Perfect coconut cream pie
Pies
Coconut cream pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts. The small Louisiana town in which I grew up had a real cafeteria, one of those old-fashioned joints where you grab a tray and head down the line, picking up pre-plated dishes as you go. I often got the "sides" plate -- smothered greens, fried okra, mac & cheese -- and a wedge of coconut cream pie or, when they had it, caramel custard in a cup (another favorite). My mom, sister, grandma and I spent so many happy lunches at that cafeteria, and even though it's not quite as good as it used to be, and caramel custard in a cup days are still too rare, I love the nostalgia of the dining-in experience, and I go back each time I visit home. <br /> <br />Recently, I thought about how long it'd been since I'd had coconut cream pie, especially a really good, homemade one that's ethereally light and a full-on tribute to the delicate, unique flavor that is coconut. What can one do in that instance but get busy making one? <br /> <br />Extremely long story short, I used my family pie crust recipe (which cannot be beat), made homemade sweetened, shredded coconut (a recipe I found on the Livestrong site) to avoid the chemicals sometimes found in commercially processed sweetened coconut, and adapted pastry cream and topping recipes from Epicurious. The result was perfection, and my hubby and I wiped the pie out in two days flat! This pie definitely wants a night in the fridge to set and let the flavors deepen, so make it a day in advance if you can.
Share:
0
11
0
Comments