Filipino Egg Pie is a custard pie slowly baked in a flakey butter crust.
For most people, “pie” evokes childhood memories of warm apple pie served with vanilla ice cream or sweet summer strawberry pie with a dollop of whipped cream.
For me, this Filipino Egg Pie comes to mind.
[I mentioned my love for this custard pie (three years ago!) in this cinnamon buttermilk pie.]
What is Filipino Egg Pie?
Filipino egg pie is traditionally made with milk, sugar, eggs, and sometimes with a touch of calamansi juice/zest to brighten up this otherwise very sweet pie.
In keeping with tradition, I used canned evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk.
Back in the day when refrigerators were uncommon or unavailable, Filipinos (and most of Southeast Asians) relied on canned evaporated milk for cooking and baking.
Growing up, this egg pie would make an appearance at every gathering and celebration.
Filipinos parties are known to decked out with a ton of food. It wouldn’t that outlandish to find two or three of these pies at the dessert table.
We would usually purchase egg pie at our local Filipino bakeries. On the occasions when they’d sell out, my dad would hurry to Marie Callender’s to buy their custard pie. The custard pie is similar, except for its addition of nutmeg.
The distinguishing feature of Filipino egg pie is the toasty brown surface.
To achieve that toasty surface, whipped egg whites are folded into the custard batter just before baking.
Tips and Troubleshooting for making egg pie:
Why Par-Bake the Crust?
Par-bake or pre-bake the pie dough in order to achieve a well-cooked flakey pie shell.
Line the pie dough with pie weight (like dried beans or rice) to prevent it from forming air bubbles or air pockets in the oven. Pre-bake the pie for about 15-18 minutes.
The pie crust will be not fully cooked at this point. It will finish cooking with the custard filling the second time around in the oven.
Par-baking ensures that the bottom of the pie crust will not be soggy.
Whipping Egg Whites
It is important to use a clean bowl, free from any debris or traces of fat. Traces of butter, oil, or yolk will prevent the egg whites from whipping efficiently.
Room temperature egg whites will whip faster than cold egg whites.
Ensuring Silky Pie Filling
If you notice that the egg yolks are lumpy or stringy, strain egg yolk mixture before folding in the whipped egg whites.
While I love the more popular Filipino desserts like leche flan and steamed rice treats (puto, sapin sapin, etc), Filipino egg pie was my absolute favorite as a child.
Nowadays, I rarely see this pie at Filipino parties. It makes me a little sad. The new generation of Filipino-Americans (my little nieces and nephews) have no idea what they’re missing. I want to bring egg pie back!
Interested in other Filipino desserts? Check out these favorites:
Filipino Egg Pie
Yield: 9-inch pie
Ingredients
Pie Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups (198 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (4 oz/114g) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, cold
- 2-3 Tablespoons ice water
Filling:
- 6 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large egg whites
- optional: 1/2 teaspoon calamansi juice or 1/2 teaspoon calamansi zest
Instructions
Pie Dough:
- In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Cover and let chill in the fridge or freezer until bowl is cold. (About 5 minutes)
- Using a pastry blender (or two forks), cut cold butter into cold flour until mixture resembles coarse, pebbled sand. Add ice water and fold to combine. Dough will be shaggy.
- Dump dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until mixture comes together. Pat dough to a thickness of about 1/2-inch. Wrap in plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour (overnight is best).
- Allow chilled dough to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling. Roll dough on a lightly floured work surface to about 11-inch in diameter and about 1/8-inch in thickness. Place pie plate upside down over the rolled dough to ensure it is the correct size.
- Transfer dough to pie plate and firmly press into the bottom and sides of plate. Trim excess dough leaving about 1/2-inch overhang all around. Fold overhang into the pie and decorate the edges as desired. Let chill in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400oF. Line pie with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (i.e. dried beans). Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and bake for another 3 minutes. Allow pie crust to cool while you prepare filling.
Filling:
- Lower oven temperature to 325oF. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, condensed milk, evaporated milk, salt, and vanilla (and optional calamansi) until smooth*. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter.
- Pour batter into par-baked pie crust. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the surface is golden brown in color and the custard just slightly jiggles in the center. Allow pie to cool to room temperature before slicing. Once pie has cooled, you can also store it in the fridge to chill of easier and cleaner slicing.
Notes
- If you notice that the egg yolks are lumpy or stringy, strain egg yolk mixture before folding in egg whites.
- Calamansi is optional. Do not substitute lemon or lime.
Ooooh, another Filipino dessert! Sadly I have never seen this at parties eitherLooks just as good as cassava.
Thanks! I love cassava!
This looks like something I would try, I love trying food from other countries.
Thanks! Me, too! I love exploring the world of food :)
I love your memories with this pie and that you’ve shared it here. I’ve never heard of, let alone tried, Filipino Egg Pie, but I totally want to now. How could I not ADORE this goodness?
Thanks! It’s pretty similar to Southern egg custard pie :)
This looks incredible! I’ve never tried this before, but it is so going on the list, because whoa, that custard looks amazing!
Thank you!!
I’ve never tried a Filipino egg pie! It looks absolutely divine! Can’t wait to make it!
Thanks so much!
This I HAVE to try. I have an obsession with panzit, so I need more Filipino food in my life. :)
Looks amazing. I love condensed milk from drinking so much Vietnamese coffee:) Definitely need to try your custard recipe! Sweet tip about folding the egg whites right before baking.
Thanks so much! Ooh, I love iced Vietnamese coffee. So addicting!
The Egg Pie looks delicious! Of course, I adore Sapin Sapin and would LOVE it if you had a recipe that you wouldn’t mind sharing.
I love sapin sapin! Unfortunately, I don’t have a recipe for that.
Growing up in Manila, I’ve always loved the panaderia egg pie. I’ve eaten a lot of it but have always wondered how the brown tops were made. And now I know! Thank you for sharing the recipe. Pinning!
What are you talking about filipino americans missing out? I am a young filipino american and I’ve been eating this since I was little.
I have fond memories of eating egg pie as a child in Manila. I looked over several recipes that came up when i googled “egg pie”, but yours sounded the best! I just tried your recipe for the first time today, and it came out perfectly! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Hello
Thank you for the sweet reminder ….definitely will try to make egg pie this Christmas .
Best,
Elizabeth
wondrful pie!
Thank you for posting the recipe for Egg pie! I enjoyed eating this pie as a young girl growing up in Manila. It brings so much memories ?
I’m going to make this weekend, what is other alternative for Kalamansi juice, sometimes it’s hard to find it in our Asian store here in VA.
I would try searching for frozen calamansi juice packets at any nearby Asian or Latin supermarkets. If not, I would suggest adding a mixture of lemon and lime juice in place.
This pie looks a pie we are as children it was called an Egg Custard it has the same ingredients and I’m from the South (Memphis Tennessee ) family made the pie all the time and I have a hand written recipe for my pie but I will try your pie cause I like sweet stuff
Can you substitute powdered milk?
If so, what brand and how much to use?
What is the difference using it?
No, I don’t suggest using powdered milk. This recipe tastes best with canned evaporated milk.
Is it okay to use a 10-inch cast iron skillet for this recipe? Do I need to make any adjustments? Thanks.
You can use 10-inch skillet, but the crust will be a bit thinner. Also, cast iron skillet retain heat more so than standard pie tins. I would reduce the temperature to prevent the crust and filling from being overcooked.
Love your recipe. Just tried it today and it’s a hit!
Yay! That’s wonderful to hear! Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi! Thank you for this recipe. I tried a recipe that calls for use of 4 eggs with 1 egg, yolk and white separated. I even strained the egg & milk mixture before incorporating the whipped egg white and it looked so perfect so I was confident it will turn out good. I used a store-bought pie crust and no blind baking done. Egg pie was baked at middle rack at 350F for 15 mins then lowered to 325F and continued to bake for 45 mins. I wanted a more brown top so I baked the pie for few mins more and checked that filling was still little jiggly. Then let it stayed inside with the oven half ajar to prevent deflation. During the taste test, I did not achieve the creamy texture of pie, rather noticed it has created pockets in the whole filling! But the sweetness was perfect to my taste it complemented with the excellent crunch of the pie crust. Did I overbake it thus the bubbles in the filling? Should I add more eggs and separate yolk from whites? I added a little cream and used 3/4 evap & 3/4 condensed milk. Should I thoroughly omit the cream? Should I adjust the oven temp and remove the pie immediately after the baking time? And which oven rack to be used? I appreciate enlightening me on this matter. I plan to use your recipe and aspire to achieve the perfect consistency without the overpowering sweetness.
Why dies my eggpie firm a dome dyring baking? This dome will keave a low volune on themiddle part of the pue once cooled.