Coconut Cream Pie

This pie is one of my all-time favorites. It's probably my second favorite, just behind the cherry pie. The recipe is involved because it is 100% made from scratch, but one bite and you'll be glad you made it!

Ingredients:

Pie Filling:
1/4 cup corn starch
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
2 1/2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1 t vanilla
3/4 cup shredded coconut, plus more for sprinkling on top of meringue

Meringue:
3 egg whites
6 T sugar

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 t salt
2 T ice water

Directions:

To Make Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Begin making your crust by mixing flour and salt. Cut in Crisco with a fork and add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each. Rub flour on your hands so the dough won't stick together. Pat dough in a ball. Roll dough onto a pastry cloth or paper towel with flour, and place dough in a pie plate. Reference my Chicken Pot Pie recipe to see step by step pictures for making the crust. This pie doesn't have a top crust, so disregard any instructions in that tutorial regarding the top crust.
3. Cover dough in pie plate with foil and lightly press down so foil is touching dough. Don't press too hard or the dough will stick to the foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes. Let cool while you make pie filling and meringue.
To Make Meringue:
4.  Beat egg whites until foamy. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until stiff peaks form when beater is raised. Set aside.
To Make Pie Filling:
5. Mix starch, sugar, and salt in a double boiler top. Stir in milk. Cook over boiling water, stirring constantly until thick enough to mound when dropped from a spoon.
6. Cover double boiler and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now, if you stir beaten egg yolks into hot mixture right off the bat, you're going to have scrambled eggs. Take a couple spoonfuls of the hot mixture and stir into egg mixture before adding eggs to the hot mixture. This is called tempering with the eggs. Once eggs are added to the hot mixture, cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from boiling water.
7. Stir in vanilla and coconut. Cool to room temperature, and pour into baked pie shell.
8. Spread meringue on top of filling, sealing it to the edges of the filling. Sprinkle remaining coconut on top.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Fruit Pie with a Pecan Crust

Yesterday our sweet friends John and Samantha invited us over for a BBQ, so I wanted to bring a dessert that fit the occasion. I didn't want to do anything too heavy or chocolaty, so my mom suggested this delicious dish. It was perfect for an outdoor get-together, and yall, this pie was delicious. Oh, I almost forgot, it's also the easiest thing to make.

Ingredients:

1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cool whip
8 oz cream cheese, softened
fruit of your choice- I used blueberries and strawberries
cool whip to dollop on each slice, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Stir pecans, melted butter, and flour in a mixing bowl until dough forms. Press mixture into pie plate with your fingers, and bake about 25 minutes. Cool completely.

3. With an electric mixer, cream powdered sugar, cool whip, and cream cheese until incorporated. Spread mixture into cooled, baked crust.
4. Top with fruit. If not serving immediately, place finished pie in refrigerator until serving time. Enjoy!

Homemade Cherry Pie

I blogged last week about my favorite Apple Pie Recipe, so this week I decided to blog about my all-time favorite pie recipe. Nana's homemade cherry pie has been my favorite dessert ever since I was little, and I don't anticipate that ever changing. One thing you will notice with these pie recipes is they all use a homemade crust. I know I know, you can just buy a pre-made crust and skip the hassle, but yall, the homemade crust is what makes the pie every time. The filling is a cinch and won't take much time at all, so use that extra time and make a crust. You won't regret it!

Ingredients:

Pie Filling:
1 can of cherries packed in water
1 cup sugar
2 T flour
1 T butter
1 t almond extract
red food coloring to enhance color

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup crisco
1 t salt
4 T ice water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Begin making your crust by mixing flour and salt. Cut in crisco with a fork and add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each. Rub flour on your hands so the dough won't stick together. Pat dough in a ball and cut in half with a knife for a top and bottom pie crust. The bottom crust needs to be slightly larger, so make one half a little bigger than the other. Roll larger portion of dough onto a pastry cloth or paper towel with flour, and place dough in a pie plate. Reference my Chicken Pot Pie recipe to see step by step pictures for making the crust.
3.  In a large pan, mix sugar and flour. Add cherries, food coloring, almond extract, and butter. Bring to a simmer just to melt the butter.
4. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell and cover with upper crust. Crimp edges and sprinkle a little sugar on your top crust.
5. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 20 minutes of until lightly brown.
6. Let cool and enjoy!

I mentioned in my apple pie post that Nana always cuts in our initials with a fork. This is a pie she made for Danielle and I, so she put a "C" and a "D" on it for us. Little things like that just make my heart smile :).

Homemade Apple Pie

I grew up learning how to make homemade pies with my Nana, and I get so excited making pies for Parker and thinking about one day teaching our children how to make them. This pie is a family favorite and one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted! It's actually one of the easier pies in terms of filling because you don't have to cook the filling ahead of time.

Ingredients:

Pie Filling:
6 cups pared, sliced apples
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 T flour
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 T butter

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup crisco
1 t salt
4 T ice water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Begin making your crust by mixing flour and salt. Cut in crisco with a fork and add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each. Rub flour on your hands so the dough won't stick together. Pat dough in a ball and cut in half with a knife for a top and bottom pie crust. The bottom crust needs to be slightly larger, so make one half a little bigger than the other. Roll larger portion of dough onto a pastry cloth or paper towel with flour, and place dough in a pie plate. Reference my Chicken Pot Pie recipe to see step by step pictures for making the crust.
3.  In a small bowl, mix sugars, cinnamon, salt, and flour together.
4. Place 1/3 of the sliced apples in the uncooked pie shell. Sprinkle 1/3 sugar mixture over apples.
5. Place another 1/3 sliced apples and 1/3 sugar mixture in pie shell. Repeat again.
6. Pour heavy cream into the center of the apple/sugar mixture in the uncooked pie shell. Dot with butter.
7. Roll out remaining pie crust and place on top of the pie shell and filling. Lightly brush a little bit of heavy cream onto top crust and sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake 1 hour or until crust is golden brown.

Nana always puts a "C" in the pie for Chelsea, so I kept that going and put a "P" in the pie for Parker. Happy eating!