Awesomely festive 1950s Coconut Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

✯ Day 292 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

With less than two weeks to go until All Hallows Eve, it's all I can do to contain my excitement. There's no holiday I look forward to - or get more eager about - than Halloween!

Decorations long out, spooky movies already in heavy rotation (vintage and light-hearted ones, I'm not a fan of modern day slasher and horror films, but I'll certainly take Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi any day!), Thanksgiving now behind us (those of us north of the 49th, that is), it's time to turn my thoughts to fantastically festive foods to make in the days leading up to - and very much including on - October 31st.

Naturally given their longstanding association with Halloween, few foods better lend themselves to this spooky, fun filled day than pumpkins.

I’m wild for the taste of pumpkin in pretty much any recipe, from soups to muffins, pureed and stirred into hot cereals or even in the sweet form of pumpkin ice cream. Not only do I love the flesh, but I adore eating pumpkin seeds, freshly roasted and squeezed out of this sinewy ivory hued shells as a well earned reward for a day spent carving jack-o-lanterns.

Just as pumpkin is a complete natural for this gorgeously autumnal time of the year, so do are all things sweet! From caramel apples to tiny foil wrapped chocolate bars gathered in a pillow sack, October is the month that just begs to be dipped in chocolate and savoured!

Pairing sweet with pumpkin in the vintage cooking arena, one comes across today's delightful recipe from 1951 for Coconut Pumpkin Chiffon Pie.

Billed in the original Baker's Coconut ad it appeared in as being a "Cloud O' Pumpkin", this silky, fragrant, delectable recipe is nearly cloudlike, thanks to the fact that it's a chiffon pie (making it a good choice after a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs comfort food meal of the sort fall time is naturally chocked full of).

{This frighteningly delicious vintage recipe for Coconut Pumpkin Chiffon Pie would make a most welcome addition to any Halloween or Thanksgiving Day spread. Image via curly-wurly on Flickr. Click here for a larger version of this great 50s recipe.}

 

The inclusion of nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon - not to mention the coconut itself – insures that as this creamy, rust hued pie cooks, your whole home smells so intoxicatingly fabulous it'll be all you can do not to stick a form in a steal a bite or two while the pie is still cooking!

If you're serving this pie as party fare, you could always duplicate or multiple the recipe as needed and turn it into tiny coconut pumpkin chiffon tarts, if you wanted (another option would be apply the same winning combination of flavours to your favourite plain/vanilla cupcake base, topping the tiny cake with spiced buttercream frosting and a hefty sprinkling of toasted coconut).

Beautifully yummy whether eaten piping hot, room temperature or chilled, this wonderful pumpkin dessert takes a 1950s classic (chiffon pie) and turns it into a truly timeless recipe that will see you through a lifetime of autumn and Halloween meals!

1950s chocolate marshmallow pie recipe is sure to satisfy any sugar craving! :)

✯ Day 159 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Just as white sauce is one those fundamental recipes of cooking that can be altered, dressed up and played around with to just about no culinary end, so too do certain types of pies have ton of potential when it comes to the many things you do to further enhance their appeal.

Today’s recipe – which hails the May 1957 copy of household magazine – is delightful chocolate marshmallow pie that sounds fantastic on its own….however, I can’t help but think of a wide range of ways you could jazz it up further. Such as:

-Add some mint extract or fresh mint leaves and serving it ice cold on the toastiest days of summer.

-Swirling a big handful of raspberries through the pie filling before it sets, then make a raspberry, mixed berry or lemon coulis to drizzle over top.

-Throw in a tablespoon or two of fresh or candied orange peel and garnish each slice with a few strips of additional peel.

-Use white chocolate in instead of milk, add in chunks of walnuts (or other favourite nut) and dark 70% chocolate once the filling as cold a bit, but not set entirely (to help prevent the dark chocolate from melting too).

-Toss in a cupful of your favourite crisp rice (or cornflake) cereal and some dried cherries or cranberries for a crisp, cherry hit with each bite.

-Channel a classic banana slip by adding halved maraschino cherries to the batter, placing a smattering of bananas over the top, and serving each slice with a big dollop of whip cream.

-Instead of white marshmallows, try the coloured fruit variety, layer some freshly sliced strawberries on top and drizzle with a little honey when ready to serve.

These are just seven possible twists that spring to mind, I bet you can think of others, too (by all means feel free to share them in the comment section, if you do).

{Click here for a larger version of this terrifically tasty sounding vintage chocolate marshmallow pie recipe. Image by way of Charm and Poise on Flickr.}

I think this delicious sounding, simple-as-painting-your-nails marshmallow chocolate pie would be a great dessert to bring out after a backyard barbeque, as a different spin on a springtime birthday cake (if it’s for adults only, you could always drop in a spoonful of your favourite liquor – just think how heavenly this would be with Bailey’s Irish Cream!), or a terrific week day dessert where time is of the essence, but you still want something that’s bound to impress.

