Snapshot Chronicles

Susan Getgood's personal blog

Coconut Custard Pie

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It’s been a while — a LONG while, but I’m ready to start blogging again. Starting with some original recipes I created as part of a Monthly Baking Class I just took — Baking with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar fame

I created this pie to evoke the memory of a Coconut Custard Pie I had at a Horn and Hardart Automat in Manhattan when I was about 8.

Crust

1 pie crust for 9-inch glass pie plate – use your favorite basic pie crust or take the uber short cut and use the Pillsbury ones from the dairy case. The filling is your star here so you just need a good basic pie crust.

You will blind bake the pie crust until it is set but not brown. Use pie weights and a pie shield (or tin foil) to prevent the crust from puffing up and browning too much, especially along the rim where it will be baked again.

375F for 15 minutes or so is probably enough.

Coconut Macadamia Crunch

You’ll want to experiment with how much crunch you use in your pie – the amounts below are good for 1 pie if you like a lot, 2 pies if you prefer less.

The Crunch is added on top of the crust on bottom and sides before you add the custard. On the sides it forms a double crust. In the pie, as the custard sinks, it forms a thin middle layer between the coconut top layer and the custard bottom layer.

65g macadamia nuts
130g Tates Coconut Crisp Cookies (you could use a shortbread or other simple crunchy cookie –the flavor will be a little less coconutty)
30g milk powder
2g kosher salt
50g melted and cooled unsalted butter

Crumb nuts then cookies in food processor to a nice loose crumb with no large chunks but NOT a powder. Think large grained sand. Toss together with milk powder and salt, then toss to combine with melted butter.

Spread in baking sheet lined with parchment paper and back at 275F for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and fragrant. Cool completely.

Coconut Custard Filling

200g granulated sugar
58g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
6 large eggs
Liquid: 4T Saco Buttermilk Blend and 1 c milk OR 1 c buttermilk. If you use the Buttermilk Blend powder you will add it with the sugar and butter, and add the milk later.
6 g (2 tsp) vanilla extract
Pinch salt
171 g (6 oz) shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350F

Whisk sugar with butter (and Buttermilk Blend if using), then whisk in eggs. Add the milk/buttermilk, vanilla and pinch of salt. Whisk until incorporated. Stir in coconut.

Assembly:

Line pre-baked pie crust with Macadamia Coconut Crunch, then pour filling carefully over. Cover rim edges with foil or a pie shield to prevent crust from overbrowning. Bake for 45-50 minutes until custard is set and golden brown on top.

If the pie browns too fast before the center is set, reduce heat to 300F and cover. Total baking time will be between 45-50 minutes, and you will want to watch it closely toward the end.

Let pie cool completely.

Cross section of pie showing filling layers

Potato Galette Recipe

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On today’s menu, Potato Galette. Super easy.

All you need for 4 generous servings: 2 large potatoes, olive oil, salt and shredded cheese of your choice.

Slice the potatoes very thin. I use a mandoline. Toss with olive oil and salt, some herbs if you wish, and then layer in a pie plate, alternating a layer of potatoes with a layer of shredded cheese (such as parmesan, gouda, gruyere, cheddar). End with a layer of potato. Bake in a 350°F oven until potatoes are tender and cheese melted. I always forget to time it, but it’s probably 30 minutes or so. Longer if your potato slices are thick.

Eccles Cakes: Recipe and Video

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This weekend I made Eccles Cakes, a family favorite pastry. Wikipedia says they originated in Eccles (Greater Manchester), England. My family associates them with our Scottish heritage (perhaps because my grandfather loved them?) and Demoulas Market Basket supermarkets, which was the only place you could get them locally when I was growing up in Andover, Massachusetts  in the 70s. By the 1908s, they stopped carrying them.

This was before the Web. Before recipe sites. Before food blogs. So I invented my own recipe using a filling based on a raisin square recipe from a magazine.

Susan’s Eccles Cakes

eccles_cake

Fruit Filling
1 apple peeled cored and chopped (about 1 cup)
2/3 c apple juice
2 to 2-1/2 cups raisins or currants or combination
2 TBSP granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 TBSP conrstarch
2 TBSP cold water

Pastry
1 17-1/4 oz package frozen puff pastry,  2 sheets, thawed (Note: if I use raisins instead of currants in the  filling I usually need 3 sheets to use up all the filling)
1 large egg (2 if using 1.5 packages of puff pastry
Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Filling – In medium saucepan, bring apple and apple juice to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes until tender. Stir in currants/raisins, sugar and spices. Bring to boil, stirring often. Boil 1 minute. In small bowl mix cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Stir into fruit mixture. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Cool to room temperature. Cover and let stand 8 hours or overnight.

Cakes – Preheat oven to 400°F. Beat egg to blend in small bowl. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll 1 pastry sheet according to package directions and cut into 3 or 4 inch rounds. I use a half-pint glass as a template to make approx. 3 inch rounds. Spoon filling into center of rounds, brush border with egg. Top with second pastry round, press and crimp edges togethr to seal. Brush with egg. Cut a couple vent holes in center, and sprinkle top with sugar. Continue rolling pastry and assembling cakes until you’ve used up all the pastry and the filling. Chill each backing sheet of cakes 15-20 minutes before baking. Bake pastry until puffed and golden brown, and sugar has melted on top about 10-15 minutes (12 is about perfect for my oven). Cool, serve at room temperature.