Is coconut cream pie a lower class dessert?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't coconut cream pie basically just vanilla pudding mixed with a bag of coconut, dumped in a pie shell, then topped with whipped cream? There's no technique involved and it's not really worth the calories.

No it is not. A real coconut cream pie has a slow cooked coconut custard. It does not involve any of the following: pudding, vanilla, or bagged coconut (except maybe toasted and sprinkled on top as a garnish)

Now I’m confused. The recipe above said to add coconut to the custard as it cooked—is that not bagged coconut??

Do you think coconut grows shredded in bags?

Even "homemade from scratch" coconut cream pie uses bagged coconut. If you are inclined to get a whole coconut, break it open and grate/shred, it will be too wet and the custard won't set properly. Bagged coconut is dehydrated.

No. There are many fresh coconut recipes online. I use the one from The Spruce Eats, but it's far from the only one.

When you cook the custard on the stovetop with the fresh coconut, a lot of moisture evaporates out.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/coconut-cream-pie-3053861

Unless you milked your own cow, churned your own butter from said cow, and got eggs from your own chicken coop, then what does it matter if you're using bagged or fresh coconut? Where is the line drawn before you can call something "from scratch?"

[Anonymous]

What are you talking about? Nobody is arguing about what "from scratch" means. It's just a discussion of what steps make for an improved desert, and that's not coming from Jello pudding and dry coconut. I mean, if you like it, sure, but that's not what gets served as CCP in higher end restaurants that carry it.

A PP made the claim that the best coconut cream pies involved a slow-cooked custard and didn't involve "bagged coconut (except maybe toasted and sprinkled on top as a garnish)."

Another poster asked about why "the recipe above said to add coconut to the custard as it cooked—is that not bagged coconut??"

And no, not necessarily. Coconut doesn't only come in bags and/or presweetened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? Nobody is arguing about what "from scratch" means. It's just a discussion of what steps make for an improved desert, and that's not coming from Jello pudding and dry coconut. I mean, if you like it, sure, but that's not what gets served as CCP in higher end restaurants that carry it.

A PP made the claim that the best coconut cream pies involved a slow-cooked custard and didn't involve "bagged coconut (except maybe toasted and sprinkled on top as a garnish)."

Another poster asked about why "the recipe above said to add coconut to the custard as it cooked—is that not bagged coconut??"

And no, not necessarily. Coconut doesn't only come in bags and/or presweetened.

Because the implication seems to be that bagged coconut is as odious and low class as pudding and premade pie crust. So, where is the line drawn? Have you been reading the thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? Nobody is arguing about what "from scratch" means. It's just a discussion of what steps make for an improved desert, and that's not coming from Jello pudding and dry coconut. I mean, if you like it, sure, but that's not what gets served as CCP in higher end restaurants that carry it.

A PP made the claim that the best coconut cream pies involved a slow-cooked custard and didn't involve "bagged coconut (except maybe toasted and sprinkled on top as a garnish)."

Another poster asked about why "the recipe above said to add coconut to the custard as it cooked—is that not bagged coconut??"

And no, not necessarily. Coconut doesn't only come in bags and/or presweetened.

Because the implication seems to be that bagged coconut is as odious and low class as pudding and premade pie crust. So, where is the line drawn? Have you been reading the thread?

Sure. Let's draw the line at bagged coconut, then.

Look -- it can be a good dessert and not be elevated. The fact that Rick Bayless uses fresh-rendered pork lard is his tostadas doesn't mean that anything else is eating out of cardboard boxes from the Taco Bell dumpster. It just means that this is how it's prepared in one of the highly rated restaurants serving that cuisine. Plenty of people make perfectly fine tostadas with olive oil, but that's not going to be what is served in Frontera Grill.

Using bagged dry coconut isn't odious. If that's all you've had, though, it makes sense that you may not understand why people might rave over a sublime CCP, or why you think it's necessarily "low class."

