Coffee Pie with Brown Sugar Meringue

A cream pie  with an  unexpected  flavor twist and beautiful  brown- sugar- tipped meringue topping is a really inexpensive dessert ending for any meal as well as  a great emergency dessert, since the ingredients are always on hand.  

Prepare a   pie shell for baking..  Combine 1/4 c. cornstarch with 3/4 c. sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3 tsp instant coffee crystals in a medium saucepan.  Stir in 2 1/2 c milk gradually, stirring constantly until it thickens and comes to boiling. Boil 1 minute.  Blend half the hot mixture into 3 slightly beaten egg yolks; stir into the hot mixture in pan, stirring constantly for one minute.  Remove from heat, stir in 1 Tb butter and 1 tsp  vanilla, cool slightly and  pour into crust.

Preheat the oven to 350.   Beat 3 egg whites and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar until foamy.  Add 1/3 c light brown sugar  a little at a time, beating well after each addition.  Continue beating until stiff  glossy peaks form. Spread over the filling, being careful to touch the crust all the way around so no filling shows. "sealing the meringue"  to the crust keeps the meringue from shrinking and weeping, which could conceivably make the baker weep, too.     Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until  meringue is tipped with brown.  Cool at room temperature away from drafts, and  expect to have  meringue problems if it's a  really humid day.

Cherry Berries on A Cloud

A baked meringue, topped with a cream cheese/whipped cream/marshmallow layer  and then your choice of   colorful, seasonal fruits...what's not to love?  An Americanized version of a Pavlova, essentially.   Thanks to Jed Metzger, who contributed this recipe to a 1991 cookbook I did for charity, we've enjoyed this dessert many times, in many  flavor combinations.

  This photo shows  cherry pie filling with fresh blackberries and fresh strawberries.  Use blueberries instead, for a patriotic   red-white-and blue summer dessert, or reverse it with blueberry  pie filling and fresh strawberries or raspberries.   I've made it with blueberries in peach pie filling,  and  kiwi  in raspberry filling for a Christmas-y dessert.    Blueberries in lemon  filling might be interesting, too, just add more  berries.   Remember though,  this must be  started  at least a  full day ahead.  There's  not much work to be done, but  there are  two 12- hour 'wait' periods. It keeps well for a few days so  fine to make ahead.  There's no rushing the wait time..one period lets the meringue cool and fall, the second allows the marshmallows to sort of dissolve into the cream and that layer to bond with the meringue. . 

Heat oven to 275 and grease a 9x13 pan, all the way to top edges.  Beat 6 egg whites,  1/2 tsp cream of tartar, and 1/4 tsp salt til frothy.  Gradually beat in 1 3/4 c. sugar, until very stiff and glossy, about 15 minutes.  Spread in the prepared pan, bake 60 minutes at 275.   Turn oven off and leave the meringue in the oven until cool,  12 hours or overnight.

Beat  6 oz softened cream cheese with  1 c. sugar,  and 1 tsp vanilla. Gently fold in  2 c. whipping cream, whipped, and 2 c. white miniature marshmallows.   Spread over the cooled meringue, cover and  refrigerate it  12 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, cut in squares and serve  with some of the fruit topping.

Topping:   Combine 1 can cherry pie filling, 1 tsp lemon juice, 2 c. total of  sliced fresh strawberries &  blackberries.