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My PA Dutch grandma's pumpkin pie always had a thin layer of custard on the bottom. We have her recipe but none of us has been able to get the filling to separate... Anyone have any idea what might cause this? We've experimented with cooking temps, ingredient temps, amount of mixing, beating the eggs more or less etc.... Any ideas????

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Erm... pumpkin pie is a custard pie. The whole filling is pumpkin flavored custard. You might want to describe what you are hoping for more clearly, and provide the base recipe. – SAJ14SAJ Dec 9 '12 at 6:23
Sorry- the pie develops a thin, milky white to clear layer - it was sometimes in the center, sometimes at the bottom of the pie. Her recipe was pretty standard- 2 1/2 cups of neck pumpkin purée, 1/3 c brown sugar, 1/3 c sugar, 12 oz. evaporated milk, 3 eggs,, 1/2 tsp salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves & mace to taste - bake at 450 for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 for about 50 more minutes. – A Meyers Dec 9 '12 at 7:22
Oh- and my one aunt swears she saw grandma add cornstarch, although it is not on her handwritten recipe – A Meyers Dec 9 '12 at 8:06

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I believe that your aunt is right and Grandma added cornstarch. Quite a few times in the past when I've made sauces using cornstarch in a saucepan, bubbles of clear gel have formed when I've neglected to stir constantly. It seems quite possible to me that a thin layer of this gel would form when making a pie, rather than the bubbles that I have seen.

I understand that you want to come as close to Grandma's recipe as possible and keep this layer. Bearing in mind that I've not tried this, I would mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with just enough milk to make a pourable, non-lumpy paste and whisk it gently into the custard . If the recipe involves any heating of the custard before baking, be sure to incorporate the cornstarch mixture only after heating.

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With the kind of oven time described in the comment to the question, I don't think any precooking of the filling is involved. – SAJ14SAJ Dec 9 '12 at 15:44
Thanks for the suggestion- I tried what you suggested with no luck, though.... – A Meyers Dec 18 '12 at 4:12
@AMeyers Sorry it didn't help. I hope you get some more suggestions. – Chris Steinbach Dec 18 '12 at 10:52

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