In this article
In the early 1930s a great many American kitchens ran on what was left in the cupboard. Milk went to the children, eggs were sold or traded, and fruit was something you had in August or not at all. What stayed on the shelf was flour, sugar and a little butter. Cooks made do, and those years gave the community cookbooks some of their strangest recipes: vinegar pie, mock apple pie and the purest of them all, water pie.
The filling is exactly what the name says. You pour plain water into an unbaked crust, sprinkle flour and sugar over the top, add vanilla and a few pats of butter, and you do not stir it. Everything in you will want to.
The part every first-time baker needs to hear: water pie does not set in the oven. It sets in the refrigerator. After an hour of baking it still looks like soup. Chilled, it becomes a pale golden custard that holds a clean slice.
Why this water pie works
- No stirring. Sprinkled over the surface, the flour and sugar sink slowly and evenly as the pie heats, so the filling thickens without clumps.
- Two oven temperatures. Thirty minutes at 400°F sets the bottom crust before it can go soggy. Thirty more at 375°F finish it without scorching the top.
- Butter on top, not in. Five floating pats melt, spread and brown into the thin speckled layer that gives this pie its butter cookie flavor.
- A long chill. Flour starch only gels once it is cold. The refrigerator, not the oven, turns the liquid into a custard.
Ingredients
Makes one 9 inch deep dish pie, 8 slices. US cups with grams in brackets. Allow at least 4 hours of chilling on top of the cooling time, so make it the day before.
- 1 unbaked deep dish 9 inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought, in its dish
- 1 1/2 cups water (360ml), cold or room temperature
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (30g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 5 tablespoons butter (70g), cut into 5 pats
The crust must be deep dish. A standard shallow crust will not hold 1 1/2 cups of water plus the sugar. Check a store-bought crust for cracks, because any crack will leak. Salted butter is the better choice, since there is no other salt in the pie.
How to make water pie
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with a rack in the lower third. Set the unbaked deep dish crust, in its dish, on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Pour the 1 1/2 cups of water straight into the unbaked crust. It should come to about 1/2 inch below the rim.
- In a small bowl, stir the 4 tablespoons of flour and the 1 cup of sugar together with a fork until no lumps of flour remain.
- Sprinkle the flour and sugar evenly over the water, a spoonful at a time, from edge to edge. Do not stir. Some will sink and some will float. Both are right.
- Drizzle the 2 teaspoons of vanilla over the top, then lay the 5 pats of butter on the surface, one in the middle and four around it.
- Carry the pie to the oven on its baking sheet, slowly and with both hands. A crust full of water has no mercy, and the sheet catches what spills. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.
- Turn the oven down to 375°F (190°C). Cover the crust edge with a ring of foil and bake for 30 minutes more, until the top is glossy, bubbling at the edges and speckled light brown.
- Take the pie out, still on its sheet. It will still be liquid and it will slosh. That is right. Let it cool completely on the counter, about 2 hours.
- Refrigerate the cooled pie for at least 4 hours, overnight if you can. It is ready when the center no longer ripples when you nudge the dish. Slice it cold.
Tips that make the difference
- If your oven rack slides out smoothly, set the baking sheet and crust on it and do the pouring and sprinkling right there. Nothing has to be carried.
- Do not judge the pie warm. At the 1 hour mark it looks like a failure to everyone.
- Sprinkle, do not dump. A heap of flour and sugar dropped in one spot sinks as a lump and leaves a pasty patch.
- For clean slices, use a thin sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts. The filling is soft, like a set custard.
Variations
- Cinnamon or nutmeg. Dust 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon or grated nutmeg over the top with the vanilla.
- Brown sugar. Swap half of the granulated sugar for packed light brown sugar. The filling turns amber and tastes like butterscotch.
- Lemon. Replace 2 tablespoons of the water with fresh lemon juice and add the grated zest of 1 lemon to the flour and sugar.
- With cream on top. A spoonful of softly whipped cream and a few berries make it a company dessert.
Storage and make-ahead
Keep the pie in the refrigerator, loosely covered once it has set, for 3 to 4 days. The crust is at its best on the first two days.
Do not freeze water pie. The filling is held together by flour starch, and once it thaws the custard weeps and the crust turns soggy.
Serve it cold. On a warm counter the filling starts to loosen after an hour or two, so for a potluck, carry it chilled in its dish and cut it there.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my water pie still runny?
Almost always because it has not been chilled long enough. Water pie is liquid when it comes out of the oven and only sets once it is completely cold. If it is still loose the next morning, the flour was measured short. Use 4 level tablespoons and bake the full 60 minutes.
What does water pie taste like?
Like a butter cookie turned into custard. Sweet, soft and translucent, with butter, vanilla and a faint caramel note from the browned top. Most people guess sugar cream pie. Nobody guesses water.
Why should I not stir the filling?
Stirring sends the flour to the bottom in clumps and pushes the butter into the water. Left alone, the flour and sugar sink gently, the filling thickens evenly and the butter browns on the surface.
Can I use a regular pie crust instead of deep dish?
It is easier not to. A standard 9 inch crust holds about 1 cup of liquid, and this filling is 1 1/2 cups of water plus a cup of sugar. Use a deep dish crust, or line a deep 9 inch pie plate with your own pastry.
Water pie was made all through the hard years by cooks who had flour, sugar, a little butter and one crust, and refused to send the table away without dessert. Make it the day before you need it, and watch the faces when you tell them what is in it.
Water Pie (The Depression-Era Pie Made Out of Almost Nothing)
Old-fashioned Depression-era water pie: plain water poured into an unbaked deep dish crust, flour and sugar sprinkled over without stirring, vanilla and five pats of butter. Cups and grams, and why it only sets once it is cold.
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked deep dish 9 inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought, in its dish
- 1 1/2 cups water (360ml), cold or room temperature
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 5 tablespoons butter (70g), cut into 5 pats
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with a rack in the lower third. Set the unbaked deep dish crust, in its dish, on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Pour the 1 1/2 cups of water straight into the unbaked crust. It should come to about 1/2 inch below the rim.
- In a small bowl, stir the 4 tablespoons of flour and the 1 cup of sugar together with a fork until no lumps of flour remain.
- Sprinkle the flour and sugar evenly over the water, a spoonful at a time, from edge to edge. Do not stir. Some will sink and some will float. Both are right.
- Drizzle the 2 teaspoons of vanilla over the top, then lay the 5 pats of butter on the surface, one in the middle and four around it.
- Carry the pie to the oven on its baking sheet, slowly and with both hands. A crust full of water has no mercy, and the sheet catches what spills. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.
- Turn the oven down to 375°F (190°C). Cover the crust edge with a ring of foil and bake for 30 minutes more, until the top is glossy, bubbling at the edges and speckled light brown.
- Take the pie out, still on its sheet. It will still be liquid and it will slosh. That is right. Let it cool completely on the counter, about 2 hours.
- Refrigerate the cooled pie for at least 4 hours, overnight if you can. It is ready when the center no longer ripples when you nudge the dish. Slice it cold.
