Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Heavenly Coconut Cream Pie




Heavenly Coconut Cream Pie

Dorcas Annette Walker


There is something about a Coconut Pie that I find irresistible. It doesn’t matter how many other desserts there are around if there is a Coconut Pie I find myself taking a piece. (For those of you who hate coconut bear with me this month.) In fact I consider myself an unofficial connoisseur of Coconut Pie simply by the virtue of many years experience. I’ll have to confess there were a few pieces of Coconut Pie along the way that I shuddered over wondering how on earth the cook managed to ruin what should have been a delectable dessert.

Have you ever done something that frequently comes back to haunt you? Every so often, without fail, as a crowd of people sits around relaxing and talking after a huge meal invariably someone will mention that they think I hardly eat anything compared to the rest. That is the cue for my husband to say, “Well one time believe it or not, Dorcas ate an entire pie!” I’ve given up trying to explain as my husband’s statement always sets off an uproar, but between you and me I’d like to set the record straight. I only ate half a pie, my sister ate the other half, and it was under very stressful circumstances. I was expecting at the time when one evening my sister stopped by for a visit. Both of our lives were in the midst of a drastic upheaval. My husband and I were in the process of moving south to take a church in the foothills of North Carolina- what seemed to me like the ends of the earth. For the first time in our lives my sister and I would be separated indefinitely. Due to the unusual circumstances in which we were raised, with our father often in the hospital at death’s door and our mother having to work full-time to keep our family going, my sister and I were closer than most sisters. We had gone through experiences together that kids our age had no idea of. Crazy as it sounds we had become each others security. No matter what happened in our world we always had each other to depend on; now all that was changing. My husband had gone on to bed as Lois and I talked and cried together. After a couple of hours we were hungry. That morning I had made two Coconut Cream Pies so I got one of the pies out and we both had a piece. One piece let to another as we chatted. Sometime in the early morning hours near daybreak we discovered to our shock that between us we had eaten the entire pie; something we had never done before or since. I tried to hide the evidence, but my husband discovered that one pie was gone. Despite making thousands of Coconut Pies since, my husband has never let me forget the one pie that my sister and I ate.

My Heavenly Coconut Cream Pie is the deluxe edition of all the Coconut Pies that I have made after years of experimenting. This Heavenly Coconut Cream Pie recipe is simple to make and has a light mellow texture. Even my son, who doesn’t like Coconut Pie, couldn’t resist tasting my Heavenly Coconut Cream Pie on the sly and confessed to me that he actually liked it. My Heavenly Coconut Cream Pie takes only fifteen minutes to prepare and serves eight. I couldn’t resist making two Heavenly Coconut Cream Pies. Now if I just can find the perfect spot to hide a pie…

Heavenly Coconut Cream Pie

1 (9 inch) deep pie crust baked

Mix together in a small bowl:
1 pkg (3.9 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1½ c milk

Fold in:
½ (8 oz) container of cool whip
¾ of 1 c toasted coconut
Pour into the baked and cooled pie shell. Spread the remaining half of the cool whip on top of the pudding. Sprinkle the rest of the coconut on top of the cool whip. Chill in the refrigerator and serve!

Weekly tip: A quick and easy way to toast coconut: place coconut in a microwave bowl and microwave on high for three to five minutes stirring frequently!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, syndicated columnist, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net For more information check out: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

8 comments:

Faith said...

Not sure if it's your way with words, the photos, the 5-15 minute prep or maybe all of the above, but you have this doesn't-like-coconut-cream-pies person thinking about making one of these two recipes!

Dorcas Annette Walker said...

Faith,
I'll convince you yet to love coconut- ha!
I'd try my Heavenly Coconut Cream Pie to start with as it doesn't seem like a coconut pie, is easy to make, a no-fail recipe, and you can always invite someone over for a meal and serve it so if you don't like it you won't have to eat the entire pie. Now that is a guarenteed way you can't lose, uh... unless you fall madly in love with my pie and hate the thought of having to share even one piece.
dorcas

Faith said...

Believe it or not, I FINALLY got around to making this tonight! lol I have no clue what I am doing with a pie crust, so the crust looks terrible, but the coconut toasted a perfectly golden brown. (I'll post a photo on my blog.)

Ken and I snitched about a half cup that didn't fit into the pie and scraped the bowl clean! Wow!! The pie almost didn't make it into the fridge. We can hardly wait for tomorrow!

Dorcas Annette Walker said...

Ah ha! What did I tell you, Faith?
Quick tip for pie crusts: For a perfect no-fuss quick pie crust buy the frozen pie crusts at Walmart (deep dish). All you have to do is thaw them out (about half an hour) and pop them into the oven for about 15 min. It works everytime and there is no mess. I'll turn you into a pie maker yet!
dorcas

Faith said...

umm... I bought the refrigerated pie crust--not EVEN going to tackle the real thing! It baked just fine (as in didn't burn), but it didn't look all pretty and fancy with the fluted edges and stuff. And at a couple places, the sides sank down as it baked. But hey, it got done without burning and tasted great.

Truth be told... this week I made another one! lol This time I "fried" the coconut (stirred it around stove-top in a little non-stick pan) and used a graham cracker crust (also a ready-made). Not as good as the pie crust version, but still very good.

We're still grinning that we have the makings for one more pie! :)

Dorcas Annette Walker said...

You wait, Faith, I'll have you rolling out homemade pie crust yet!

You can brown the coconut with butter in a frying pan- that's the old way- delicious, but more calories. I just think browning the coconut in the microwave is quicker and easier to do- less mess.

Congrats on trying out the graham cracker crust. You never know what experimenting around will do. Sometimes you come out with a real winner.

Have fun in the kitchen!
dorcas

Rebekah said...

Hi Dorcas,

Don't know if you remember me, but I am Faith's sister, Becky. I am a missionary and I live in the Amazon and can't get stuff such as vanilla pudding. We do have about 200 coconut trees on the mission property though, so I have been looking for things to do with coconut. Any ideas? Do you have a simple coconut pie or coconut macaroon recipe?

Dorcas Annette Walker said...

Becky, hello, long time no see!!!
We won't count the years, huh?

So glad that you found my cooking blog. I also have a website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

I have read some about you and your work in the Amazon in some mission newsletters. Wow!

In the month of April I featured a couple of recipes that had coconut. I don't know what all available ingredients you have to cook or bake with, but the Coconut Custard pie is quite simple. I'll keep my eyes open for other ideas on using coconut.

Meanwhile take care and happy cookin!
dorcas
dorcaswalker@twlakes.net