Coconut Cream Pie

For my 24th birthday, my middle sister, Brittany, got me one of the most creative and thoughtful gifts I've ever gotten, a cooking class! It was something that I have always wanted to do, but have never actually done it. Whole Foods offers several classes a week. They have everything from demos to hand-on which include baking 101, sushi rolling and of course my favorite, French cuisine. My sister got me the baking 101 which was right up my alley. The chef was so knowledgable and we made some dynamite recipes, including this coconut cream pie.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c cornstarch

2 c half-and-half

4 egg yolks

3 T butter

1 c flaked coconut

2 1/2 t vanilla (divided)

2 c whipping cream

1/3 c sugar

Garnish with toasted coconut

Directions:

Combine 1/2 c sugar and cornstarch in a heavy sauce pan. Whisk together the half-and-half and the egg yolks. Gradually whisk the egg mixture into the sauce pan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir in butter, 1 cup coconut and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let it stand for 30 minutes. Pour the custard filling into the pie crust and chill (I prefer to chill mine overnight.)

Topping - beat together the whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer. Beat until foamy - you will see bubbles around the edges. Add remaining sugar and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. This might take a few minutes so be patient! Spread over the pie filling and garnish with toasted coconut.

Enjoy!

Easy as pie Pie Crust

I was always afraid to make my own pie crust and I always took the easy route of using a store-bought crust. Then, my eyes were opened! When I lived in France, we often made apple tarts and quiches and my roommate, Leslie, taught me that making crust is super easy.

This recipe comes from a cooking class that I took the other night at Whole Foods.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
6 T unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
3 T solid vegetable shortening, chilled, cut into small pieces
4 T ice water

Directions:
Blend the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor using a plastic blade. Add the butter and shortening; pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. *This is where the professional chef told us that "less is more". It is better to underblend than overblend.* Drizzle water over the mixture and process just until moist clumps form. Add more water if the dough it still dry. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap it and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough into a 14-inch round. Transfer into a pie dish. Fold the edges as desired. Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork and chill for another 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the over to 375ºF and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Cool completely.

Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies

Already in 2014, a second "snowpocalypse" has hit the south! This time, it's the real deal and it seems that the only logical thing to do is to bake. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I've decided to try a recipe from a blog that my mom found on Pinterest. It's a simple shortbread cookie with dried cherries to give it that little hint of red for the most romantic day of the year.

Ingredients:
-3 sticks of butter, room temp (the original recipe called for 3/4 lb and I discovered that each stick is a 1/4 lb)
-1 cup sugar
-1 t vanilla extract
-1 t almond extract
-3 1/4 cup flour (the original recipe called for 3 1/2 cups, but I found that the dough was too floury and didn't hold together very well)
-1/4 t salt
-1 1/2 cup dried cherries, diced

Directions:
Mix together the butter and sugar for about three minutes until the mixture is a creamy texture. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix until the dough forms a ball. Add in the dried cherries.

*Optional: Remove the dough and form into a disk and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Roll the dough to 1/4 inch (I found that they were better a bit thicker) and cut into shapes. Unfortunately, I didn't have a heart-shaped cutter, so I made round cookies.

Bake at 350ºF for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown.