Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are chess squares made of? ›

This straightforward recipe uses basic ingredients, most of which you probably have in your pantry, like eggs, softened butter, cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar. These ingredients combine to create a custard-like filling reminiscent of chess pie, yielding a delightfully uncomplicated, soft, gooey-baked treat.

Making Chess Squares

It is one of those lovely old recipes shared among mid-century housewives because it was easy to prepare and relied on “modern” convenience foods. The name is based on an even older classic southern dessert, Chess Pie.

The magic ratio is 1 cup granulated sugar to 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Combine the two in a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, a food processor, or spice grinder, then blitz away until you have a soft, powdery consistency—the total time could be several minutes, depending on the power of your machine.

The wooden pieces were turned from ebony and boxwood and very heavily weighted. Some ivory sets were made from African ivory. King sizes were 3.5 inches or 4.5 inches (for match or tournament play). The first Staunton Pattern chesspieces from Jaques was offered to the public on September 29, 1849.

Both pies are very similar but have a few distinct differences. Like a chess pie, buttermilk pie starts with the same main components of butter, sugar, and eggs. But instead of milk and lemon juice (or vinegar), it uses straight buttermilk to give it a tart lusciousness.

Born of convenience rather than extravagance, the most basic chess pie filling consists of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour in a single pastry crust. Cornmeal usually serves as an additional stabilizing ingredient, while an acid (buttermilk, vinegar, or lemon juice) is frequently added to punch up the flavor a bit.

What is the Difference Between a Sugar Cream Pie and Custard or Chess Pie? Chess pies and custard pies are mixed and poured right into the pie crust, and they contain eggs. A sugar cream pie is made without eggs, and the filling is usually prepared on the stovetop, reducing the overall baking time.

Baize is the Authentic Fabric

The original base pads would have been baize, and that's the correct choice for the replacements.

Chess pieces can be made from a variety of different types of wood, depending on the manufacturer and the intended use of the set. Some common types of wood that are used to make chess pieces include beech, boxwood, ebony, rosewood, and sheesham.

Maple is a popular material for chess boards and pieces, as its light color contrasts well with the dark pieces and squares of many boards. It is a hard, light wood that can be almost white in some cases, which is why it is often used for the white squares of a chessboard.

What are black chess pieces made of? ›

There are different types of ebony wood. Genuine ebony is very dense and heavy and expensive and so is rarely used for making chess sets nowadays. The ebony wood used instead is low grade which looks somewhat brownish and in order to make it jet black like genuine ebony they treat it with chemicals.