Southern Living's Best Coconut Cream Pie.........

I know, I know, where in the world have I been????? And why have I not posted anything since December? Well in the last few months we have sold our house in Tuscaloosa, AL and bought a new home in Trussville, AL. Thad has switched jobs and in between all that time there has been a whole lot of packing and unpacking. We have have been busy but it has been a great move. We are loving Trussville and we love our new little community we live in. We have been in our new home for just over a month now and I am just now feeling like we have a normal routine back in place.


Our new home in Trussville, we love it!

In Trussville there is a BBQ joint called Jim 'N Nick's and we have come to love their salads and amazing muffins and they serve a coconut cream pie that is literally out of this world. So since having their coconut cream pie, I have had it on the brain. And in my unpacking I came across a magazine that caught my eye. It is a Southern Living Special Edition and is titled "Our Best-Ever Cakes & Pies". So with a title like that how could you not stop everything you are doing and sit down and read each page full of yummy desserts.

Once I had thoroughly examined the magazine, it was given to Thad, with orders to pick a dessert for Sunday and he chose their Coconut Cream Pie, which was genious, like he was reading my mind. And after making it, let me tell you that it was pure heaven. The homemade pie crust, fresh coconut custard topped with whipped cream....need I say more. Just trust me on this one, so worth your time!



Coconut Cream Pie Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups half-and-half
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipping Cream Topping
2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Garnish: toasted coconut

Start off by preheating the oven to 425 degrees.

Using your favorite pie crust recipe, roll out the pie dough and place it in a 9 inch pieplate. Prick bottom and sides of pie crust with a fork. Make sure to make the pie crust edges pretty too (I always crimp the edges.) Then bake the pie crust for 12 to 15 minutes until the crust is a golden brown. Once golden brown, remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.

While the pie is cooling, begin the coconut cream filling. Using a medium saucepan combine, a 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch. In a small separate bowl whisk the half-and-half and egg yolks together. Then gradually whisk egg mixture into sugar mixture; then bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Once boiling, boil 1 minute and then remove from heat. Lastly, stir in the butter, 1 cup coconut, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cover the filling with plastic wrap, placing plastic wrap directly on the warm filling in the pan; let stand 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes remove the plastic wrap from the cooled filling and spoon custard mixture into the cooled crust, then cover and chill for 30 minutes or until set. My philosphy is the longer it has to set the better and we love our coconut pie cold so I place it in the refrigerator for as a long as possible.

Next beat the whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy; gradually add 1/3 cup sugar and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, beating until soft peaks form. Spread or pipe whipped cream over pie filling and garnish your gorgeous pie with toasted coconut, to top it off.

*To make toasted coconut, I set the oven to about 350 degress and place in a tin pan and spread out about 1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut (depennding on how much you like as garnish) and place it in the oven for about 5 minutes. I always set a timer because I get busy doing something else and forget it is in there. I also check it about half-way through and make sure it is not burning and getting an even golden brown look.

This pie will seriously change your life. And if you have coconut lovers in your family, this will blow them away. Coconut cream pie is perfect for an Easter dinner or even just a perfect spring dessert. So give it a try, you will not be dissappointed.

Enjoy!

Caroline's Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies......

About once a week I go and visit all my favorite food blogs. I see what new recipes they have posted and usually print out a stack of "new" recipes I want to try. Truly surfing my food blogs brings me happiness and gives me a sense a peace, I can't explain it, maybe its because I love to see other bloggers who have a passion for cooking and also love to see how creative other people are.

One of the blogs that I visit often is Caroline's Bake Shop. I love her blog and am always so impressed with the recipes she posts. I also love Caroline because we grew up together in Walnut Creek, CA and went to the same church. Her older sister Kristin was our favorite babysitter ever and honestly we loved her. I remember one year Caroline, her sisters Courtney and Kristin and brother Justin came to my birthday party. I thought I was so cool because they were so much older than me, and they had taken the time to come.

So anyways, I was doing my weekly perusing of my blogs and clicked on Caroline's blog. She had posted a recipe for Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies. I instantly thought of my husband and how this sounded like the perfect cookie for him, mainly because he loves chocolate chip cookies and coconut. So I decided to make them that night for the hubs. He loved them and they were even better the next day.

These cookies are soft and chewy and have made the perfect partnership of coconut and chocolate. If you are a coconut lover then these cookies are so for you....

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 2/3 cup coconut (yes,you read that correctly)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Start off by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. I then place a sheet of parchment paper on top of my cookie sheet. Set aside.

In a stand mixer cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Once combined, at the eggs one at a time, making sure to mix each one completely. Then add the vanilla. Mix well.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mix well. Then add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until it is barely combined. Then add the coconut, milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter. Mix until just combined. Place the dough into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Then scoop out a tablespoon of dough, shaping into a round ball and place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes (my cookies took 11 minutes). Once baked to perfection allow to sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to allow to cool completely.

These are easy to make cookies that will send your taste buds reallying with the combo of butter, coconut and chocolate chips. These cookies are worth every calorie.

Coconut Tres Leches Cake

I am always on the look out for yummy coconut desserts because my the hubs loves coconut and so do I. On Friday night we decided to have a relaxing evening at home which involved me cooking and the movie Avatar which we have been meaning to see for like the past forever. I had found a recipe for a cake called Coconut Tres Leches Cake. I read the ingredients and liked the sound of the recipe, so I decided I was going to make it. We went to the store and rented Avatar and got the ingredients.

When we got home I started on the recipe and Thad did a little chillaxin. It turned out delicious, moist and a perfect summer coconut cake. Thad also loved it, giving it a 10 on the Thad rating scale. It was even better on Saturday after sitting in the refrigerator for a day!

Coconut Tres Leches Cake

For the cake:
1 Box (18.25 Oz. Box) Yellow Cake Mix (or your favorite Yellow Cake Recipe)
For the Milk Syrup:
1 can (15 ounces) Cream of Coconut
1 can (12 ounces) Evaporated Milk
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

For Garnish:
Sweetened Whipping Cream
Toasted Coconut

Start off by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside. Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the back of the cake box. Once mixed, pour entire batter into prepared baking dish. Bake according to box directions and watch carefully to make sure you do not over bake the cake. Once a butter knife or toothpick has been inserted into the cake and comes out clean, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack, letting it cool completely (about 1 hour).

While the cake is cooling, make the milk syrup; in a blender combine the cream of coconut,evaporated milk, cream and vanilla. Blend until all ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Once cake is cooled completely, with a fork or end of a wooden spoon, poke holes in the cake. The more holes, the more the syrup will be able to soak into the cake, so poke a lot of holes, as many as possible. Then gently spoon milk syrup over the top of the cake with a large spoon or ladle until syrup is all gone. There may be some syrup sitting on top of the cake but don't worry it will take time to absorb.

Next cover the cake lightly with plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator for 2 hours or more. I found that the longer it was in the refrigerator the better. This cake is very very very moist and because of that does not want to stay together completely, that is why the longer it has to set the better.

Next turn the oven to broil and set it for 400 degrees. Using about a half of a bag of sweetened coconut and place it on a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 3-5 minutes watching it closely, since it can burn very easily. You just want the edges to be a light brown. Lastly whip up some whipping cream (adding a little vanilla and powdered sugar to taste).




Once all the other steps have been completed get ready to assembled the cake. Cut a piece of cake, place a small handful of coconut on the top of the cake, then a good heaping spoonful of whipping cream on top of the coconut, topped off with some more coconut.....yep pretty much divine. You won't be disappointed! Enjoy!