Food | Coconut cream pie

It was Cody’s birthday party. Almost everything went wrong as I endeavored to put together a coconut cream pie worthy of eating. It took 3 tries to make the pie crust; one ending in a tragic, slip-out-of-the-pan kind of way. And then I burned the nice peaks of meringue and coconut I had been so proud of. It was the lowest point of my life in the kitchen. But in the end, it tasted great... a small miracle, really.

For my crust, I used lard. I’ll be honest. It wasn’t my favorite, but I know that some people prefer it. For the meringue, my only tip is make sure not to over do the egg whites. I did that my first time making a lemon meringue pie and it was terribly sad looking because the meringue was too stiff to spread.

Thanks for the recipe, mom! Seb loved the filling. 

And happy birthday, sweet husband. We love you! Here are a couple pictures from our little gathering.

Coconut cream pie

Pie Crust

2 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

2/3 c. + 2 Tbsp. shortening or 2/3 c. lard

mix flour and salt

cut in the shortening or lard until crumbly

add 4-5 Tbsp. of cold water, then mix.

divide into 2 pieces and then roll out. you will only need half for this pie. you can either make two pies now, or freeze the second half and save it for later!

when you roll, flatten, don’t stretch

prick with fork on bottom and sides. be thorough

bake pie crust

475 degrees for 8-10 minutes

Filling

mix cooked vanilla pudding w/ 1 c. coconut

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp. cream of tarter

6 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

beat egg and cream of tarter until foamy

beat in 1 Tbsp. of sugar at a time

continue beating until stiff and glossy

add vanilla right at the end.

Assemble

let pie crust cool

put pudding in then meringue

bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until the top is browned.