It’s great to have versatile, classic recipes like this great chocolate pie in your culinary arsenal, and when they hail from the 1950s, that’s another point in their favour, in my (vintage cook) books!

Wonderful Wednesday Recipe: Grandma Jean’s Classic Hamburger Picnic Pie

Like many grandmothers the world over, my paternal grandma is a wonderful home chef. Growing up I ate many meals at her home, each a blend of old school style and modern sensibility. She was fond of serving melon with supper, loved to whip out potato chip coated backed chicken for a special treat, and made, what stands out in my mind, as quite possibly the best berry filled English trifle of all time. Yet she wasn’t opposed to trying pesto, sun dried tomatoes or fragrant far-eastern inspired chutneys either.

My grandma’s cooking style with homey and comforting, yet never boring. I associate her dishes most with the sun-kissed summer months and holidays the whole year round. There are scores of wonderful recipes that my grandma cooked for her family when I was growing up, but (aside from the aforementioned trifle) none of them stand out in my mind with the same adoration, nor provoke such strong cravings, as her summertime hamburger picnic pie.


{Always a classic, a can of tomato soup gives this delightful dish a lovely vintage hit – as well as a mildly tangy dose of vegetable flavour. Vintage Campbell’s Tomato soup ad via Shelf Life Taste Test’s Flickr stream.}


Don’t let the pie crust in this recipe put you off, the entire dish is wonderfully simple to put together, and once in the oven it takes care of itself. As it bakes your kitchen fills with the savoury, enticing scent of tomatoes, beef, and flaky pastry. Even on the hottest dog days of July and August, when venturing into the kitchen for even so much as a popsicle seems makes you feel as though you could melt, I will – and often do – gleefully turn on the oven and whip up this stupendous dish.

Brought to the table it looks like – and is – a work of culinary art. Even when eaten warm, somehow (at least I’ve always found) you don’t feel stifled in the least by the fact that you’re consuming a hot dish on an even hotter day. However, by all means, this succulent meat pie can be nibbled at room temperature or cold from the fridge. There is no possible wrong way to eat this beloved summertime treasure.



Grandma Jean’s Classic Hamburger Picnic Pie

Ingredients

•1 tsp butter (or olive oil)

•2lbs (900g) lean ground beef (or extra lean ground chicken or turkey, which is what I generally use; you could certainly also try this recipe with TVP or another vegetarian/vegan ground meat substitute)

•1/2 cup finally chopped white or yellow onion (about one large, or two small, onions)

•1 (10.75 ounce/315ml – appox.) can condensed tomato soup

•2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

•2 tbsp dried basil

•2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (Annie’s Natural’s makes a fantastic organic Worcestershire sauce that I just love!)

•1 tsp sea or kosher salt

•1 tbsp garlic powder (grandma’s original called for 1/4 tsp garlic salt, but I find that between the sea salt and condensed soup, this dish is salt enough and so prefer to use garlic powder)

•1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper



Directions

Preheat you oven to 425°F (220°C/gas mark 7).

Heat a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter (or pour in the olive oil and allow it to get a little bit warm), add in the ground beef (or chicken/turkey or ground vegan crumbles) and chopped onion, cook for six minutes or until the meat is fully cooked through and the onions are nicely golden brown.

Remove from the heat and transfer the meat and onions to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the all of the other ingredients (except for the pie crusts, naturally) and blend well (if you want to taste the mixture to adjust the seasoning levels at this point you certainly can, as there are no unsafe rare ingredients in it).

Line two 8 or 9 inch pie plates (I prefer to use glass or ceramic ones for this recipe) with the bottom layers of pastry. Divide the meat mixture evenly between the two pies and place the pie crust lids on top of them, scoring both tops a few times with a sharp knife to create steam vents. Crimp the pies all the way around with your fingers, a fork or a pie crimper, and then slide them side-by-side (but not touching) in the middle of your 425° oven (if you oven isn’t wide enough to cook two pies at once, cook them one after the other).

Bake your hamburger pies for 30 minutes or until the pie crust has reached your desired level of golden beauty. Once baked, remove from the oven, place on cooling racks or folding dish towels and allow the pies to sit for a few minutes (I usually give them ten minutes to cool off ever-so-slightly).

If you’re going to serve the pies warm, bring them to the table at once. If you’re taking them on a picnic let them cool for a few more minutes than cover the pies with aluminum foil, wax paper or plastic wrap (or slip them into appropriately sized reusable plastic containers) and take them with you on your journey. Should you wish to eat the pies cold, let them cool for about thirty minutes (or until the bottom of the pie pans are luke warm or cooler) and then cover them and slide them into the fridge, where they’ll keep for three days.

My very favourite way to eat this hearty, flavourful pie is al fresco in the setting sun of a sizzling hot dusk, with a glass of mind-numbingly cold ice water and a slice of cantaloupe melon on the side – just as grandma used to serve.


Each pie makes 6-8 slices/servings

Bon appétit!