[Anonymous]

This is the craziest question ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:High class: Bûche de Noël your chef made and decorated with imported hand-crafted marzipan figures

Upper Middle Class: You buy a Bûche de Noël from an independent bakery in an upscale suburb, taking care to leave the box in a spot your guests will notice

Middle class: you buy a Buche noel from Whole Foods, but everyone agrees you should've just gone to Costco for a sheet cake.

Lower Middle class: You post your 4th grader's best attempt at a jelly roll cake to both the family instagram and your personal facebook account.

Lower class: Little Debbie Swiss cake roll with a birthday candle stuck in the middle

Lowest class: You eat the high class Bûche de Noël that the high class people threw out after taking one bite because it's "too rich".

Thank you for the laugh PP!! This is awesome!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coconut Cream Pie from MonkeyPod Kitchen in Maui is my all time favorite dessert.

Never tried the coconut pie there! The strawberry pie from MonkeyPod Kitchen is amazing as well

[Anonymous]

No. I personally don't like it, but that's not a class issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? Nobody is arguing about what "from scratch" means. It's just a discussion of what steps make for an improved desert, and that's not coming from Jello pudding and dry coconut. I mean, if you like it, sure, but that's not what gets served as CCP in higher end restaurants that carry it.

A PP made the claim that the best coconut cream pies involved a slow-cooked custard and didn't involve "bagged coconut (except maybe toasted and sprinkled on top as a garnish)."

Another poster asked about why "the recipe above said to add coconut to the custard as it cooked—is that not bagged coconut??"

And no, not necessarily. Coconut doesn't only come in bags and/or presweetened.

Because the implication seems to be that bagged coconut is as odious and low class as pudding and premade pie crust. So, where is the line drawn? Have you been reading the thread?

Sure. Let's draw the line at bagged coconut, then.

Look -- it can be a good dessert and not be elevated. The fact that Rick Bayless uses fresh-rendered pork lard is his tostadas doesn't mean that anything else is eating out of cardboard boxes from the Taco Bell dumpster. It just means that this is how it's prepared in one of the highly rated restaurants serving that cuisine. Plenty of people make perfectly fine tostadas with olive oil, but that's not going to be what is served in Frontera Grill.

Using bagged dry coconut isn't odious. If that's all you've had, though, it makes sense that you may not understand why people might rave over a sublime CCP, or why you think it's necessarily "low class."

I'm not defending CCP. I've never even had it. I just find the sanctimonious posturing in here about high class vs low class desserts extremely eye roll worthy. I'm sure most people in here have eaten things made with "inferior ingredients" and raved about them having no clue what they were really eating.

[Anonymous]

Sure. But that has nothing to do with whether CCP is just things thrown together from bags or boxes, or if it can be something sublime.

This was probably the first post of the subthread:

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't coconut cream pie basically just vanilla pudding mixed with a bag of coconut, dumped in a pie shell, then topped with whipped cream? There's no technique involved and it's not really worth the calories.

And the answer is, "no, it does not have to be limited to that."

[Anonymous]

I’m the PP that asked the question about bagged coconut. I got a fresh coconut a couple of weeks ago and will never do THAT again. It took forever to get the meat out and it tasted like coconut flavored mulch. I’ll stick to the bagged!

[Anonymous]

Balducci’s used to carry this and has discontinued it, which IMO is evidence in favor of OP’s thesis

[Anonymous]

Gilligan’s favorite !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coconut Cream Pie from MonkeyPod Kitchen in Maui is my all time favorite dessert.

Never tried the coconut pie there! The strawberry pie from MonkeyPod Kitchen is amazing as well

+1
All of MonkeyPod Kitchen's pies are delicious! Especially the "low class" coconut cream pie.

[Anonymous]

Hate yo throw a do anger in the works but I make chocolate coconut cream pie and it is really good. I use a graham cracker crust which elevates it from a double wide to a split foyer.