Grandma’s Vintage Canadian Flapper Pie Recipe
Flapper Pie – A Simple Recipe with No Special Ingredients
It wasn’t until I began blogging that I realized Flapper pie is a Canadian recipe. If you’ve never had a Canadian flapper pie before, you’re in for a new easy-to-make treat. This Canadian classic pie consists of a graham cracker crust filled with a luscious vanilla custard, covered with a thick traditional meringue topping, and finished with a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs.
Flapper pie is one of those recipes that is both easy and inexpensive. I have no idea who made the first one, other than knowing it comes from the Canadian prairies and is named after the flapper girls. This flapper pie recipe is rumored to have become popular in the 1920s and 30s, around the time of the flapper era, with flapper girls in their short dresses.
The prairie provinces of Canada are vast and covered with thousands of miles of beautiful farms. I always imagine this Western Canadian recipe was developed out of necessity by a mom with a hungry family, surrounded by vast mountains of snow, who managed to create this little bit of heaven out of simple ingredients she had on hand. It soon became a staple in prairie kitchens.
This Flapper pie recipe comes from my grandma’s generation and was passed down to me from my mom. It’s a true family recipe from Alberta and one I consider very precious. This is an ultra-traditional prairie Flapper pie, made the way it has been for generations, with a graham crumb crust, cooked vanilla custard, and meringue. While you can certainly experiment with other cookies if you wish, the classic graham cracker crust is part of what makes this pie a Flapper pie in name and tradition.
How to Make Flapper Pie
Ingredients
Graham Wafer Crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham wafer crumbs (or crushed graham crackers)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter (not margarine)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Cooked Vanilla Custard Filling
- 3 egg yolks (separated, keep the whites)
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fluffy Meringue
- 3 large egg whites
- 3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
Delicious Flapper Pie Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Graham Wafer Crust
In a medium bowl, add the graham wafer crumbs, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Mix well and drizzle with the melted butter. Stir with a fork until all the crumbs are dampened. Reserve two tablespoons of crumbs for the topping.
Transfer the buttery crumbs to the pie plate, making sure to cover the sides. The example shows it being done with a spoon, but you can also do this with clean fingers if you prefer.
Cooked Vanilla Custard
Place egg yolks, milk, cornstarch, and sugar into the top of a double boiler. Whisk until well blended. If you don’t have a double boiler, use a medium saucepan with an inch or two of water. Place a heatproof bowl on top instead.
Cook, stirring constantly, until thick (consistency like stirred yogurt). Add the vanilla, stir, and pour the hot milk mixture into the graham crust.
Fluffy Meringue Topping
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add 3 egg whites.
Beat the 3 egg whites until soft peaks form.
Then add 3 tablespoons of sugar and beat on high for another minute, until stiff peaks form.
Scoop the meringue out in large spoonfuls all over the top of the filling. Smooth gently with the back of a soup spoon so the whole pie is covered in large swirls. The meringue should be thick and stiff as shown. Sprinkle with the tablespoons of graham crumbs you placed aside earlier.
Bake and Cool
Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.
Note: Stay nearby when baking meringue. It can go from lightly golden to ruined all too fast.
Let cool on the counter, and then chill in the fridge for several hours before serving.
If you give the pie time to chill for several hours, it will slice neatly once set. For a softer texture, it can be chilled for a shorter time and served more like a custard. Either way, this Flapper pie is rich, simple, and deeply satisfying.
Traditional Canadian Flapper Pie Recipe
Ingredients
First Layer – Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 ½ cups graham wafer crumbs (or crushed graham crackers)
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- ¼ cup melted butter (not margarine)
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Second Layer – Cooked Vanilla Filling
- 3 egg yolks Separated, keep the egg whites
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Top Layer – Meringue
- 3 large egg whites
- 3 tbsp granulated white sugar
Instructions
Step 1: Make the Graham Wafer Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, combine the graham wafer crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon. Drizzle with the melted butter and stir with a fork until all the crumbs are evenly moistened. Reserve a small amount of crumbs for the topping. Press the crumb mixture into a pie plate, covering the bottom and sides.
Step 2: Cook the Vanilla Custard Filling
- Place the egg yolks, milk, cornstarch, and sugar into the top of a double boiler and whisk until well blended. If you do not have a double boiler, place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with an inch or two of simmering water. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick, with a consistency similar to stirred yogurt. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, and pour the hot custard into the prepared crust.
