Chocolate Cream Meringue Pie

I've made a ton of pies in my time, but not only have I never made a cream pie, I've never tasted a cream pie! That all changed this weekend thanks to Marty at A Stroll Through Life. Marty was kind enough to share a family recipe that's been a favorite for at least four generations. This is a cream pie recipe that can be adapted for different flavors, vanilla, coconut, banana and I chose chocolate!

I wanted to make something for the holiday weekend and decided to pipe some stars and stripes
with a Wilton 1M tip.

An offset spatula works great to help spread the meringue nice and flat on top.

Marty's recipe is for a deep dish pie or (2) 9" pies, since I wanted to use an 8" purchased Keebler Shortbread Crust I decided to cut the recipe back to 2/3-worked perfectly! I'll give you Marty's measurements and mine in italics.

 Chocolate Cream Meringue Pie 

1 C sugar - 2/3 C sugar
1/2 C flour - 5 1/2 Tblsp flour
3 Tblsp cocoa powder - 2 Tblsp cocoa powder
3 egg yolks - 2 egg yolks, keep whites separate for meringue
3 C milk - 2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla-1/2 tsp vanilla
One bottom crust, baked or purchased

Meringue:
3 egg whites - I used 3 egg whites too
1/3 C sugar - 1/4 C sugar
I also used 1/4 tsp cream of tarter (because I had it)

1. Cook sugar, flour, cocoa powder, yolks and milk over medium high heat until it comes to a boil stirring constantly until thick. 
2. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
3. Pour into bottom crust and lay a piece of wax paper over the top while making meringue.
4. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar (if using) until soft peaks form.
5. Add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Remove wax paper and add meringue to top of pie making sure it covers the edges of the pie crust.
7. Bake at 375 until the top is golden brown, approximately 15 minutes.
8. Cool on wire rack, then place in the fridge to completely chill.
9. Store covered in fridge.

Notes:

• This pudding is fantastic folks, and it cooks in like 15 minutes!
• Full disclosure: I did forget to add the vanilla, that can only make it better:@)
• Next time: I will fill my piping bag first so I have a better idea of how much meringue to use to cover the pie under the decoration. I ended up not using some of the meringue because I didn't know how much I'd need for piping. 
• I made this early in the morning and had some errands to run, ended up putting it in the fridge before it had completely cooled off. That's why you see the little drops of condensation, make sure you give yourself well over an hour of cooling time.
• Variations: Omit the chocolate (and remember the vanilla!) for vanilla pie, add 2 sliced ripe bananas to the bottom crust for banana pie, or mix in about 2/3 C coconut after the pudding has cooked and sprinkle a little coconut over the meringue for color. Are we missing any fun flavors folks?

Have a happy day:@)

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