Best RecipesCoconut Cream Pie Filling News Recipes

Did you guys get what you wanted for Christmas? 

I did. 

Well, I didn't get the peace on earth, love for all mankind or an end to world hunger, but I did get a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader with sleek black leather cover.

Unlike my previous Kindle, this one has a built-in light and it's just the perfect device for gazing at the latest Telesa cover-art. 

What I mean, is that it's the perfect device for reading the latest release from the talented Lani Wendt Young.

That's if you can tear your eyes away from the awfully distracting cover-art. I mean, really. Those biceps. That chest. The tattoo. Oh, right, the book.

Just before Christmas, Lani released a special edition of her Telesa novel. Along with Telesa: The Covenant Keeper, this special edition is packed with lots of reader extras such as: 'I am Daniel Tahi' - A novella that speaks from Daniel's perspective; Leila's Love Poem; Character Interviews; and articles about Samoa and Samoan culture.

AND also included in the special edition are five recipes from yours truly, including the one below.

Coconut Cream Pie Filling

(for a 9 inch (23 cm) round or 8 inch (20 cm) square pie)

½ cup flour

¾ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup + 2 cups milk

4 large egg yolks

1½ teaspoons vanilla essence

1¼ cup flaked coconut

Meringue Topping:

4 egg whites

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup flaked coconut

In a saucepan, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and 1 cup of milk until smooth. Stirring constantly, heat it until bubbles form around the edges, then gradually whisk in the remaining 2 cups of milk. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it’s like a thick, white sauce. Turn the heat off.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork. Add a quarter cup of the sauce and mix well. Add another quarter cup and mix again. Pour the warmed egg yolks into the saucepan and heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture has thickened. Cook for two minutes more while stirring. Remove from the heat and keep warm, stirring occasionally so that a  film doesn’t form on the top.

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).

Meringue Topping: Beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff, but not dry.

Assemble the pie by pouring the warm filling into the baked pie crust. Top with the meringue (you may not need all of it), sealing to the edges of the crust. Sprinkle with flaked coconut. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for an hour and then chill for several hours or overnight before serving.

Enjoy the pie, and don't forget to purchase your special edition of Telesa for an entertaining holiday read. 

And enjoy the cover-art. Did someone say that Leila was on there? I didn't notice. she must be standing in the shadows of Daniel's awesomeness. I mean, just look at those arms, that chest, the tattoos...

Best RecipesCoconut Cream Pie News Recipes

Before making this recipe I'd never eaten a coconut cream pie in my life. I'd had all manner of fruit pies - pineapple, blueberry, apple, peach, strawberry, apricot - but never a coconut cream pie, or any cream pie for that matter. Oh I'd had pumpkin pie, banoffee pie, sweet potato pie, lots of chocolate pies, even a mango pie ...OK, I'm starting to sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump, aren't I? 

Anyway, a reader once mentioned banana cream pie and that probably planted the seed in my head to make this pie. Now, I read the recipe through a couple of times, not wanting a repeat of the brown sugar chicken situation. I even measured out all my ingredients beforehand, which is something I do only on the most auspicious occasions.

But no matter how good of a cook you are, there are always moments in the kitchen that just knock you back to your childhood self when you tried to peel fa'i maka (green bananas) the traditional Samoan way and you ended up mutilating the banana so badly that the leftover stub was thrown at your head and then you were thrown out of the kitchen. 

This pie had a few of those moments, and I'm not ashamed to share them with you here. 

Recipe comes from Me'a Kai and can be found here. But don't blame the recipe for what you see below. Blame the cook who to this day, cannot really peel perfect fa'i maka.

Started by mixing the butter and sugar for the crust. So far so good, but hey, it's only two ingredients.

Pressed the very soft sticky dough into my baking dish. Smoothed it out as best I could. Not very smooth though, is it?

Prettied it up around the edges with a fork, then baked it.

Crust came out of the oven looking kind of sad and depressed. It had shrunk down to half its height and had just slithered to the bottom of the baking dish, looking like it had lost the will to go on. 

Coconut cream layer thickened up nicely,

as did the lemon cream layer.

Here's the finished pie.

When I was putting the lemon layer on the pie the coconut cream layer spread out to the sides. Not sure if my coconut layer wasn't thick enough or if I was supposed to let it set. In any case, the layers of the pie were not very even as you can see here. Also, my crust was slightly under-cooked in the corners where the pastry had collapsed. 

Of course, none of these points were enough to keep me from devouring the pie. It was truly delicious.