Coconut Cream Meringue Pie

Hello everyone! It has been so incredibly hot and gross outside lately, I haven't done much baking. Apologies for the blog neglection! But, I did make something the other day that will hopefully be a recipe to cool you down. Coconut Cream Pie. Not only does this make for a very nice summer dessert, it just so happens to be my dad's all time favorite dessert, and it was his birthday the other day. So I whipped this up for him (quite literally) and it turned out amazingly.

Coconut Cream Meringue Pie


Ingredients


Filling:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1 cup chopped coconut
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) pastry shell, baked

Meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped coconut

First thing you're going to do is combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium- sized sauce pan. Stir in the milk until it has a smooth texture. Turn on some heat and stir it until it's thickened and more on the bubbly side. It might actually start to make funny noises at this point. Some of my bubbles tried popping and exploding on me. If this happens, you know your heat is too high. Reduce the heat and cook and stir for 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat completely. Take a small bit of your mixture and add it to your egg yolks. Put everything back into the saucepan, including the eggs, and bring it to a gentle boil. Don't forget to keep stirring! I know, your arm is tired, but this does burn very easily, so be careful. Keep it at the boil for about 2 more minutes. Remove from heat again. Now, you're finally going to add in your coconut, butter, and vanilla. Keep on mixing until the butter is melted. That should only take a minute or two. Gently pour the filling into the crust. 

Okay, I know, it may not look very appetizing right now, but oh my goodness did it smell good. I wanted to just eat the whole thing right then. But, this pie has a process. And next is the meringue. Meringue is always so much fun to make and decorate with, so I was pretty excited about this step. Take your egg whites and put them all in a mixing bowl. Beat them with the cream or tartar on medium. I did mine for about 3 minutes, and that's when softer peaks began to form in the whites. When this happens, add in the sugar, a tablespoon at a time. I love hearing it get thicker when you first add in the sugar. Eventually, peaks should start to form that are glossier and stiff enough to almost hold their shape. Take the meringue and top it over the hot filling. I chose to use an icing bag to cover mine. I was a little disappointed when the meringue drops started to melt over the filling when I piped them because they all lost their swirly shape that I love so much. But, I just went around in circles with the meringue until the whole pit was filled. Sprinkle the meringue with the coconut to give it an extra kick of flavor. 

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. The top of mine had browned perfectly at 14 minutes.

You know it's done when your meringue is golden on all the edges. This is definitely one of my favorite looks on desserts. Golden meringue just looks so yummy and pretty. Anyway, when it is brown, place it on a cooling rack as I have here. Keep it there for about an hour. You don't want to mess up the top, so the cool time is longer. When it's done on the rack, refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Mine stayed in the fridge overnight, and the next day we celebrated my dad's birthday with a barbecue and pie. Everyone absolutely loved it and I was very pleased with the results. 

Happy baking!