I know very little about Indiana. I've never been there, though decades ago I had a friend who I think was originally from Indiana. He's now a professor at Yale, so I'm guessing they have good schools. They also had Pence as a governor and they vote Republican, so I'm not much inclined to visit anytime soon. But I digress.

As you would expect from a Midwestern state, Hoosier cuisine is hearty and simple, influenced by the large German population which settled in the region. They are not known for their spices or sauces, but rather for all-American dishes such as biscuits with gravy (which I still have never tried), chicken with noddles (idem) served over mashed potatoes, and a roast beef or roast turkey sandwich with gravy, also served over mashed potatoes, called a Manhattan. As you would expect, Hoosiers like to fry so deep fried pork tenderloin and deep fried bologna sandwiches are among their specialties.

Fortunately for me, Hoosiers also like desserts, and none of them is more famous than:

Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie

Sugar Cream Pie is what you make when you live in a farm, far away from everywhere, there are no fresh fruits and you've run out of everything except for the basics. Preferably, you also have a cow at hand. The dish doesn't require anything more than sugar and milk/cream/half-and-half, as well as some flour and butter. But the results are tasty enough, that Hoosiers continue to make it even when they can order groceries through the internet.

I made several mistakes making this pie. First, the instructions ask for fluting the edges of the pie. Rather than admit to myself that I didn't know what that meant, I just assumed it referred to the wavy edges that many tarts have, and decided I would use my tart pan instead of a pie pan. Tart pans - at the least the one I have - is shallower than pie pans, so not only was there too much filling for the pie, but it was extremely unstable and I spilled half of it while putting it in the oven. I had an extra pie shell, which I used on an 8" pie pan saved from one I bought at the store. There was enough leftover filling to fill this whole pan. Unfortunately, even after watching the video, I wasn't particularly successful in fluting.

As for ingredients, the original recipe called for equal amounts heavy cream and half-and-half, but as I didn't have any of the latter at home, I used 2 cups of cream and 1 of milk. I used Amazon-brand shells rather than make my own, because I imagine most Hoosiers are like the rest of us and buy prepared shells, and because the Amazon sells got good reviews and they were considerably cheaper than the competition. They were pretty easy to work with, though they stuck to themselves as I unrolled them.

Whatever problems I added to the recipe, there were some already included - I should have read the reviews! Apparently, many Hoosiers found the idea of using brown sugar sacrilegious - the brown sugar not only deprived the pie of its characteristic milky color but gave it a more caramel-like flavor which someone compared to pecan pie. The idea of including cinnamon in the recipe seemed completely foreign to some Hoosiers, and yet I've found it as an ingredient on many recipes for this pie.

Personally, I liked the pie. It set well, Amazon's slightly salty crust worked well with the sweetness and richness of the pie. The flavor was subtle but good, though not complex enough for my taste. It'd have been better if it was more caramel-tasting. But I can't complain, it was very tasty, particularly after adding whipped cream. I actually appreciated that it was thin, as I liked the flavor of the pie shell as well. If I ever go to Indiana, I'll definitely order the real thing.

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Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie Ingredients 1 pie shell 3 Tbsp milk 3/4 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + more for dusting 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp salt 2 cups heavy cream 1 cups milk 2 tsp vanilla extract Directions Preheat oven to 375°F Roll out the pie shell, place in a 9-10" pie pan, flute the edges and brush with milk. Refrigerate while you prepare the custard. In a large bowl, combine the flour, all sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in the cream, milk and vanilla extract. Pour into the prepared pie shell and bake for about 30 minutes or until the center of the pie is set. Optionally dust with cinnamon. Cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Adapted from a recipe at serious eats

American Regional Cuisines: American, Alaskan, Appalachian, Alabamian, Angeleno, Arizonan, Arkansas, Baltimore, Californian, Coloradoan, Connecticuter, Delawarean, Floridian, Georgian, Hawaiian, Idahoan, Illinoisan, Iowan, Kansan, Kansas City, Kentuckian, Lowcountry, Mainer, Marylander, Massachusetts, Michigander, Minnesotan, Mississippian, Missourian, Montanan

Other Ethnic American cuisines: American, Acadians, African-American, Amish, Appalachian, Cal-Mex, Cajun, Creole, Cuban-American, Floribbean, German-American, Hungarian-American, Irish-American, Italian-American, Jewish American, K-Mex, Korean-American

American Indigenous cuisines (add when we catch up to M) Choctaw, Iroquoian, Kiowa

Historical American Cuisines: Ante Bellum, Colonial, Cowboy

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