OK, here's the famous coconut cream pie. But first a story about how the recipe came to be.
As kids we all learn how to make some food. You can make a PB&J while you're in early elementary school. Pour yourself a bowl of cereal and add the milk. Then ramen noodles and Kraft Easy Mac find their way into the repertoire. If you're lucky, you learn how to use the microwave and then a whole new world opens up. But I got my crash course in cooking at the end of my 7th grade year.
I got strep throat 5 times between January and May during 7th grade. I'd get sick, go the the doctor for antibiotics, recover and be disease free for three weeks and then it would come right back. I missed about 20 days of school and we had no idea why I kept getting sick. While driving home from school on the last week of school, my mom broke the news. She had Rheumatic Fever. This is basically the strep throat flesh eating virus infecting you, but instead of infecting your throat, Rheumatic Fever attacks your heart. And she had it for the past few months without any of the doctors figuring it out, which explains why I was getting reinfected so often. The only way for her to heal was to take massive amounts of antibiotics and to be bedridden for the next 6-8 weeks. She could get out of bed for food and bathroom breaks, but that's it. And since I was now the oldest child at home, she would need my help during the summer to keep the house in order.
So my domestication crash course began. I learned how to do the laundry, iron the clothes. get the kids ready for the day, but most importantly, I needed to learn how to cook meals. I did the basics for a while, hamburgers, spaghetti, etc. But I wanted to do something nice for her. So I asked her to explain how to cook a pie. We pulled out the Lion House Recipes book and read through the directions for their cream pies. And from her bed, my mom taught me how to separate eggs, mix ingredients and how everything should taste once it's combined. The first time I made it, I didn't stir it enough to prevent it from scalding, so it was a Toasted Coconut Cream Pie. We tried it again a few days later and it was better. It was a little runny, so my mom and I took some educated guesses on what we could do to improve it.
And so in a 6 week period, we had altered it to our liking and I've been cooking this way ever since. My mom taught me to always experiment with a recipe. Make it to your liking and some other people may like it as well. I've now morphed that basic recipe into 12 different Cream Pie recipes and I promise to post all of them before the middle of November so you can use them for Thanksgiving.
Mom's better now. The illness did attack a valve in her heart, but she's been dealing with the consequences for 25 years and is still going strong. So thanks Mom for instilling a love for cooking in me, even in the worst of circumstances.
OK, enough of a walk down memory lane, here's the recipe. Remember, this is a cream pie, it is not a low-fat or low-calorie dessert. I've tried reducing the fat by using half-and-half instead of whipping cream, using skim instead of whole milk and leaving half the butter out. But honestly, it reduces the flavor and the creamy goodness your mouth feels as you slowly consume it is just not the same. So go full fat and enjoy it all. Also, regular pure vanilla works better than the Mexican vanilla in this one recipe. I truly love Mexican vanilla, but in this case, it makes it taste a little peculiar.
2 ½ cups whole milk
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
5 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup shredded coconut
Separate the egg yolks and place them into a small container, mix them up and set aside for the time being. You'll be coming back to them later.
In a medium saucepan, pour in the sugar, cornstarch and salt, then stir them together until they are completely combined. This prevents the cornstarch from clumping together and getting lumps like bad gravy. Add the milk and cream and whisk until any existing sugar and cornstarch lumps are gone. Cook over medium heat and stir constantly to prevent scorching.
After about 8-10 minutes, the consistency will switch from milk to a thicker warm pudding. Right after it starts to thicken, scoop a small amount of the mixture into the egg yolks and immediately start stirring the yolks. (Tricky part, continue to stir the other mixture too so it does not burn). Do this a few times so the yolks slowly warm up. This will prevent them from curdling when they are added to the main mixture. Now add the yolks into the saucepan very slowly, stirring the entire time.
Once added, pour in the butter and cook for two more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Follow this by adding the coconut and just stir until it's mixed in well.
Immediately pour it into a pre-cooked crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours so it sets up.
When you're ready to serve it, make sure you top it with whipped cream and if you want to make it pretty, brown some coconut and sprinkle it on top. To toast it, turn on your broiler and sprinkle some coconut shreds on either a cookie sheet or an over safe plate. Place the coconut under the oven's heating elements and check it in amount a minute. Pull it out of the over when the color looks right to you.
The pie should server 8, or you can be greedy and eat two pieces a day for four days. Trust me, those four days are great days...
As kids we all learn how to make some food. You can make a PB&J while you're in early elementary school. Pour yourself a bowl of cereal and add the milk. Then ramen noodles and Kraft Easy Mac find their way into the repertoire. If you're lucky, you learn how to use the microwave and then a whole new world opens up. But I got my crash course in cooking at the end of my 7th grade year.
I got strep throat 5 times between January and May during 7th grade. I'd get sick, go the the doctor for antibiotics, recover and be disease free for three weeks and then it would come right back. I missed about 20 days of school and we had no idea why I kept getting sick. While driving home from school on the last week of school, my mom broke the news. She had Rheumatic Fever. This is basically the strep throat flesh eating virus infecting you, but instead of infecting your throat, Rheumatic Fever attacks your heart. And she had it for the past few months without any of the doctors figuring it out, which explains why I was getting reinfected so often. The only way for her to heal was to take massive amounts of antibiotics and to be bedridden for the next 6-8 weeks. She could get out of bed for food and bathroom breaks, but that's it. And since I was now the oldest child at home, she would need my help during the summer to keep the house in order.
So my domestication crash course began. I learned how to do the laundry, iron the clothes. get the kids ready for the day, but most importantly, I needed to learn how to cook meals. I did the basics for a while, hamburgers, spaghetti, etc. But I wanted to do something nice for her. So I asked her to explain how to cook a pie. We pulled out the Lion House Recipes book and read through the directions for their cream pies. And from her bed, my mom taught me how to separate eggs, mix ingredients and how everything should taste once it's combined. The first time I made it, I didn't stir it enough to prevent it from scalding, so it was a Toasted Coconut Cream Pie. We tried it again a few days later and it was better. It was a little runny, so my mom and I took some educated guesses on what we could do to improve it.
And so in a 6 week period, we had altered it to our liking and I've been cooking this way ever since. My mom taught me to always experiment with a recipe. Make it to your liking and some other people may like it as well. I've now morphed that basic recipe into 12 different Cream Pie recipes and I promise to post all of them before the middle of November so you can use them for Thanksgiving.
Mom's better now. The illness did attack a valve in her heart, but she's been dealing with the consequences for 25 years and is still going strong. So thanks Mom for instilling a love for cooking in me, even in the worst of circumstances.
OK, enough of a walk down memory lane, here's the recipe. Remember, this is a cream pie, it is not a low-fat or low-calorie dessert. I've tried reducing the fat by using half-and-half instead of whipping cream, using skim instead of whole milk and leaving half the butter out. But honestly, it reduces the flavor and the creamy goodness your mouth feels as you slowly consume it is just not the same. So go full fat and enjoy it all. Also, regular pure vanilla works better than the Mexican vanilla in this one recipe. I truly love Mexican vanilla, but in this case, it makes it taste a little peculiar.
Coconut Cream Pie
2 ½ cups whole milk
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
5 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup shredded coconut
Separate the egg yolks and place them into a small container, mix them up and set aside for the time being. You'll be coming back to them later.
In a medium saucepan, pour in the sugar, cornstarch and salt, then stir them together until they are completely combined. This prevents the cornstarch from clumping together and getting lumps like bad gravy. Add the milk and cream and whisk until any existing sugar and cornstarch lumps are gone. Cook over medium heat and stir constantly to prevent scorching.
After about 8-10 minutes, the consistency will switch from milk to a thicker warm pudding. Right after it starts to thicken, scoop a small amount of the mixture into the egg yolks and immediately start stirring the yolks. (Tricky part, continue to stir the other mixture too so it does not burn). Do this a few times so the yolks slowly warm up. This will prevent them from curdling when they are added to the main mixture. Now add the yolks into the saucepan very slowly, stirring the entire time.
Once added, pour in the butter and cook for two more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Follow this by adding the coconut and just stir until it's mixed in well.
Immediately pour it into a pre-cooked crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours so it sets up.
When you're ready to serve it, make sure you top it with whipped cream and if you want to make it pretty, brown some coconut and sprinkle it on top. To toast it, turn on your broiler and sprinkle some coconut shreds on either a cookie sheet or an over safe plate. Place the coconut under the oven's heating elements and check it in amount a minute. Pull it out of the over when the color looks right to you.
The pie should server 8, or you can be greedy and eat two pieces a day for four days. Trust me, those four days are great days...
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