Chess pie is a dessert with a filling composed mainly of flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and milk, characteristic of Southern United States cuisine.
![]() A slice of vanilla buttermilk chess pie | |
Type | Pie |
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Place of origin | England |
Main ingredients | Pie crust, eggs, butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, corn meal |
Variations | Lemon chess pie, vinegar pie |
Chess pie was brought from England originally and was found in New England as well as Virginia.[1] It has some similarities to English lemon curd pie.[2]
It is likely derived from recipes for cheeseless cheesecake that appeared in cookbooks as early as the 17th century, such as in Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery and the English A True Gentlewoman's Delight (1653).[3] A recipe explicitly called chess pie appeared in the 1877 cookbook by Estelle Woods Wilcox, Buckeye Cookery.[3][4]
Today chess pie is most commonly associated as a dessert of the American South.[2] Common types of chess pie are buttermilk, chocolate, lemon, and nut.[citation needed]
Several derivations of the name chess pie have been proposed. The most likely is a derivation of cheese pie, as early cookbooks grouped cheesecakes together with pies made of curd or custard.[5][6][7][4] Other possible derivations include: the town of Chester, England;[3] chest pie, from pie chest, a type of furniture used to store pies prior to home refrigeration; or an eggcorn of "It's just pie", due to a misinterpretation of the pronunciation "It's jes' pie" in Southern American English.[8][2]
The basic chess pie recipe calls for the preparation of a single crust and a filling composed of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs and milk or condensed milk. Some variations call for the addition of cornmeal as a thickener. Many recipes call for an acid such as vinegar, buttermilk, or lemon juice.[9][6]
In addition to standard chess pie, other flavor variations include lemon, coconut, and chocolate chess pie.[10] Some nut pies, including some pecan, fall under the category of chess pies[11] Traditional pecan pie recipes do not include milk or condensed milk in the filling, and are typically regarded as a type of sugar pie similar to British treacle rather than a milk containing custard (see Pecan pie § Variations).
Brought from England and prevalent mostly in New England and the Virginias, this was served more as a tea accompaniment than as a dessert pie. Traditionally it is made in patty pans as tarts.
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Sweet |
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Savory |
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Snack pies |
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Frozen pies |
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