Possum pie is a

pie in American cuisine Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to American innovation. American cuisine i ...

that is an iconic pie rarely seen outside

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. The pie is made with several layers, with the most common being layers of vanilla

pudding Pudding is a type of food. It can be either a dessert or a savoury (salty or spicy) dish served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, ins ...

, cream cheese, chocolate

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

and/or

sour cream Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, wh ...

. There are many different combinations making use of alternating layers of cream cheese and puddings topped with

whipped cream Whipped cream is liquid heavy cream that is whipped by a whisk or mixer until it is light and fluffy and holds its shape, or by the expansion of dissolved gas, forming a firm colloid. It is often sweetened, typically with white sugar, and ...

. The pecan shortbread crust is different from other

icebox pie Icebox pies are no-bake pies including ice cream pies, Chiffon pie, chiffon pies, and classic cream pies like key lime pie, lemon ice box pie, chocolate pudding pie, grasshopper pie and banana cream pie. The crust can be a crumb crust or blind bake ...

s. Possum pie earned its name because the pie "plays possum" by hiding all the layers of its ingredients under a thick whipped cream topping. The dessert does not actually contain possum meat.

History

The first mention of Possum Pie in the ''

Arkansas Gazette The ''Arkansas Gazette'' was a newspaper in Little Rock, Arkansas, that was published from 1819 to 1991. It was known as the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River. It was located from 1908 until its closing at the now historic Gazette ...

'' dates to a 1983 restaurant review. The recipe itself doesn't begin to appear in food sections until the late 2000s. An earlier recipe for a layered nut-crumb crust pudding and cream cheese pie with whipped topping was submitted to the Arkansas Dairy Recipe Contest, a student content open to fourth-12th graders. Similar recipes for a pie called "The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford" were being published by the ''Indianapolis Star'' and ''Los Angeles Times'' by 1982. Historically the term was mostly used in minstrel songs.

References

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External links

Recipe for possum pie
- Taste of the South Sweet pies Arkansas culture American pies No bake cakes Custard desserts Pecan dishes