THE coconut cream pie...4th time's a charm?

As Easter quickly approaches it's that time of year again when I attempt to make Frank's favorite dessert of all time....his mom's coconut cream pie. I heard about this pie for years before I actually got to try it one Christmas. And it was delicious! When I tried it I thought to myself, "I can make this...piece of cake (or pie)!" Frank said that others have tried to make this pie and it's never as good as him mom's. I took that as a challenge! Long story short, I've made this pie 3 times now. Two times we had coconut cream soup and one time, in the middle, I actually made it right! Making a custard pie is a lot harder than it looks. However, now I have an official double boiler, so I'm hoping my new kitchen accessories will help me on this year's challenge.

Here is the recipe exactly as I received it from Frank's mom in an email:

"For the crust: You will need 1 and 3/4 cups of crushed graham crackers. This is 1 package. (a box comes with three packages). I use the bottom of a drinking glass to crush these in a bowl. To this, add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 6 tablespoons of melted margarine or butter. Mix and press firmly to sides and bottom of 9 inch pie pan. Chill one hour before filling, or bake at 375 degrees about 7 minutes. (I usually bake.)

For the filling: I will give this to you in the order I do it, since I like to have everything ready to pour into the milk and keep stirring so it doesn't stick. Separate 3 eggs. Beat the yolks just a little. Put the whites in a bowl big enough for mixing, as you will make your meringue out of them. In another bowl, mix 3/4 cup of sugar, and either 1/2 cup of flour or 1/4 cup of cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I use cornstarch if I have it. If not, I use flour - doesn't matter if it is all-purpose or self-rising. Get your coconut out of the can or bag - 3/4 cup of shredded coconut. You will also need 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring. In a double-boiler, put water in the bottom part, probably about an inch - just till it will barely touch the bottom of the top part when you set in in the bottom part. Put 2 and 1/2 cups of whole milk in the top part of the double broiler and turn your eye on medium heat. You want this milk to heat to a scalding point - this will be when a think film forms on top of the milk. At this point you will start stirring and slowly add your sugar/cornstarch mixture. Heat and stir until this starts to thicken, then add your beaten egg yolks. Continue stirring until thick. Remove from heat, stir in coconut and vanilla flavoring. Pour this into your graham cracker shell and allow to cool while you make your meringue.

For meringue: To your three egg whites, add 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar and about 1/8 teaspoon vanilla flavoring. Beat until it begins to thicken, then add about 6 tablespoons of sugar (one or two tablespoons at a time) and beat until thick enough to stay where you put it. Ha! Bake at 425 degrees just about 4 minutes or until lightly browned. I always watch this part very closely since it can burn pretty quickly.

This sounds more complicated than it is, once you have tried it a few times, and even if it is not perfect the first few times, more than likely it will still be edible. Good luck!!

Hugs,

Vivian"

I will be making this on Saturday and I'll let you know how it turns out!

Happy Baking!