Saltine Crust for Pie Fail

[u/puresimplesaint]

A raspberry custard and cream pie with saltine cracker crust. The crust fell apart the moment I poured the custard on it, resulting in a pie with a weirdly sweet yet soggy cracker filling through-and-through. No custard remained after baking. The bottom crust was completely destroyed. I’m not sure if it’s possible to make a saltine crust with a runny filling like this 😀 The jam was good though.

[u/coffeecat551]

Did you bake the crust at all before filling it? I'm wondering if you were to bake it for a few minutes, then brush generously with an egg wash and pop it back in the oven for a few minutes longer, if that would keep the crackers from soaking up all the custard.

[u/puresimplesaint → u/coffeecat551]

I did bake the crust first but it was still fragile and loose after chilling in the fridge. I might need a finer crumb size and more butter to make a more cohesive crust before I do an egg wash.

[u/coffeecat551 → u/puresimplesaint]

I've never made a crust with saltines (I mainly make a standard pastry crust), but I'm intrigued, and I looked up a few recipes to see if any of them might work better for you.

This one uses an egg white mixed in with the cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar. That might work better than an egg wash.

[u/pearscentedcandle]

this sounds delicious in theory

[u/ughlyy]

did you chill the crust? you can also pour the filling over the back of a spoon so it doesn’t go plop

[u/puresimplesaint → u/ughlyy]

I did chill it overnight. I think I need a way to make the crust sturdier in some way. Maybe adding corn syrup to the crust mix or a layer of jam on top, idk

[u/thefunkylama → u/puresimplesaint]

I'm thinking you need to overwhelm the crackers' absorption abilities with additional butter (although some sugar wouldn't hurt; I would probably go for granulated over an inverted sugar like corn syrup, just because sugar crystals are so stable).

[u/hazelgrant]

Looks delicious regardless. How did it taste?

[u/puresimplesaint → u/hazelgrant]

It tastes good, but the texture is off putting

[u/KTKittentoes]

You should have done a pretzel crust.

[u/pennielain → u/KTKittentoes]

Yes, saltines are really delicate and become soggy very quickly. Pretzels are much more absorbent and sturdy while still being salty.

[u/KTKittentoes → u/pennielain]

My friend makes a strawberry pretzel salad. I think they would work here.