Sugar Pie

Name: Sugar Pie
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Canada
Ingredients: 1 unbaked 9-inch (23 cm) pie shell, homemade or store-bought, kept cold; 1 1/4 cups (275 g) packed light brown sugar; 2 tbsp (16 g) all-purpose flour; 1/4 tsp (1.5 g) fine salt; 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) 35% whipping cream; 2 large eggs; 2 tbsp (28 g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled; 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

Sugar Pie Say it: SHUG-er pye

By the Passport Plate editors. Published November 5, 2026.

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Sugar pie is a Quebec classic: a single pastry shell filled with a soft, caramel-coloured custard of brown sugar, cream and butter. It is a fixture of sugar-shack tables, holiday dinners and church-hall buffets across French Canada, eaten in thin wedges with strong coffee or a glass of cold milk. The texture sits somewhere between custard and fudge — tender, silky and gently chewy — while the flavour is deep toffee and vanilla rather than plain sweetness.

Sugar Pie

Pronounced SHUG-er pye

Serves: 8
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 40 min
Total: 1 hr
Level: Easy

Vegetarian

Also nut-free.

Allergens: contains gluten, milk, egg. Check labels on packaged ingredients.

Ingredients

8 servings

Pastry

1 unbaked 9-inch (23 cm) pie shell, homemade or store-bought, kept cold

Filling

1 1/4 cups (275 g)275 g (1 1/4 cups) packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp (16 g)16 g (2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp (1.5 g)1.5 g (1/4 tsp) fine salt
1 1/4 cups (300 ml)300 ml (1 1/4 cups) 35% whipping cream
2 large eggs
2 tbsp (28 g)28 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 tsp (5 ml)5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with a rack in the lower third, and slide a rimmed baking sheet onto it to heat. Line a 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate with the pastry, crimp the edge, and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk the brown sugar, flour and salt together, pressing out any hard lumps with the back of the spoon until the mixture looks even and sandy.
In a second bowl, whisk the cream, eggs, melted butter and vanilla until smooth and pale yellow, with no streaks of egg white left.
Pour the cream mixture into the sugar mixture and whisk just until smooth and glossy; the filling should be thin enough to pour easily.
Set the chilled pastry shell on the hot baking sheet and pour in the filling, stopping about 1/4 inch (6 mm) below the crimped rim.
Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 30 to 35 minutes more, until the filling is deep amber, puffed slightly at the edges, and the centre still wobbles gently when you nudge the pan.
If the crust is browning too fast, drape a ring of foil over the rim after the first 20 minutes of the lower-heat bake.
Cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 to 3 hours, until the custard firms up enough to cut cleanly. Serve at room temperature.

Regional variant: Maple Sugar Pie (Tarte au sucre à l'érable)

Replace the brown sugar with the same weight of maple sugar (or 1 cup / 240 ml maple syrup simmered with 1/2 cup / 100 g brown sugar for 5 minutes to thicken). Keep the cream, eggs, butter and flour the same, and bake identically. The result is paler and tastes of pure maple rather than molasses.

Cook's notes

Pull the pie while the centre still has a soft, wobbly set — it firms as it cools, and an extra 5 minutes in the oven turns it grainy.
Baking on a preheated sheet gives a crisp bottom crust and catches any bubble-over.
Dark brown sugar gives a stronger molasses flavour; light brown sugar gives a milder, more delicate toffee taste.

Serve with

Thin wedges with strong black coffee, a glass of cold milk, or a spoonful of lightly whipped cream; in Quebec it often follows a tourtière or baked bean supper.

Make ahead and storage

Keeps covered at room temperature for 1 day or refrigerated for 4 days; bring to room temperature before serving. Do not reheat, as the custard will weep.

Sugar Pie