Possum pie

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Possum pie is a famous American pie mostly tied to Arkansas. It has several layers, usually vanilla pudding, cream cheese, and chocolate custard or sour cream, with many variations that mix layers of cream cheese and puddings topped with whipped cream. It uses a pecan shortbread crust, which is different from many other icebox pies. The name comes from the pie “playing possum” by hiding all the layers under a thick whipped cream topping, and it does not contain possum meat. The pie was first mentioned in the Arkansas Gazette in 1983 in a restaurant review, and recipes started appearing in food sections in the late 2000s. An earlier layered pie with a nut-crumb crust and whipped topping was submitted to the Arkansas Dairy Recipe Contest for students in grades 4–12. Similar pies called “The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford” appeared in the Indianapolis Star and Los Angeles Times by 1982. The word possum has other historical uses as well, including in minstrel songs.