Category Archives: Recipes – Desserts

Recipes - Desserts

Nutty Cornmeal Pie

One reason I love old country recipes is because the ingredients I need are already on the pantry shelves and in the refrigerator. It’s a comforting thing knowing you don’t have to run out to the store for that one ingredient which places this pie, and comfort food in general, so high on my list. There’s was hardly a minute’s thought between the “I want pie” idea and the doing of it on Saturday.  When you want something quick, but special, this is a great pie and you’ll find preparing it on the same happy continuum as the act of easing into your most comfortable clothes.  Prepping comfort food is as close as it gets to putting your feet up the entire time you’re in the kitchen and there is nothing easier.

The recipe is as listed in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook.  I found it in a favorite recipe collection of mine called “Heartland Cooking” by Marcia Adams. Just reading the recipe you know its origin is from slower days when cooks turned again and again to preparing food from what was “on hand”; perhaps that is why there are so many variations to this pie, all of them sweet and filling.

Do this pie justice and roll out a flaky and tender pastry shell for this one. You’ll be glad you did.  The filling will remind you of a pecan pie as well of buttermilk and chess pies.  The flaked coconut topping suggests a french coconut pie so obviously this is a pie with many first cousins in its family tree!  The cornmeal adds just enough texture to justify the pie’s name and supplies the slight graininess in the filling.  Every one of the pies mentioned above are comforting and satisfying.  And every one of them the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of coffee and a long conversation with a friend.  This pie longs for company so do give it a chance to show its stuff.

Prep time is minimal once you roll out the pastry (I am repeating myself, I know, but I am also assuming you committed to making your pie crust when I mentioned it above). That accomplished, simply stir the dry ingredients, and, in a separate bowl, with your hand mixer, blend the liquid ingredients and combine all. Scrape the filling into that great crust and add your choice of chopped nuts; I used pecans today but my favorite with this pie is the tang of hickory nuts.  Just a light sprinkling of flaked coconut and your pie is in the oven and you are doing your its-all-done-happy-dance in your most comfortable clothes in no time!

Nutty Cornmeal Pie

Ingredients

1-9” unbaked pastry shell
1 cup brown sugar minus 2. T.
1 cup granulated sugar minus 2 T.
2 T. flour
1 T. yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup hickory nuts, walnuts, or pecans, chopped
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Directions Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugars, flour, cornmeal, and salt; sift with fork and set aside; in a second large bowl, combine the eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla and beat with electric mixer on low-speed until just blended; don’t let too many air bubbles form. Combine this with the dry ingredients and stir to blend until smooth. Pour into your pastry shell and sprinkle the top of the pie with the chopped nuts and shredded coconut. Bake 35 minutes or until lightly puffed and golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack before serving. A dollop of whipped cream on each piece adds a nice touch.

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Recipes - Desserts

Mango Nectar Pound Cake

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The original recipe is found in a great collection called “Mealtimes and Memories” by Thelma L. Carlile.  This cake is  also so similar in taste to the Apricot Nectar Cake recipe found in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook; actually you can use any of these three recipes and have the same results. The canned nectar, made from fruit concentrate, is available in apricot, mango and guava that I find locally.  The nectar doesn’t flavor the cake powerfully, but each flavor does add its own subtle change.

This is an easy cake to prepare: you can bake it in a Bundt pan or a 10″ tube pan and it is a one-mixing-bowl batter. Allow the batter to breathe after beating. You’ll want your stand mixer for this if you have one so you can put the 6 minutes beating time to better use. The batter pours easily into your prepared pan. I drizzled my frosting on too soon actually as the cake was still slightly warm but it was one of those busy afternoons and though the slight puddling of icing seen around the base of the cake here was unintentional, it was more than adequate for scooping up with a fork those last moist sweet bites of  golden brown crumbs.

Mango Pound Cake

Cake Ingredients

1-(18-1/2 oz.) Duncan Hines Supreme Yellow Cake Mix
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Wesson oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 can mango nectar, divided use

FROSTING ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Remainder of can of nectar

Directions Preheat oven to 350. Combine the cake mix and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Blend in the eggs, oil, and lemon juice then add the mango nectar; beat for 6 minutes at medium speed. Allow batter to breathe in the bowl for five minutes then pour into a greased and floured 10” tube or 12 cup Bundt pan. Bake for 50 minutes. Cool on cake rack 10 minutes then remove from pan by inverting onto your serving plate. Allow to cool completely then frost allowing the frosting to drizzle down the sides of the cake.  Beat frosting until no lumps remain and mixture is smooth.

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Recipes - Desserts

French Coconut Pie

French Coconut Pie blog
This is a pie for sweet tooth folks only so feel free to reduce the amount of sugar as you wish.  I’m one of those nothing-is-too-sweet-for-me people and I think the pie is perfect “as is” but do your own thing, as always!

