing some research online using the list of ingredients, she discovered that similar recipes are often called a Pennsylvania Dutch milk tart.

 

Dad says that his mom didn't follow a real recipe but called it monkey pie, because it was made by "monkeying around" with leftover ingredients when doing other baking. The pie was a little different each time but somewhat resembles an Old-fashioned Cream Pie.

 

My sister, aunt, and cousin all have the same recipe written down. It's likely that someone watched Grandma make it, and they estimated the amounts on the ingredient list. Sister says the first time she made it, it never set up and was like milky soup in a crust. The second time she used less milk, and it set, but Dad said it was not really right.

 

Monkey Pie

3 T flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 t vanilla

1 pint milk

nutmeg

hunks of butter on top

 

Bake 15 minutes at 375 or 400 and 45 minutes at 350 or 375

 

No mention of a crust, but it would be just a standard pie crust. Dad says his mom would use the leftover bits of crust after making other pies and just throw this one together. The baking times and temperatures are weird Just turn down the temp after a few minutes, I guess. It is a short pie that does not fill the crust to the top.

 

Any clues about how to make it turn out? Has anyone made something similar?

 

ETA: Dad says his mom didn't use a bowl to mix the ingredients but just tossed them in the crust. Sister said she didn't try that but mixed it together before pouring it into the crust. I wonder how much that makes a difference.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Storygirl

[SparklyUnicorn]

Seems like it's missing something like eggs?  What would make the pie set up?

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I googled vanilla custard pie and so many come up.  I just picked one.  If you notice it is kinda similar, but has eggs.

 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/26326/elvas-custard-pie/

[Storygirl]

I know. But definitely no eggs were involved originally.

[Annie G]

It seems that it either needs eggs to help it set or maybe cook the mixture on the stove to thicken it.  The amount of flour to milk would be enough to thicken but does it do that in the oven?

Did you chill the pie to see if it thickened up?

[Kebo]

Looks like there are lots of recipes out there.  I've never made one, but it sounds good.  I though this one looked worth trying : http://www.africanbites.com/milk-tart/

[Storygirl]

This is the kind of thing, but not exactly the same recipe.

 

http://teriskitchen.com/padutch/flabby.html

[Storygirl]

The first time, she had to throw it out. The second time, she chilled it, and it set but didn't have the right taste.

 

As I remember it, the custard part had two layers, thicker on bottom and thinner on top. I wonder if the key is not mixing? Although it seems strange that would affect the taste.

 

Sister said it was too butterscotchy and wondered if Mom used white sugar instead of brown. Or some of each. I can see both Mom and Grandma doing that but not noting it on the recipe. As I remember it, the custard was definitely white, but it was slightly browned on top.

 

I'm wondering if the name "monkey pie" was just a family name for it.

 

We'd like to be able to use Grandma's recipe. We could try one online, but it wouldn't be hers.

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by Storygirl

[Annie G]

This is the kind of thing, but not exactly the same recipe.

 

http://teriskitchen.com/padutch/flabby.html

 

That name though- milk flabby!!! Ew. 

 

But maybe the key is in this recipe- stirring it after 15 minutes. By then the ingredients have warmed up and it might make a difference. 

[BarbecueMom]

The ingredients look similar to my family's Caramel (although it says "Carmel" in my hand-me-down handwritten recipe book, lol) Pudding, minus the caramel, but in a crust. Ours is baked in an 8x8 or 9x9 dish though.

 

The only other thing that's different is mine has baking powder. Could that be the problem?

 

ETA: oh, mine is white sugar too, except in the caramel portion that ends up on bottom.

Edited March 10, 2017 by BarbecueMom

[Storygirl]

Here is a nice blog with recollections of milk pies. https://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/02/old-recipes-iii-milk-pie/

 

Sounds like exactly what Dad remembers his mom doing, though a different name. We have Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.