Coconut Cream Pie

Whew, it's been awhile. Due to life happening...(ie: getting my master's and having a big girl job)...the blog has been dormant for a minute...or a few months. But with the smell of summer vacation in the air, I am itching to get this blog back on track! In honor of my dad's bday, I decided to make him a pie. Now, I always loved pie and all, but until I married big guy I didn't actually LOVE pie. I mean LOVE it-like-you-could-eat-it-for-b-l-and-d...All because of his Gma Betty-aka the pie queen. Let me list for you the pies I can REMEMBER that she made last Easter. Coconut cream, chocolate mousse, peanut butter, custard, strawberry, blueberry cheesecake, apple...that's all I can remember. Anyway, she makes these pies ALL the time. LIke people randomly ask her if she'll make them an...apple pie...and she does it. She's like the Mother Teresa of the pie world. One day I decided I needed all these recipes so I sat her down and forced her to give them up. She whipped out her battered old faded floral recipe book and gave me the real recipes. Real, I say, because the ones in her cookbook are only a small version of the real deal. Although you'd all LOVE me to give you the recipe, I feel some secrets are better left for me...and Gma Betty.

Start with a pie crust. (Betty wrote this recipe down; do you notice how I strategically covered it so you can't copyright??) Don't ask why the pie has slits in it-it was totally a mistake...


I will someday type all this up...in the mean time...I'll enjoy having to search painfully through all these to find what I want everytime...


Finished product. And lemme tell you it stinks to not be able to eat it b/c it's a gift. Think Dad'll notice if I sneak a bite?

Look at the fabulous coconut on top. YUM. O. Too bad our house almost got blown away from the storms last night-Brent made me get in the bathtub and I seriously contemplated grabbing the pie just to keep it safe.

Because I feel semi-sad for tempting you with these pics and not giving you a recipe, here's one I pulled from Emeril's database-it's similar to mine/Betty's:

Ingredients
1 baked 9-inch pastry shell
2 1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for the egg whites
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups toasted coconut
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a saucepan, whisk the 2 cups of the milk and 3/4 cup sugar together. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Whisk the egg yolks together. Temper the hot milk into the egg yolks. Whisk the egg mixture into the hot milk mixture. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining milk, making a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the hot milk mixture. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until the filling is thick, about 4 to 6 minutes. Fold in the vanilla, coconut, and butter. Mix well. Pour the filling into the prepared pan and cool the pie completely. Using an electric mixer with a whip attachment, whip the egg white to soft peaks. Add the remaining sugar and whip the egg white to stiff peaks. Spread the egg whites over the top of the pie. Place the pie in the oven for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown.

Enjoy, bloggeristas!!!