A Pie Per Week: Coconut Cream

In an effort to lose weight, I decided that I would limit myself to having dessert only on Sunday.  This has been an adjustment, as I have participated in the abundance of sweet treats that are readily available for a long time.  I got the idea from Zig Ziglar, but since I'm only having it once a week, I truly wanted to make it special.

I'm not much of a cook, but I'm always willing to learn.  My wife, Angie, is a terrific cook and will definitely be the talent behind the weekly pies we make.  My goal is to provide a picture, the recipe, and culinary learning along the way.  I hope you enjoy it, and we will each be contributing.

Recipe

Coconut Cream Pie

1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup (heaping) flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Cups Half and Half
4 eggs
3 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 Cup coconut

Combine sugar, flour, salt. Add milk gradually. Mix. Cook in microwave until thick and bubbly (6 minutes to start). Cook 2 more minutes. Remove. Separate egg yolks from egg whites. Set egg whites aside for meringue. Beat egg yolks slightly. Gradually stir in about 1 cup hot mixture. Return egg mixture to hot mix. Cook 2 more minutes. Stir in butter and vanilla. Add 1 cup coconut. Pour filling into baked pie shell. Top with meringue.

Meringue

4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut

Beat egg whites till stiff. Add vanilla and cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar. Beat until stiff. Top with 1/2 cup coconut. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes till golden.

The two lessons I learned this week dealt with the concept of tempering and how to apply meringue.  When you are adding cold egg yolks to a hot mixture, if you add them too fast, you will get scrambled eggs.  And nobody wants scrambled egg in their pie.  However, yolks add richness to food, so you want to include them.  By taking a cup of the warm mixture, and very slowly adding to the yolks, you achieve the proper combining.  You then add that back to the rest of the pie filling and it mixes in splendidly.

Working with meringue can be a bit tricky, because you are spreading the meringue on top of a hot liquid filling. It is delicate to spread without mixing the two together.  You gather the meringue and dollop it into the center of the pie, and delicately spread it to the edge of the crust.  After it is spread, you then shape the pie to form peaks, before adding the coconut.

We've not ventured out to make our own crust yet, but we hope to evolve our efforts as time goes on.  Would you like to see us bake a certain pie, or would you like to have us try one of your recipes?  Please comment below and we just might make one of your pies!