Sugar Pie with Cream: A Classic Step-by-Step Recipe with Photos

Sugar pie with cream – an incredibly delicious teatime treat that your guests will love even more than a classic cake. We suggest trying this traditional French recipe at home, following the step-by-step instructions with photos provided in this article.

Nutritional value per serving

324.2 kcal

Proteins: 5.1 g
Fats: 17.1 g
Carbohydrates: 37.8 g

*Nutritional value is calculated per 100g of ingredients

Total time: 3 hours
Time in the kitchen: 1 hour 30 minutes
Complexity:

It's easy and straightforward to prepare, but it does require some experience. Not everyone can do it right the first time.
Number of servings: 8

A traditional sugar pie with cream, made with airy yeast dough, has long been served at the end of the Christmas holidays in northern France and Belgium.

Interesting fact! Similar Christmas cake recipes also exist in Canada and the US, but they are prepared in shortcrust pastry, and maple syrup is used as impregnation.

The pie's distinctive feature is its crisp, golden-brown crust, covered with a layer of caramelized sugar, and a soft, juicy center, formed by soaking the rich dough in sweet cream.

Making a traditional sugar pie with cream at home is very simple. Even novice cooks can recreate this recipe, and everything we need for the preparation process can be found in any kitchen (no special equipment is required).

We use a 21cm round baking pan, but any alternative metal, ceramic, silicone or glass pan (round or rectangular) will work just fine.

A step-by-step recipe for sugar pie using yeast dough

Sugar Pie with Cream – A Simple Step-by-Step Recipe for Homemade Cake

Ingredients

Servings

Ingredients for the pie:

Flour

250 G
Milk

100 ml
Egg C1

2 pcs
Butter (chilled)

50 G
Live yeast

15 G
Sugar

2 tbsp
Vanilla sugar

10 G
Salt

1 pinch

Ingredients for the glaze:

Butter (chilled)

75 G
Sugar

100 G
Vanilla sugar

10 G

Ingredients for impregnation:

Cream 10%

200 ml

Preparation

Step 1

Step 1 – prepare the yeast dough.

Let's start preparing our yeast sugar pie with cream and kneading the dough.

In 100 grams of warm (not hot!Dissolve 15 grams of fresh yeast in milk. Add a tablespoon of sugar and 2 level tablespoons of flour and mix thoroughly until smooth. Allow the yeast to activate for a while (usually 10-15 minutes).

If you're using dry yeast, mix it according to the directions on the package. In our recipe, you can substitute 5 grams of dry yeast for 15 grams of fresh yeast.

Step 2

Crack 2 eggs (use the yolk and white) into a bowl, add 1 tablespoon of sugar, vanilla sugar, and a pinch of salt. Mix the ingredients with a fork until smooth.

Step 3

Add 50 grams of softened butter and mix well again.

It's not necessary to achieve uniformity at this stage. The ingredients will disperse during further cooking.

Step 4

After 10 minutes, the yeast should be activated, forming a voluminous, fluffy, slightly foamy mass, as in the photo.

Important! If the yeast mixture hasn't changed after 10 minutes, the yeast you're using has somehow lost its potency and shouldn't be used again, as the dough won't rise.

Step 5

Once the yeast has activated, knead the dough. To do this, add the yeast activated in milk to the egg mixture. After thoroughly mixing the ingredients, gradually add the sifted flour.

The recipe calls for 250 grams of flour, but in reality you may need a little less.

Step 6

As a result, you should get a soft, elastic dough, as in the photo.

At this stage, cover the bowl with cling film (you can also wrap it with a towel or blanket) and leave it for 40-60 minutes for the yeast dough to rise.

Step 7

Step 2 – prepare the glaze.

While the dough is rising, prepare the glaze. In a separate bowl, mix 70 grams of softened butter (remove it from the refrigerator), 100 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of vanilla sugar.

Step 8

Thoroughly rub the butter with sugar to obtain a soft, homogeneous mass.

Place the grated butter in the refrigerator to chill until ready to use. Once chilled, the butter will be easy to crumble into crumbs.

Step 9

Step 3 – bake the pie.

For 40-60 minutes The dough should increase significantly in volume and acquire a porous structure, as in the photo.

Don't knead the dough too much; just lightly knead it in the bowl to form a solid ball. Don't add any extra flour; it's better to dip your hands in vegetable oil.

Step 10

Place the dough into the prepared pan (line the bottom of the metal pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with odorless vegetable oil).

Cover the form with cling film and put it in a warm place to rise for another 25-30 minutes.

To rise the dough, you can use an oven preheated to 50℃.

Step 11

After 25 minutes the dough should have at least doubled in size.

Now we need to make indentations for the filling. The easiest way to do this is with a finger dipped in sunflower oil.

Step 12

Sprinkle the top of the dough with crumbs of chilled butter and sugar.

Step 13

Bake the pie for 25 minutes at 180℃.

The parameters are given for an electric oven without convection in the "top + bottom" mode, so when baking for the first time, monitor the baking process and focus on the appearance of a golden brown crust.

Step 14

Step 3 – soak with cream.

Prick the pie thickly and deeply with a toothpick.

Step 15

Soak the pie with cream. You can use cream of any fat content, starting from 10%. Vary the amount of cream to suit your preference. Typically, it's recommended to use between 100 and 200 grams of cream. The more cream you use, the wetter the dough will be.

Step 16

We put our sugar pie in the oven for a little while longer (the classic recipe recommends baking it for a little longer). 6-10 minutes).

Cover the finished pie with a towel and let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then carefully remove it from the pan.

Sugar pie is best served warm, as its creamy filling gives the baked goods their incredible aroma immediately after baking, and the soft, soaked dough is very similar to the cream-soaked layers of a cake.

We also offer you another recipe for making a sweet and incredibly delicious sugar pie, step by step, with a detailed explanation of each step in video format: