Desserts to Pie For

Coconut Cream Pie
Key Lime Cake
Egg Custard Pie
Egg Pie
Fat-free Chocolate Cake

Homemade delicacies, like pies and cakes, are the perfect end to any meal. But they are also great for other times as well – a quick snack on a rainy weekend, to go with coffee or tea for an afternoon or late-night get-together, to greet unexpected guests or to share with co-workers on a gloomy Monday.

While such treats might not be the healthiest additions to our diets, they are definitely one of the foods we crave the most. Many of the requests we receive for Recipe Box are desserts we remember with fondness and no recollection of calories.

We hope there is a dessert on these pages that elicits a bright memory and a welcome smile from someone close to you.

Add Coconut and Stir

Marian Stovall, of Weatherford, Texas, has lost her recipe for coconut pie that had been on the Argo cornstarch box.
Several readers sent copies of the exact recipe, including Sarah Vaughan, of Waterville, Maine.

Coconut Cream Pie

1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup flaked coconut, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 9-inch pie crust, baked
Whipped cream

In 2-quart saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir over medium heat; gradually stir in milk until smooth. Stir in egg yolks. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to boil over medium heat and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir in 3/4 cup coconut and vanilla.

Spoon hot filling into prepared pie crust, cover surface with plastic wrap, and cool completely on wire rack. If desired, toast remaining ¼ cup coconut and cool completely.

Spread whipped cream over filling and sprinkle remaining coconut on top. Refrigerate. Chill at least 1 hour before serving. Yields 8 servings.

Keeping It Cool

Janet McRoberts, of Lexington, Kentucky, asked for a key lime cake recipe, preferably one that starts with a cake mix.

Rachel Wooden, of Perry, Georgia, sent this recipe. “Cooking competitions in our area attract many contestants. Our local newspaper prints a supplement called ‘Blue Ribbon Winners and Some That Should Have Been.’ That’s where this recipe came from.”