Make a Coconut Cream Pie

On yesterday's post I showed you a picture of the Coconut Cream pie I made over the icy weekend.  I thought today I would show you step by step how I did it.

During the summer months between undergraduate school I used to go back home and would work as a waitress in a little diner in Illinois called Red Bud Cafe.  It was the sort of small town diner you see in the movies except this was real life.

Anyway, we used to have a cook there named Selma.  At the time she had to be well into here 80's, and yet almost everyday like clock work she was there at sunrise making the pies for the restaurant. 

My favorite of all the pies she made was her Cocnut Cream pie.  It was perfect.

So whilst I was wallowing in my cold rabbit hole over the weekend I got to thinking about that pie and decided I had to have one - or at least as close to one like hers that I could make.

Here is what I cam up with, hope you enjoy. (Please excuse some of the shadowing in the photos, I'm still learning.)

First I needed to make and bake a 9 inch pie shell.

Normally I would just make one from scratch but I have a few prepackaged frozen ones left over from the holidays that I wanted to use up first.

I put it in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes until it got a nice golden color.

The crack you see is from where I rushed rolling it out when it wasn't thawed enough.  And we tell our kids not to be in so much of a hurry  - oh well, my bad.

Then I needed to toast up the coconut.

Yumm.

I put that into a 350 degree oven for about 5 - 7 minutes stirring occasionally until it was a golden brown.

Next came the cream part of the pie.

In a saucepan I combined the evaporated milk...

...eggs...

...the sugar...

...the flour and salt.

However as an after thought I think I would mix the dry ingredients first then add the milk and eggs.  I made that adjustment on the recipe below.

Time to cook it all on medium to medium high heat until it is thickened and bubbly.  Be sure to stir it constantly and be careful not to burn it.

Once it gets to bubbling turn it down to low and continue to cook and stir for two more minutes.

Take it off the burner and pour in vanilla and all but 1/4 cup of the coconut which you should set aside for the topping. 

Mix and then pour into the prepared pie shell.

Set in the refrigerator to chill and set up for 3 or 4 hours.

Just before serving I made some fresh whip cream.  I don't buy it any more.  Once you taste fresh whip cream and you see how easy it is to make you won't either.

Just take the whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form then mix in the powdered sugar.

I finished the pie off by putting the whip cream into a pastry bag with a wide mouth tip and piped the whip topping on.  Note that I actually would have piled it even higher but I didn't have as much whipping cream as I needed so this is a lesser version of the whipped topping.

Then I sprinkled the remaining toasted coconut on top and put back in the refrigerator before serving.

It has probably been over twenty years since I have made one of these but I think the results were great.

If you want to try my Coconut Cream Pie here is the recipe.  Enjoy!

Coconut Cream Pie

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups evaporated milk

2 eggs

1 cup flaked coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 9 inch baked pie shell

1 1/2 cup whipping cream

2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Spread coconut out onto a baking sheet.

3.  Bake for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally until a golden  brown.  Once cooled take 1/4 cup out and set aside.

4.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

5.  Bake pie shell  for 10-12 minutes.

6.  In a medium saucepan mix sugar, flour and salt together.

7. Add evaporated milk and eggs.

8. Over medium to medium high heat bring to a gentle boil.  You want to be careful not to do this too fast so the eggs don't cook and the milk doesn't scald.  Stir constantly.

9.  Reduced to low and cook 2 more minutes stirring constantly.

10.  Remove from heat.

11.  Add vanilla and all but 1/4 cup of the toasted coconut.

12.  Beat a few times with a whisk until smooth.

13.  Pour into prepared pie shell and refrigerate.

14.  To make topping pour whipping cream into a mixing bowl and beat until it forms stiff peaks.

15.  Add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and mix.

16.  Taste to see if you need the third tablespoon of powedered sugar.

17.  You can either pour it on the pie when it is cooled and smooth out with a spatula or put it into a pastry bag and pipe it on.

18.  Sprinle ramining 1/4 cup of coconut on top.

Serves 8