Coconut Cream Pie

What do you want for dessert tonight? Answer--coconut cream pie. Seriously? I had hoped to not turn on my gas oven today at all. It is 107° in Austin.... record heat again today. Guess I was hoping the answer would be ice cream.

Baby Coconut Cream Pie adorned with Shredded Coconut

Poor roses have just about given up trying to bloom, despite daily watering and a promise of possible rain later this week. Golfers look pretty ragged as they walk the 15th hole of the Texas Amateur Tournament. You'd have to be young to survive walking 18 holes of golf in this heat. While the bath-water pool beckoned this morning, off I went to Central Market to get rib eye steaks for son to cook for his dad and a bag of coconut for that cream pie.

Fortunately, I had a few frozen small tart shells left and only needed to make the filling. Still, it required a double boiler and one of the ovens, if only for a short time, to blind bake the little tart shells. That gas oven can really heat up the kitchen, but the result for baked goods far surpasses the electric oven. Thankfully it has a cooling button to push some of the hot air outside.

Gas vs. electric? I waited years to get my Wolf gas range and it has certainly lived up to my expectations. Even though the smaller electric oven also has convection, I now only use gas for my baking. Recently I caught myself storing a few sheet pans in the electric oven. Don't tell anyone though--I had to have both kinds when we built the kitchen.

No digital control on my big red Wolf oven--just traditional red knobs.

When researching appliances for our new kitchen in 2001, I called dessert cookbook queen Flo Braker for advice on ovens. (I've never been one to be afraid of asking for advice. I called Martha Stewart right after her book Entertaining came out to find out where she had purchased her giant pot rack. She was quite lovely, chatty, and told me to be sure and call her back if we needed a party catered in Princeton.) I had seen Flo's new baking kitchen on The Food Network--remember that show about dream kitchens? Can't remember the name, but it doesn't seem to be on anymore. During my remodel planning stage, I watched that show like a soap opera. We talked quite a while about the pros and cons of gas vs. electric and she convinced me that any good baker needed both--especially if you tested recipes.

Well, enough said--she was the expert. I now have three ovens in my kitchen--two gas and one electric. After a few years of cooking with both, I favor the big gas ovens. I waited a long time for a professional quality oven, and these guys definitely meet up to their hype. Sadly, the electric oven, while being smart looking and energy efficient, has assumed the third child syndrome, and is only used on big baking days and holidays.

Once again, another one of my mother-in-law's time tested recipe for pie filling would be called upon. Betty's apple pie defies reason it is so flaky and good. The cream pie recipe, written out for me on a index card years ago, doesn't fall far behind. To a cream base of sugar, flour, and milk; just add chocolate for chocolate cream, bananas for banana cream or coconut...well you get the point. When I went to make it for Father's Day, I couldn't find the handwritten recipe in my files (which I hereby declare are all out on the dining room table and will be organized when I return from vacation!), so I had to call Betty. She chuckled when I told her I couldn't find the recipe. "All those cookbooks and you can't find a banana pie recipe?" she mused. I think it pleased her that it was only hers that I was looking for.

When I probed a bit about the recipe's origin, she remembered that the recipe came from one of her mother's little recipe books--around 1920 she thought. Betty is 86. The recipe called specifically for Pillsbury All-purpose flour, so we decided that it probably came in one of her mother's flour bags. Wherever it came from, we're all happy it survived two more generations of Father's Day baking.

The cream custard can be served with any flavor you want, but it's also excellent plain. Next time I might make a larger tart covered with fresh raspberries--or perhaps a banana rum tart would be nice. Yum! So many possibilities. But for today, Coconut Cream Pie is still queen.

It all starts with this simple cream filling:

Whisk dry ingredients together in a double boiler.

Scalded milk, added to flour, sugar, and butter with a touch of vanilla--
the simple beginnings.

Cook until thickened, whisking constantly--about 15 minutes.

Whisk a little of the custard into the egg yolks, then slowly add to custard while you whisk.

Cook 3-5 minutes, whisking constantly, until custard is shiny and thickened.

Remove top part of double boiler from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla extract.
If you are making a chocolate cream pie, add the chocolate now and stir until melted.

Coconut flakes (the big unsweetened kind) are mixed into the cream base.

Coconut cream pie filling ready to fill a pre-baked pie shell.

Coconut Cream Pie
from Betty Douglas Tunnell and her mom
Serves 6-8
Printable recipe

One 9" pre-baked pie shell*

2 cups scalded milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg yolks, room temperature, lightly beaten
Flavoring of your choice: coconut, banana, unsweetened chocolate

Scald milk by bringing milk just to a boil and removing from heat, or microwave in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup for 1-2 minutes.

Add water to bottom pan of double boiler and bring to a simmer--not a boil. Make sure water is not high enough to touch the bottom of the insert or you may burn your custard. You can also make a double boiler by placing a metal mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Whisk dry ingredients together in top bowl of a double boiler. Slowly add scalded milk, stirring well.  Cook whisking constantly, until thick and smooth, about 15 minutes.

After cooking for 15 minutes, add a few tablespoons of the hot liquid to the lightly beaten egg yolks and mix. This warms up the egg yolks, so they won't curdle when added to the hot liquid. Whisk yolks quickly into the hot mixture. Continue cooking 3-5 minutes until creamy and thick, whisking constantly.

Remove from heat and mix in butter and vanilla. Add coconut and let cream filling cool (unless adding a meringue--see below).* Fill pre-baked pie shell and refrigerate until serving.


Here's the fun part:

For coconut cream pie add 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut. I use the thicker sliced unsweetened coconut, but Betty uses a bag of sweetened coconut from the grocery store baking section. For a little drama, toast the coconut and decorate the top of the pie.

For chocolate cream add 2 squares unsweetened chocolate while custard is still warm.

For banana cream, slice 2-3 ripe bananas and add alternately with cream filling to cool baked pie shell.

*While we prefer ours pies plain, you can add a whipped cream or baked meringue topping if you like. Just remember--if you add a meringue topping, fill the pre-baked pie shell while the custard is still hot, top with meringue and bake or broil immediately until golden. Otherwise your beautiful pie will weep. That would just be sad.

Enjoy!