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Nutella Pie Instead of Birthday Cake

By Eliot, on September 5th, 2012

Mom planned a trip to visit on Labor Day weekend so we could celebrate her birthday.   I cannot believe she will be 71 years old.    Seventy is the new fifty, right?

Every time she visits, we spend lots of time in the kitchen.   During the week days while we are at work, she is in my kitchen cooking up a storm.   Last time she visited, she made four pie shells to put in the freezer.    I called her to remind her she needed to make more when she was here.  (Remember, I cannot make a descent pie dough to save my soul—see my ugly A** pie if you need reminded.)

When she visits during this time of year, she also loads up her vehicle (which we call Gran’s Truckster) with lots of produce from her garden.   She brought us  “all the tomatoes I could handle, loads of green beans, and squash.”    With mom’s help, we will preserve some of this Iowa bounty for later eating this winter.

Before mom arrived, I decided to use up the final pie crust and make a pie.   I haven’t made dessert in a really long time for us so a pie was needed.

I recently posted my latest Food ‘n Flix post over The Help and I was tempted to make a chocolate pie for that post but I really couldn’t go there.  🙂    I decided to make a Nutella pie to use up this final pie crust, but when I went to find a recipe, most all had either corn syrup or Cool-Whip as a major ingredient.  That just didn’t sound good to me.

Luckily, I found a great sounding Peanut Butter Pie at Homesick Texan.   It was a cooked pudding based pie and I thought it sounded fabulous.  I went about adapting it and this is what I came up with.

Nutella-Coconut Cream Pie
based on the Homesick Texan’s Peanut Butter Pie

1 9-inch uncooked pie crust

2 egg yolks, beaten slightly
1 1/2 c. whole milk
3/4 c.  sugar
5 T. flour
1/4 t. fine sea salt
¾ c. Nutella
1 c.  sweetened coconut
1/2 t.  pure vanilla
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t.  cayenne

2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/4 t. cream of tartar
4 tablespoons of sugar

Prick holes in the pie crust with a fork and bake it at 350 until it’s brown, about 20 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, flour and salt.     After ingredients are mixed well, pour into a heavy sauce pan.    Continue to whisk while cooking over medium heat until it bubbles and thickens, about five to 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the Nutella, coconut, cinnamon,  and cayenne.

Set aside.

Beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar.    When they start to get fluffy, sprinkle in the sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Pour the Nutella mixture  into the baked pie shell.

Top with the meringue.    Sprinkle a bit more coconut on top of the meringue.

Bake pie until peaks on the meringue and coconut are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

The cayenne just adds a little back heat (ever so slight) and the cinnamon reminds me of Mexican hot chocolate.    I hate to brag, but this might be the best pie ever—but only with Mom’s pie crusts can it be a reality!  🙂

Forgot to take a pic until we had eaten a good deal of it.

Postscript:
So when mom was here, we needed a birthday cake.   She requested a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake but The Hubs stepped in and talked her into another Nutella Pie.    For the second pie, I used a tart shell (made by mom) and I did not have enough Nutella so I supplemented with some organic peanut butter.     I also didn’t have enough coconut to put on top so I made some beautiful peaks with the meringue.

This may be the best meringue I have ever made.

How’s this for a birthday pie?

 

Happy Birthday, Mom! (Like the recycled race car from a nephew’s b-day?)

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23 comments to Nutella Pie Instead of Birthday Cake

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