Coconut Cream Pie

Yuuuuuummmmmy. I love coconut.

Anyway, last night I made a coconut cream pie with the help of my three-year-old sous-chef. He is fantastic in the kitchen, although the flour started to mysteriously appear in the weirdest of places. Hmmm.

This pie is a favorite of mine and one my mom used to make time and time again.  I used my same crust recipe (although I almost screwed it up, as my sous chef was, again, going a little nut-tastic with the flour) and this recipe for the coconut cream filling:

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
4 slightly beaten eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup of shredded coconut

Mix sugar, flour, salt; slowly stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat till mixture boils and thickens; cook 2 minutes longer. Stir a little of hot mixture into eggs; stir into remaining hot mixture. Stirring constantly, bring just to boiling. Add vanilla and coconut; cool. Makes a full filling for a 9" pie.

We had friends over tonight, and I was told this pie is restaurant quality. I'll take that compliment.

Key Lime Silliness

I'm still dragging from my vacation, but I managed to complete a key lime pie on Wednesday. I did not, however, get to the blog. I consider myself half successful! Ha!

Because I only threw half a brain cell at this undertaking, my pie suffered a bit. What I did well:  the filling, according to a couple of tasters, was great!  What I didn't do well:  I forgot to get whipping cream at the store, so that was problem No. 1; I decided to do a regular ol' pie crust instead of the graham cracker kind...problem No. 2; and I put meringue on top because the pie is fugly without something...problem No. 3. Oh, and I made the meringue too early, so it went a bit south. BTW...don't put meringue on a key lime pie, per my humble opinion. Live and learn.

So, the filling was darn tasty, and I don't even like key lime pie. It was tart and made my cheeks tingle and pucker (which would have benefited from a graham cracker crust).  The consistency was perfecto. I could have done without juicing 20 tiny key limes with my hands, though. I'll do this one again, but definitely get my ducks in order, so I don't mess up how the pie looks. I think I'll try some decorative whipped cream and maybe a bit of raspberry glaze or shredded coconut on top. Who knows. I'm a little embarrassed to post a photo, but, again, this blog is to show the good, the bad and the ugly.

Here's the link to the recipe I "tried:" http://cook-eat-love.com/2010/04/key-lime-pie/.  Next Wednesday, I promise not to be a half-asser.

Forgive Me

Yes, I know I missed a Wednesday. I also know that no one really cares at this point, except me and maybe my husband. My reason for skipping a Wednesday...I was on vacation. I thought about baking a pie on vacation, but we were up in the Rockies, and I didn't really feel the need to battle an environmental hurdle like high altitude. Tomorrow, I will be back in action with the making of a key lime pie.

Crust Makes the Pie

I LOVE my crust recipe.  It's damn easy.  Thanks to my mom for passing this recipe on to me.  I've added a small change or two, but it's tried and true for a flaky, tasty crust that goes well with any pie.

1/2 cup of shortening
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 tablespoons of COLD water

Makes 1 9-inch pie crust.  Double the recipe for two pie crusts or to have crust left over for lattice work.

In a mixing bowl, combine the shortening, flour and salt until the mixture is crumbly. Add the water tablespoon by tablespoon, mixing it with a fork until the dough clumps and sticks together (usually 6 to 7 tablespoons total). Don't overwork the dough. Pat the dough into a ball, add a little flour to the top of the dough, so the rolling pin won't stick, and on a lightly floured, smooth surface, roll out the dough evenly into a circle. Roll out the dough so it is larger than the circumference of the pie pan by an inch. As a trick, I roll the dough around a floured rolling pin and then unroll it onto the pie pan. Press the dough firmly into the pie pan. I choose to tuck the extra inch of dough hanging over the edge of the pie pan under, so I can make a fluted edge. If you are going to prebake the crust, prick the crust thoroughly on the bottom and the inside edges, so the crust won't bubble up. Cook at 475 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden.  If you have prebaked the crust and are ready to put a pie in the oven for baking, add foil to the exposed, already baked crust, so it won't get overcooked.

If you use this crust recipe, let me know how it goes!

I'll Give Shoofly a Break

Ok, ok. I should try to make up with the Shoofly pie and not be so harsh. I had another taster try the pie and this person said if you like molasses, this is a good pie. For me, I taste metal. Molasses is a source of iron and magnesium, so maybe my metal-detecting tastebuds are turned up too high.

Is molasses like cilantro? You either love or hate?

Ummm...Shoofly Pie Sucks

Made a Shoofly pie and my husband is currently spitting and yakking it into the kitchen sink. On top of that, he also needed a chaser of several sour cherry jellybeans. I managed to swallow my piece, but ugh, yeck, blech, kack...I'm not a fan. I guess you really, really need to like the taste of molasses, and both my hubby and I don't dig. Never have been a fan of gingerbread cookies and the like. If you're into the molasses kind of thing, go here for the recipe I used. I know this post is such a glowing recommendation. I need a molasses lover to taste this. Seriously...did I screw this up (likely) or do I just hate, hate, hate molasses?

10 Weeks and Counting

I've been baking a pie every Wednesday night for 10 weeks already. I can't believe it.  Here's what I've made so far and how I've rated the final product:

• Granny Smith Apple Pie -- Yum! Needed more apples, though
• Jalapeno Fudge Meringue Pie -- Uh, kind of yum! Like the concept of jalapeno in the fudge, but the fudge is too darn thick. The meringue was overkill
• Pecan Pie -- Yum! This was an all-around winner
• Chocolate Meringue Pie -- Yum! Seriously good
• Pina Colada Pie -- Yuck! Actually, the taste was good, but the texture was not
• Fresh Strawberry Pie -- Yum! If you like a lot of strawberries
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie -- Yum!! So far, this has been the favorite
• Blackberry Pie -- Yum! Again, if you like blackberries. Need to work on the consistency, though
• The First Chocolate Espresso Pie -- Yuck! The consistency failed, and I just didn't like the recipe
• The Real Chocolate Espresso Pie with Chocolate Raspberry Ganache -- Yum! Really good, really good

If you are interested in any of the recipes, let me know. Otherwise, I'll include the recipes from here on out. 

Shoofly Pie

Today, at the suggestion of my friend Viki, I'm going to tackle the Shoofly Pie. Some say this Pennsylvania Dutch pie got its name because it attracts flies. I sure hope so. I have a pesky fly in the house that has escaped my ninja-like fly-swatting capabilities. I will use a slice of this pie as bait and then WHAMO!

Wednesday Night Pies

I seriously can't believe I'm doing a blog about this, but what the hell, really. Here goes. I like making pies. I'd like to make pies for a living. I need more practice. So, while I'm busy raising my two urchin squirts (ages 3 and 8 mos), I'm going to find the time to do this. It can be done. Therefore, I'm making a pie every single Wednesday night (if humanly possible) for what I call "Wednesday Night Pies" and blogging about what went down, what went in the trash and what went in my belly. I hope to have some supremely delicious pies (and some pretty hilarious fails) to talk about, and have a good time just bitching about it all.