Step 3: Make the Fluffy Meringue Topping
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites. Beat until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and beat on high until stiff peaks form.
Step 4: Assemble the Pie
- Spoon the meringue over the hot custard filling in large dollops. Gently smooth and swirl the meringue with the back of a spoon until the filling is completely covered. Sprinkle the reserved graham crumbs over the top.
Step 5: Bake and Cool
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the meringue is lightly golden. Watch closely, as meringue can brown quickly. Remove from the oven and let cool on the counter, then chill in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.
Other Delish Homemade Pie Recipes to Try
Traditional Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe
This is Grama’s traditional lemon meringue pie made with real lemons. It’s so fresh tasting and delicious. It tastes much different than the premade mixes, and is worth the little bit of extra effort.
Mix Berry and Custard Pie
This mixed berry and custard pie recipe is an extra special pie because it has two distinct layers. The top is a lemon custard with a surprise of sweet mixed berries beneath.
I love this recipe. I have never liked graham cracker crusts. Almost any cookie can be substituted for the graham crackers. I use Lorna Doons,
Vanilla Wafers, Lemon Cookies, even Oreos with vanilla custard.
Hi Marla. Thank you for commenting, your alternatives sound deliciousbut Flapper pie is a regional recipe of the Canadian prairies, I wouldn’t dare mess with my grandmothers recipe. The idea of using vanilla wafers instead sounds especially good and I’d call it a vanilla cookie pie maybe. I am going to have to try it, thank you for the idea.
I as well hail from a small prairie town and was fortunate enough to be familiar with this pie!I will have to say I have a recipe from a cook that made this pie for a restaurant in Edmonton for over 30 years. Your recipe is quite noticeable smaller than the one that I have made following this cooks recipe and I am wondering how it would fill a 12 inch pie plate?I would recommend increasing ingredients so you have a lovely full pie. Also, adding a tbsp of butter to the filling along with the vanilla at the end makes for such a smooth creamy filling,
The meringue cooks best at a high temp-450 for a shorter oven bake. It is done in about 5 minutes.
I hope this is not looked on as criticism. I know a lot of times we do not make some things too often so it takes just a bit of tweaking to get the perfection. I am so happy that I had the recipe from the local paper saved for a good many years!
Hi Leanna, I enjoyed reading the Flapper Pie recipe, the comments of your followers plus about the different eras of your life & all the things you have incredibly achieved. Kudos to you for working so hard everyday & making it all work for so many people including your sons & now grandchildren!
I do have a minor question though about the pie & think I know what you will say cuz it isn’t a rocket science type thing but how big is the pie plate in the photo? It looks small & the recipe said that it feeds 6. From that, I’m assuming that it is possibly a single depth 8″ dish. I don’t have a large immediate family so don’t need large quantities of anything but I love to cook food more than desserts. The common joke about me is that I’m not comfortable unless I’m cooking for 200! Would like to expand into desserts that are truly the authentic kind & if I want to tweek it up a notch or two so it’s more like “Out of This World” well then…so be it! Thanks for all!
Its a large 12″ pie plate, about two inches deep. I always bake for a large crowd as well.
I learned to make it from my Mother, too. My Mom was such a good baker and everything she made was delicious, but this pie was my all time favorite yesterday and today. Just love it.! I made it all the time when I lived at home with my parents and later, as a married woman. Then. I stopped making them for about 10 years and now and i am back at it, The first issue I had when I started making them again was; having trouble with my meringue mixture weeping after it came out of the oven and left it it to cool on the counter, but I solved this problem. But my graham crust down the sides and on the bottom of the pie dish is all wet! Looks like I mixed tThe moisture is not coming from the meringue, so where? I was embarrassed when I cut it last time. My meringue and pudding was perfect, but my crumbs were runny and wet. Mom and I never put flapper pie in the fridge to keep until company comes.. Any suggestions would be helpful.
I suggest lowering your oven temperature and baking the crust longer. This recipe is really old and much loved, I have made it so many times. Try it again being really careful with the measurements. Also each oven is different so maybe try lowering the oven temperature and baking your bottom crust a bit longer.
Helo neighbour! I live in St. Albert and grew up with Flapper Pie! My mom made it at least once a month. Thank you for bringing this recipe back!
Right on Janet, I am glad it brings back memories. I am sure you will enjoy this recipe, its well loved at our house.