It is distinctly different from a cream pie, which contains cooked custard poured into a cooled, precooked crust.

The word "custard" derives from crustade (a pie with a crust),[4] or from croustade (an edible container of savoury food).

Sweet pies, when they were available, were made with a simple custard base of fresh milk, sugar and eggs.

[6][7] Custard pies are used as a comedic device by clowns in many circus performances, in practical jokes for harmless fun and also for throwing into the faces of public figures as a sign of disapproval.

[6] The World Custard Pie Throwing Championships take place annually in the village of Coxheath in Kent, England.