My Mum was very inventive when it came to desserts, alas, she was not so creative with their names. As well as fruit crumbles, pies and steamed pudding, she served us “lemon thing”, (jelly whip) and “apple stuff”, (Mum’s interpretation of cobbler).
One of my childhood favourites was an open tart filled with unsweetened stewed apricots. What made this dessert special was the crust, a delicious combination of corn flakes and coconut sweetened with golden syrup.
I have only made a couple of minor alterations to Mum’s original coconut pie crust recipe. I bought organic, gluten free corn flakes sweetened with fruit juice rather than those made by the world’s largest cereal manufacturer, and I’ve added the zest from a lemon. Because the mixture has a lot more texture than the average crumb crust, you have to be patient as you press it against the sides and the bottom edge of the tart dish, as it has the tendency to crumble. A shallow pie dish with sloping sides will make the finished tart easier to slice and serve.
Apricot season is still a couple of months away, so I made a two fillings to layer in my coconut pie shell. I creamed 250g of cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of castor sugar and the zest of a small lemon to spread over the base, then using 500g of frozen blueberries, I made a jellied fruit topping. You’ll find the recipe here.
125g unsalted butter
60g raw sugar
1 dessert spoon golden syrup
90g desiccated or shredded coconut
90g lightly crushed cornflakes
Zest from 1 lemon
Lightly grease a 20cm tart dish.
Mix together the corn flakes, coconut, sugar and zest.
Melt the butter and golden syrup. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Press the mixture firmly into the tart dish then chill until set.
Make your berry jelly, then just before serving break it up using a fork. Spread the lemon cream cheese over the pie base then spoon the jelly over.
Serve with pouring cream, and dream of being twelve years old again.
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ps was wondering why your posts don’t appear on my Reader … d’oh
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Let me guess, your reader is on an IPad, it’s maddening. Glad to have you back!
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What an awesome recipe! Thank you for passing this family heirloom down to us as well π
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Always happy to share!
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Beautiful pie Sandra! And how creative of you, coming up with that crust. Bet this is like Heaven with apricots… which I simply LOVE.
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I’m not much of a baker so when I read a recipe “invented” by someone, I’m fascinated. It is soo beyond my skill level. On the other hand, enjoying a piece of pie with a tasty coconut pie crust is something I can handle, eyes closed. π
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Thanks John. This was a real blast from the past for me, we really loved revisiting the coconut pie crust. It’s going to be a summertime regular!
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What a fantastic idea!!! I never would’ve thought to put cornflakes in a pie crust but I can imagine how wonderfully it would have worked with the coconut and golden syrup. Yum. Gorgeous tart, I need to make this soon!! xx
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Thanks, this recipe goes back at least 40 yrs. Its still good today!!
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Interesting technique to make a pie shell!
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It’s a nice light summery alternative.
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This looks great! I definitely want to try it!
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Do, it’s simple!
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Wow, this is a very interesting pie. I love the no-bake idea and the ingredients.
What is golden syrup? Is it maple syrup?
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Thanks Fae, golden syrup is unrefined cane sugar syrup. Its thick and unctious and available where you can buy ingredients imported from England.
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Oh yes! Totally BBC1! Not sure about you but I mainly use my iPad for wordpress and sometimes it’s awful, was using the app, saw your pic and bit of description tried to link and couldn’t! Had to use safari to get here in the end…but was so worth it for meπ
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I agree, the wordpress app is pathetic. Constantly crashes for me too, thanks for persevering.
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oh yum! this looks delicious. I’ve got very vague memories of cornflakes as a part of dessert with apricots being at Nan’s, reading this has brought back the memories. I do love that about food. Great share Mum xx
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Thanks! This is going back on the menu, super delicious!!
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