The filling of pecan pie is actually a sort of custard composed of sugar, butter, and eggs, and like all custards, it will curdle and break if subjected to excessive heat. The trick is to pull the pie from the oven as soon as the filling has thickened to a gelatin-like consistency in the center. Although soft coming out of the oven, the filling will firm up nicely by the time the pie has cooled to room temperature.
Chess pies, now chiefly a southern specialty, are essentially pecan pies without the nuts. There are countless varieties, but all are rich and intensely sweet, approximating candy. Chess pies, like pecan pies, are highly heat sensitive, and the same precautions must be observed when baking them. Shoofly pie, a famous dessert of Pennsylvania Dutch country, is a distant relative of the pecan and chess family. Because the filling is thickened by a sort of streusel, it more closely resembles cake than custard and is not prone to curdling.
