Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Coconut Cream Pie

Until relatively recent, I really didn't like coconut. I remember getting Mounds or Almond Joys as a kid for Halloween and being bummed as my mom eagerly devoured them. A few years ago, I think when we were in Hawaii or the Caribbean for vacation, I tried some fresh coconut and really enjoyed it.

Fast forward to a few months ago, when I made triple chocolate cookies for work. A coworker didn't stop by my desk until the afternoon, so he missed them. We chatted, he "complained" and I promised him something special for his birthday. He said "Coconut Cream Pie, November 18" and walked away. Well, that's tomorrow, but since I don't bake on weeknights, I made it on Sunday.

Now, I've NEVER made a coconut cream pie before. Actually, I've never made a cream pie that wasn't boxed pudding and whipped cream (from scratch, at least). So I googled it. Found Martha's recipe, which is the only one with coconut custard (as opposed to vanilla custard with shredded coconut mixed it), but she used whipped cream instead of meringue. Found Alton's Lemon Meringue Pie... left out the Lemon part, used the meringue. Have my mom's amazing "shortbread style" dessert crust, which I HAD to use! Saw Cook's Illustrated "Almond Joy Pie", which had chocolate and almonds mixed in the custard.... hmmm, to fancy, but I can top the meringue with anything I want, right?

The only thing I wish I did was take a photo of the pie, it was gorgeous, if I do say so myself. And it was incredible tasting too! It was creamy and oh man! YUMMY!

So, here's my "Almond Joy Topped Coconut Cream Pie". Its a 3 part recipe: the custard and pie assembly in part 1, the meringue in part 2 (cause its good for different pies!) and the crust in part 3. It seems complicated, but its really not, just follow the order in the main recipe, and it should work out. You can make it all in one day, or spread it out over a few days.

Ingredients

  • 4 egg yolks, separated
  • 3 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk (2 cans)
  • cup granulated sugar
  • 5 tablespoons cornstarch
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • ½ recipe Dessert Pie Crust
  • 1 recipe Meringue
  • ¼ cup Toasted Coconut
  • ¼ cup Sliced Almonds
  • ¼ cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out chilled dough to a bit less than 1/4 inch thick. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim crust to a 1/2-inch overhang all around. Fold to make a thicker edge and crimp. Prick dough all over with a fork.

Line pie shell with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges of crust just turn golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove parchment and pie weights. Return crust to oven, and continue baking until golden all over 15 to 20 minutes more. Place pie shell on a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt chocolate, let cool slightly, then coat the inside of the cooled crust with the chocolate. Let sit until chocolate sets up.

In a bowl, lightly whisk egg yolks; set aside. In a saucepan, whisk together coconut milk, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Bring to a simmer (do not boil), and cook, whisking constantly, 3 to 4 minutes.

Whisk a quarter of hot-milk mixture into egg yolks; whisk in remaining milk mixture. Strain into a clean saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until custard is thick and bubbles appear in center, 2 to 3 minutes.

At this point, you can either fill and top the pie, or let the custard cool and assemble the next time. To cool, transfer custard to a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface to prevent a skin from forming. Set in ice bath for 30 minutes to chill before putting into fridge for up to 1 day.

Fill crust with coconut custard. Top with meringue, then sprinkle on almonds and toasted coconut. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until meringue is golden brown. When cooled, sprinkle with mini chips.


Ingredients

  • 4 egg whites
  • teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Method

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes


Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 stick butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 1 egg
  • water or juice to pull dough together
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Method

Put flour, sugar, salt and butter in food processor. Pulse until combined and butter is broken into small pieces.

Add egg, pulse until combined.

Add water or juice (i.e. apple cider for fruit pies) or cold water and about a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a ball.

Remove from food processor and wrap in plastic wrap. Put in fridge for 10-15 minutes before rolling out. Add liquid or flour to adjust consistency as needed. The dough should roll out without sticking to the pin too much.


Thursday, October 8, 2009

I've been out-baked!

I enjoy baking... hell, I enjoy cooking. Hubby isn't too thrilled with me cooking, as I tend to dirty every dish in the house and destroy the kitchen. But I'm a really good cook, so he deals with the mess.

When I first met Hubby, he could barely boil water. I kid you not, one day he asked me to make him pudding and handed me the box of instant pudding. After I stopped laughing, I asked him to look at the directions and walked out of the kitchen. That was his first foray into the kitchen, and he's been slowly getting better at it.

Earlier in the week, he was craving brownies. He didn't even ask, he just picked up the King Arthur Baking Book and started cooking. An hour later, there were the most incredible, moist, chewy, fudgy brownies covered in vanilla ice cream. I've officially been out baked! I've got to post the recipe, they were THAT good.

Brownies from King Arthur's Flour Baking Companion
6 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1.5 sticks butter
5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2.5 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cup chopped nuts, mini marshmallows or mini chips (optional, yeah, right! Todd did pecans)

Pre-heat oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 pan
Melt chocolate and butter together in a sauce pan, let cool slightly
Beat together eggs, vanilla, salt, sugar and corn syrup until light and fluffy (this takes a few minutes)
Stir flour into melted chocolate. Fold chocolate batter into egg batter, stir in nuts/chips
Spread batter in pan and brush top w/ 1 tbsp milk
Bake 35 minutes until top is crisp, but a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out covered in chocolate.
Cool several HOURS (ummm, we waited until they were slightly warm) then cut. Cuts easier with a plastic knife or a metal knife sprayed with Pam.

If you don't have the corn syrup, you can make them without, but they won't be as moist. You can probably add some instant espresso (maybe 1 tbsp) and they would be pretty darn close to the Starbuck espresso brownies.