Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are chess squares made of? ›

yellow cake mix – a key ingredient for the crust (bottom) of the chess squares. unsalted butter – make sure butter is softened so that it is easy to combine. Unsalted butter is preferred to salted butter to control the salt content. eggs – used for the crust and also the gooey chess square mixture in the middle.

Some suggest the dessert could be named after a pie chest or a town named Chester. But the most popular origin story for the name chess pie (and in turn chess squares) is that the dessert was made using easy-to-find ingredients around the house and called "jus' pie" which turned into chess pie.

Chess is played on a board of 64 squares arranged in eight vertical rows called files and eight horizontal rows called ranks. These squares alternate between two colours: one light, such as white, beige, or yellow; and the other dark, such as black or green. The board is set between…

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 chess pieces from Jaques was offered to the public on September 29, 1849.

The major difference in a chess pie from other custard pies is most chess pie recipes call for a small amount of cornmeal (or sometimes flour) to be added to the batter. This step not only helps the pie set, but adds texture as well.

What does a chess pie taste like? Chess pie is a decadent combination of butter, sugar, eggs, and milk—and tastes as sweet and custardy as you can imagine! Cornmeal gives the filling a little bit of texture and all of the sugar in the pie bakes to a crispy, caramelized layer on top.

The slave made a delicious smelling pie. The slave owner asked, “What kind of pie is that”, the slave responded, “Oh it's jes pie.” Due to her southern dialect and speech, the slaveowner though she was saying “chest pie,” because she referenced the items she had in her chest.

Chess pieces begin life as shapeless blocks of hardwood. It's important that a high grade of solid hardwood is used, any voids or knots will render the chess piece a reject (or at least it should do). Typical woods for chess piece production include boxwood, ebony, rosewood, and sandalwood.

Ebonised Boxwood

Because Boxwood is cheaper than Ebony it is used as an alternative to real Ebony. It is commonly used to make chess pieces, the black side obviously; a very convincing attempt at producing an Ebony effect. Makes for attractive deep black chess pieces.

Standard chess piece design, e.g., king designed with crown and cross finial. Durable materials, such as vinyl, hardwood boards, and boxwood.

What wood is chess made out of? ›

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.