Florida Pie - Tuesdays with Dorie

Thank you Dianne of Dianne's Dishes for choosing this super pie. This is a pie that takes quite a lot of patience - boiling and stirring the cream and coconut mixture took me about 20 minutes, even more, until I could see a very slight thickening. I ended up dragging a chair into the kitchen so I could stove watch in comfort. I wasn't too sure about how pale yellow the egg yokes should be but beat them at high speed for about 10 minutes - until they were a nice yellow, but certainly not pale. After that it was plain sailing.Felt ever so tempted to add a drop of green food coloring to make it a green lime pie but resisted - it might have spoiled it.

Had a strange experience doing the meringue - the recipe said to heat the egg white and sugar and keep beating until the egg white was hot to the touch - so I kept on sticking my finger into the foam. I smelled something burning - it was the base of the egg white under the foam - so next time I'll know to test below the foam. Picked out the few burned spots and did the whisking and broiler thing. Am not too confident about how it will taste. I didn't add any more coconut as I felt the pie had enough. I hope we are not all eating burned meringue tomorrow.

Here's the recipe:

Florida Pie
1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust (I swapped for a ginger cookie crust)
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, separated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended. Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.

Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue:

Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.) Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

Recipe for Ginger Snap Cookie Crust
1/4 cup butter
1-1/4 cups gingersnap cookies, finely crushed (about 30 cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter, blend in cookie crumbs with a wooden spoon, until well mixed. Press into 9 inch pie plate; freeze for 10 minutes then bake for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.