Let it Snow!
It’s January, and where I am the world is icy-cold and snow covered! Outside the wind is hollow. It thunders against my window, rattling the glass, bullying me to let the cold in. It’s a good day to cozy up inside with a warm blanket and a slice of pie.
When I think of winter and baking I think of coconut. That blue bag of sweet white flakes reminds me of fresh fallen snow. So I opened my Grandma’s 1965 copy of Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook and searched the index for coconut confections.
Coconut is one of those things that you either love or hate. I was born into a coconut loving family. Growing up, my Grandma’s chocolate sheet cake with buttercream frosting and coconut was a favorite in our house. I was the weird kid who always asked for coconut ice cream when my friends wanted brownie batter.
My husband on the other hand…he does not get along with coconut. Specifically shredded coconut. He loves coconut milk, especially in curry. But he always says eating shredded coconut is “like chewing fiber glass.” And you know what? He’s so right! It’s just one of those weird textures that lingers in your mouth. Not the most pleasant—and yet, I can’t stop myself from eating it anyway!
Today I’m making “Satiny Fresh Coconut Pie.” But for this recipe I will be using pre-shredded, bagged coconut, because quite honestly? I don’t have it in me right now to chisel open a fresh coconut. That’s an adventure for another day.
Baking Up Memories
There’s a picture in one of our family photo albums that floats into my mind every winter. I’m dressed like a marshmallow in my puffy blue snowsuit. Beside me, my grandma stands, one hand on a shovel. We’d just finished building a snow woman. In lieu of a top hat and a corncob pipe, we got creative. Our snow woman got the usual carrot nose, along with a crown made from a pink party necklace and dead flowers we found in the backyard. For her face we used cupcake wrappers—blue for the eyes, pink for the mouth—pinned in place by toothpicks. When we stepped back to admire her, we were quite pleased with ourselves.
My grandparents always enjoyed the outdoors, and were active even in the cold. About 21 years ago they moved so that they could be closer to my parents and I. But before that they lived about five hours away. Not too far from their old house was a large pond surrounded by tall craggy trees. A dirt walking path had been carved around the perimeter of the pond, and my grandparents loved to go for walks there. I can recall walking with them in the winter—the pond glassed over in a thin sheet of ice, the boughs on the trees heavy, drooping with snow. The world was quiet. And we enjoyed it.
One year around Christmas, my cousin and I went sledding on a long steep hill near the pond. It took forever to drag ourselves and our sleds to the top. But it was worth it. We settled into our inflatable inner tubes, gave ourselves a push, and we were off! The tubes skimmed over the surface of the snow. The cold air rushing by, chapping my cheeks. There was a dip in the hill, where the earth suddenly fell off. On one run, I hit it at top speed and was launched into air. Weightless. Soaring. Just for a second, before my inner tube bounced back to earth.
I’ve never had a better sled ride.
The Results
For my Satiny Coconut Pie I used Ree Drummond’s crust recipe. It’s a little unconventional, because it calls for an egg and a tablespoon of white vinegar. When it comes to fat, pie dough usually uses either butter or shortening. But this crust uses both. Different bakers have different preferences when it comes to the butter versus shortening debate. My grandma for example, swore by a shortening crust. However, this recipe is the one I’m used to, so I thought it would be safe to start my year of pies with it. In the future I’ll experiment with other crust recipes and find out where my tastebuds lie.
For once, I was able to roll out the dough without any major cracks or issues. It fit neatly into the pie plate, and I made a pretty edge by twisting strips of dough. I was feeling confident when I put it into the oven…
Unfortunately, the end result wasn’t as nice. As it baked, the crust pulled away from the edge, leaving big gaps and tears.
I had more luck with the filling though. The pudding recipe calls for a staggering half cup of corn starch to thicken it! I was standing by the stove, talking to my husband and slowly stirring the milk, sugar, corn starch, and egg yolks, when suddenly the corn starch activated! I swear, I have never seen such an immediate change in food before. The mixture went from liquid to thick pudding in an instant. It was so fast that at first I thought I’d done something wrong. I scrambled to check the cookbook for advice. But the pudding seemed to be behaving exactly as the recipe said. Before I added the coconut, my husband tried some of the filling and gave it a big thumbs up.
After the filling had chilled in the crust for three hours, I topped it with whipped cream, tiny pie crust snow flakes, and toasted coconut. Here is the finished pie and the first slice…
Okay, admittedly not the prettiest cross-section you’ve ever seen. But first slices are always kind of wonky looking. The taste was amazing though! Creamy and dreamy, this pie is a sweet-tooth pleaser. It’s bursting with vanilla and a blizzard of coconut. Boxed pudding mix is good, but it just can’t compare to this. I will definitely make this pie again!
