More About Pies

Ruthy's post for Peaches and Cream Pie on Saturday still has me drooling. (You can find that recipe here) So, since I've been dwelling on pie (thanks a lot Ruthy!), I decided to revisit one of my very first posts here at the Yankee-Belle.

How many of y'all love pie? Now, how many love pie, but rarely, if ever, make one because you think it's too hard? Well, today I'm going to share Grandmama's secret to easy cream pies. She developed this recipe when she was eighteen years old, then adapted it to the microwave, making it easier than ever. No more standing at the stove, stirring constantly.

Here's what you'll need for a basic cream pie:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 level Tbsp. flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 cups milk
• 4 beaten egg yolks (save the whites for your meringue)
• 2 Tbsp. melted butter
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 - 9 in. baked pie crust

In a microwave-safe bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and salt. Add just a little milk to the flour sugar mixture to make a thick paste. (I don't know why that step is here,but I go with it anyway. Maybe it's to make sure there are no lumps.)

Add egg yolks, rest of milk, and butter and mix well. Cook in microwave on HIGH at 2 minute intervals, whisking between each interval. The first two times you whisk the mixture will still be watery and you'll think, "this isn't working." But trust me on this. Three times is usually enough. If not, go to one minute intervals.

While the filling is cooking, you'll want to make your meringue. Beat egg whites, along with 1/8 tsp. cream of tarter until foamy. Beat in 6 Tbsp. sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until stiff and glossy. Beat in 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

Once your filling is ready, add vanilla and stir well. Since I was making a coconut cream pie, I also added 1 cup of angle flake coconut.

Pour mixture into pie crust. 

Top with meringue, making sure to seal your edges. Since my brain doesn't process like Ruthy's does, meaning I don't have a bag of toasted coconut in the freezer, I sprinkle more plain coconut on my meringue.

 Brown 15 minutes in a 300 degree oven. 

See, easy as pie!

An added bonus to this basic recipe is that there are so many variations. I gave you the info for a coconut cream pie, but here are some others you're sure to like.

Chocolate Cream: Add 1 pkg. Nestle's Pre-Melted Chocolate (or 2 Tbsp. cocoa) to filling before cooking. Top with meringue. Brown 15 min. in 300 degree oven.

Pineapple Cream:  After cooking, add one small can crushed pineapple, drained. Again. top with meringue.

Banana Cream:  Slice 1 or 2 bananas into crust before pouring in the filling. Top with meringue.

Most of my kids don't care for the coconut cream pie (more for me and Dad), but they'll fight you tooth and nail for the chocolate cream version.



This is at gratuitous photo of my grandson, Elijah. He's too young for pie, but he sure does make us smile.

Ah, yes...that baby is three years old now. My how time flies.

Can you believe it's August? School has started for some and will be soon be starting for others. Before you know it, we'll be putting up fall decorations. And, dare I say it...?

THERE'S CHRISTMAS STUFF OUT AT HOBBY LOBBY!

Time definitely marches on, so we may as well enjoy it.

Bring on the pie!

Banana Cream Pie.... or maybe not.

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got a delicious recipe for banana cream pie I got from a fun book. Mrs. Rowe's Little Book of Southern Pies has all the old favorites, along with quite a few I've never heard of, including a recipe for "weepless" meringue. (You know, it gets those little droplets of sugar water and it doesn't look as pretty. Apparently, you can fix that!)

I thought this book would be a fun giveaway on my blog but as soon as it showed up, Thor took it over. 

I could hear him mumbling to himself as the pages flipped by...

So, first of all, we need a banana. Ooooo, lookey here!

 It was sort of sunny... but sort of not. I was trying to get a good picture, and it started to rain. I'm not sure whether I like the before rain sun, or...

 ...if the sunny-while-raining picture is better. So, here they both are and you can choose.

 (You can see the reflection on the wall where the water was running down the window. I should have gone out to look for a rainbow, but I was determined to have PIE!)

 One banana, 3 cups whole milk, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 3 egg yolks, one cup sugar.

 Also, 1 TBS unsalted butter, 2 tsp vanilla. For the meringue four egg whites, 4 TBS sugar, and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar.

 Mix three egg yolks, corn starch, and one cup sugar.

This is my vintage pie tin and she's quite the chatterbox. When she and Edna get going, you wouldn't believe the stories she tells: being forgotten in the oven until she thought she'd melt, overflowing with bubbling berry juice and filling the house with smoke, left on the windowsill and being snatched away by thieves, sitting in the cool shelter of a pie safe.

 So, I filled Miss Pie Pantry (her nickname is "peaches" but I just can't call her that, she deserves more respect) with pie crust. Preheat the oven to 350F.

 I sliced the banana and lay it inside. Miss Pie kept trying to say something, but it was so muffled under all that dough. I was in a hurry, so I gave her a little pat and  just kept on...

 Now, bring the milk to a boil, and then add in the egg/corn starch/sugar mixture, cook 4 minutes. (I have to say it looked a little lumpy. Edna said I added everything when the milk was too hot. I made another batch since the little guys loved this custard so much, and it was much smoother the second time).

 After 4 minutes, remove from the heat and add the TB of butter ad the 2 tsp of vanilla. YUMMY. The kitchen smells so good!

 Pour into the crust like so. Miss Pie Pantry was still talking. She sounded sort of insistent. I resolved to get her out of the cupboard more often. She must be very lonely.

Whip the four egg whites with the 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, When soft peaks form, add the sugar one TB at a time. I think I could have whipped this a little longer.

Enlist small boy to spoon the meringue onto the pudding.

 Gentle, gently.

 Miss Pie Pantry was still making noises, but soon she was completely muffled under all that crust, banana, pudding, and meringue.

 (This is the second batch of vanilla pudding I made. I had to share this shot because, int he upper left hand corner, there is an EYE. Creepy, eh? This is what happens when you cook pudding in a house with six kids. Random photo-bombing will happen.) Anyway, of course Edna was right and this was MUCH smoother.

 Thirty minutes in the oven and the pie is done! Perfect!!!

Happy boy! He can't wait to eat the pie! But it has to cool in the fridge for 3-4 hours, so I tell him that tomorrow morning, we'll cut into it...

Except, that night, right around midnight... I cut into the pie. Just to check, you know. It was HORRIBLE!! How did this happen??? 

Once I'd cleared a space, Miss Pie Pantry informed me that I needed to BAKE THE CRUST FIRST. Oh.... that's what all the muffled yelling was about. Edna's bowls were rattling with laughter and even Thor let out a few low chuckles. 

Hm. I think it's the cookbook's fault. They should have highlighted that bit. And a bigger font.  I mean "prebaked" is such a small word and no wonder I missed it.

So, until nxt time my friends. I wish you success in the kitchen and remember to BAKE THE CRUST if you make this recipe.