This basic 2-step recipe (make a crust then make your filling and bake the pie) is always a winner!  The vinegar in the filling contrasts nicely with the sweetness and in that this pie will remind you of a Chess or Cornmeal Pie as the recipes for each of these produce a pie with a sweetened thick, sometimes grainy, texture.

Serve this at room temperature after baking or chilled if there are leftovers.  Dollop with a whipped cream rosette and you’re ready to sit down, relax, and enjoy mightily! The recipe, from my sister’s deli cookbook, is also found in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook.  If you’re a coconut fan this is a good pie for you!

French Coconut Pie

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 stick butter, softened
2-1/4 cups sugar
1 T. flour
1-1/2 cups shredded coconut (1/3 cup reserved)
1-1/2 T. vinegar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-9” unbaked pastry shell

Directions Preheat oven to 350. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs, butter, sugar, flour, coconut, vinegar and vanilla until well-blended and creamy. Pour into the unbaked pastry shell and bake 40 minutes or until set. Add the reserved coconut to top of the pie and bake another 15 minutes until the coconut flakes brown and are well-toasted.

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Recipes - Desserts

Gooey Butter Cake


This delightful cake, a native of St. Louis, has something for every cake lover.  A bottom layer of textured cake and a top layer of soft cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, butter, and powdered sugar with the cake taken from the oven while still soft and jiggly. Hence, the name!

There are many variations on this old recipe and I tried several before I found the one I wanted to stick with.  The batter begins with a yellow cake mix so you know you have already saved some steps! Remember, one egg in the batter and two eggs in the gooey and you’re all set. There’s nothing that really takes away from the sweetness of this cake and it is every bit as rich as the name implies. Perfect with a cup of coffee and  conversation with a good friend.

Original Gooey Butter Cake

Ingredients

1-(18-1/4 oz) package Duncan Hines Supreme yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 stick butter, melted
1-(8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 tap. vanilla
1 additional stick butter, melted
1-(16 oz) box powdered sugar

Directions  Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine the cake mix, egg and 8 tablespoons butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla and the butter and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well until all lumps disappear. Spread over cake batter and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as you want the center soft and gooey.

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Recipes - Desserts

Lemon-Lime Custard Meringue Pie

This week is the first time I baked this delectable pie; I found the recipe on a cooking blog I enjoy and made a few adjustments to the recipe.  I added the word custard to the name of the dish because this isn’t a traditional lemon meringue pie; the filling is thicker than that recipe and there is no cornstarch or flour in the filling at all.  I also made a traditional meringue for the pie today because I was running low on time and the brown sugar meringue included with the original recipe required boiling brown sugar and water for 20 minutes and I didn’t have time for that.  I will definitely try that meringue next time I bake this, however; a traditional meringue is just fine but since the filling is already different, the brown sugar meringue would be terrific!

You have 3 steps to the finish line: roll out and bake your best pastry shell then make the filling and bake it in the shell.  At this point you can refrigerate the pie overnight then before serving, make the meringue and bake the pie again just until the meringue browns. That’s it and it’s a sweet finish line indeed! The sweet custard is nothing more than eggs, a little sugar, heavy cream and the fresh citrus juices and zest, a terrific combination!

I am including the directions for the brown sugar meringue but if you find yourself in a hurry as I did today, you can also make a quick meringue using egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, and sugar. I apologize for not having a pic of the pie cut but things were too busy at the café today at lunch hour to stop for pics; I will do that tomorrow if the pie lasts.

Lemon-Lime Custard Meringue Pie

Ingredients

1-deep dish 9” pie shell, baked

For the Custard:
5 eggs
10 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cups fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Zest from two lemons

For the Meringue:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 eggs)

Directions Bake your pastry shell first and allow it to cool. Turn the oven to 325.

TO MAKE THE CUSTARD: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, lime juice, lemon juice, heavy cream and zest together until well combined. Pour the mixture into the pre-baked pie shell and set the pie on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. To check the custard, gently jiggle the pie. Once the custard sets, it will shake as a firm unit; if underdone, waves of custard will shiver in the center. If the custard needs more time, continue cooking, checking every 5 minutes, until done. Remove the pie from the oven.

Cool the pie for 15 to 20 minutes before refrigerating. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

TO MAKE THE MERINGUE: Preheat the oven to its highest setting. In a small, heavy-bottomed pan, dissolve the brown sugar in the water. Cook the sugar over medium-high heat until it registers 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer; this will take about 20 minutes. In an electric stand mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks and carefully add the hot sugar to the egg whites, avoiding the rotating whisk. Continue to beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy. With a flexible spatula, pile the meringue over the pie. Bake until the meringue turns golden on top, about 3 to 5 minutes. NOTE: Use the ingredients in the text above to make a traditional meringue using white sugar.

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