Coconut cream pie is a mess....

[Phil]

Ok. We altered the standard recipe by using Coco Lopez in the mix. I knew this was risky, but we did it anyway. I'm thinking we should have used less milk. Also, the meringue collapsed and became weepy. Other than that it was great, considering it fell apart when you sliced it! While I'm on the subject, a while back we made a lemon maringue pie that was fabulous. We repeated it and it was watery. I know there are pie experts out there. What goes wrong to make pies turn watery?

 

[Selkie]

Not following a proven recipe.

My point is, you can't play fast and loose with bakery ingredients or their quantities - you've got to follow the recipe... precisely, in order to have the most success.

 

[bakechef]

I use coco lopez in my coconut cream pie and it is fantastic. But... cream pies can be fickle you can follow the recipe to the T and end up with a runny pie, but if you fiddle with it, it almost always spells disaster. In my opinion, many cream pies call for far too little cornstarch or thickener.

Here is the recipe that I use.

1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup coco lopez
1/3 cup cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 cups milk
3 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs butter
3/4 cup shredded coconut.

Combine the sugar, coco lopez, and cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan, whisk in milk and cook on medium, stirring constantly until mixture boils. Whisk half of hot mixture into beaten eggs to temper them, add egg mixture back into the custard base and stir until boiling, boil one minute. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla, butter, and coconut. Pour into prepared, baked, deep dish pie shell. Chill until fully set, at least 4-6 hours with plastic wrap pressed against the filling.

Top with fresh whipped cream and toasted coconut.

 

[lyndalou]

What is coco lopez?

 

[Selkie]

What is coco lopez?

It's canned condensed coconut milk that is available in most grocery stores. And it's very rich!

 

[Phil]

I use coco lopez in my coconut cream pie and it is fantastic. But... cream pies can be fickle you can follow the recipe to the T and end up with a runny pie, but if you fiddle with it, it almost always spells disaster. In my opinion, many cream pies call for far too little cornstarch or thickener.

Here is the recipe that I use.

1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup coco lopez
1/3 cup cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 cups milk
3 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs butter
3/4 cup shredded coconut.

Combine the sugar, coco lopez, and cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan, whisk in milk and cook on medium, stirring constantly until mixture boils. Whisk half of hot mixture into beaten eggs to temper them, add egg mixture back into the custard base and stir until boiling, boil one minute. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla, butter, and coconut. Pour into prepared, baked, deep dish pie shell. Chill until fully set, at least 4-6 hours with plastic wrap pressed against the filling.

Top with fresh whipped cream and toasted coconut.

Did you adjust the cornstarch from experience? The recipes usually call for 2 Tbs. cornstarch. Also, we didn't refrigerate the pie. I see that whipped cream toppings call for whole eggs and meringue pies call for egg yokes. I'll try your recipe when topping with whipped cream. Thanks.

 

[Phil]

Not following a proven recipe.

My point is, you can't play fast and loose with bakery ingredients or their quantities - you've got to follow the recipe... precisely, in order to have the most success.

You're right and we paid the price. My wife has made this before and jotted down some corrections for using the Coco Lopez, which is very similar to Bakechef's recipe. But, we didn't have this runny of a pie the last time. Baking is chemistry and too much dynamite can be disasterous.

 

[Wyogal]

Phil: "I see that whipped cream toppings call for whole eggs and meringue pies call for egg yokes."
????? I don't really know what you mean here

 

[Phil]

Phil: "I see that whipped cream toppings call for whole eggs and meringue pies call for egg yokes."
????? I don't really know what you mean here

That is sloppy wording on my part, sorry. Recipes for meriangue topped cream pies call for egg yolks in the filling. Whipped cream topping calls for the entire egg in their filling.

 

[Wyogal]

Probably so as not to waste any part of the egg. Use the yolks in the pie, use the whites of the same eggs in a topping.
But, it's a matter of taste. One can put meringue on anything, same with whipped cream.

 

[Phil]

Probably so as not to waste any part of the egg. Use the yolks in the pie, use the whites of the same eggs in a topping.
But, it's a matter of taste. One can put meringue on anything, same with whipped cream.[/QUOTE\

Pardon my ignorance, but shouldn't the meringue be baked? If so, would you top a cooled pie and then bake the meringue?

 

[Wyogal]

yes. Have you ever had baked alaska? It's cake with ice cream in the middle, topped with meringue, baked to brown.
In my experience, meringue is put on top of a cooled pie, then baked briefly. You don't bake the meringue while you are baking the pie.

 

[bakechef]

Did you adjust the cornstarch from experience? The recipes usually call for 2 Tbs. cornstarch. Also, we didn't refrigerate the pie. I see that whipped cream toppings call for whole eggs and meringue pies call for egg yokes. I'll try your recipe when topping with whipped cream. Thanks.

the original recipe called for a 1/4 cup cornstarch and it often came out too loose, so I upped it to 1/3 of a cup and it is still a fairly soft filling but holds its shape. The advantage to using cornstarch instead of flour for me is that cornstarch will give you a melt in your mouth texture where flour will give you a thicker more viscous texture. I find that flour gives you more predictable thickening, but I prefer the texture of cornstarch.

I would say that this amount of liquid would need more than 2 tbs of flour to thicken it properly.

For me a cream pie isn't a cream pie without cream on top, I just cannot warm up to meringue on any other pie but lemon. I have noticed that since moving to the south, meringue is used often instead of cream on a cream pie, and this was very weird to me.

 

[Phil]

For bakechef

"I have noticed that since moving to the south, meringue is used often instead of cream on a cream pie, and this was very weird to me."
Now be careful, you're in a foreign territory. I've always had meringue on chocolate, lemon, and coconut pies. However, I would never turn down a whipped cream topping on anything.

 

[bakechef]

"I have noticed that since moving to the south, meringue is used often instead of cream on a cream pie, and this was very weird to me."
Now be careful, you're in a foreign territory. I've always had meringue on chocolate, lemon, and coconut pies. However, I would never turn down a whipped cream topping on anything.

LOL!

Why is it called cream pie if there is no cream on it?

 

[Wyogal]

um, because there is cream (or some form of milk) IN the pie.