This weekend I made a coconut cream pie from The America’s Test Kitchen Baking Book.  It was absolutely delicious.  I used Rose’s Recipe for the graham cracker crust recipe from the the PPB but had some problems with it.  I used a 9” pie plate and made the amount for a 9” pie plate.  It was barely enough to cover the bottom and sides, and when I baked it, there seemed to be so much butter in the crust that it was oozing out all over.  So I tried again using the amount for a 10” pie plate and it seemed to cover the pie plate much nicer.  I had to add more graham cracker crumbs so that I wouldn’t end up with an oozy butter mess again.  It seemed to bake up really nice, until I tried to cut into the pie later.  The crust was hard as a rock.  I almost needed a hammer and chisel to get through it.    Mind you it tasted great, just really hard. 

Has anyone made the graham cracker crumb pie crust before?  If so, did you encounter any problems with it.

Hi Liza, glad to hear you found a coconut cream pie filling that you liked .  Was it basically a pastry cream with added coconut?

As for the graham cracker crust, I made it for the key lime pie a couple of years ago, and I don’t remember any problems or have any notes that indicated a problem.  I’m thinking the hardness may have been related to the increased amount - a thin layer is crispy, but a thicker layer might be tough/hard.  I did use another pie plate to press in the filling to make it a more evenly distributed layer.  My only other thought is that maybe your graham crackers were higher in fat than average, so that the butter amount seemed like a lot?

I also think Rose’s almond pate sucree would be wonderful with anything cream-based.  The almond flavor is subtle, but the crust is delicious.

Thanks Julie.  The graham cracker crumbs that I used were from the bulk barn.  I don’t know what brand they were and my layer was about 1/4 thick.  Too thick?  Probably adding the extra crumbs didn’t help. Next time I am going to use the honeymaid brand.

The pate sucree sounds wonderful for my next pie.  Banana Cream ( requested from my son )

The filling for the coconut cream pie I made was very similar to a pastry cream except the recipe called for coconut coconut milk and shredded coconut.  I did use sweetened coconut and found it a bit too sweet for myself.  So next time I am going to use unsweetned coconut.

1/4” is a pretty thick graham cracker crust.  I think they’re usually about 1/2 that—about 1/8”.  I love graham cracker crust, though, and wouldn’t mind crunching on your 1/4” one!!!!!

Liza - 17 January 2011 05:12 PM

The crust was hard as a rock.

I’ve found that a light hand in compacting the graham crackers (or cookies) is important.  If you do more than merely level the surface, you’ll end up with a layer of concrete.

Hi, I’ve always found that over-processing the cracker crumbs contributes greatly to the crust’s hardness.  Try processing just to the point where the crumbs begin to stick to the side of the bowl.  I only cook the crust for 9 minutes at 425 degrees, too.  It always comes out tender and tasty—except when I over-process!

Coconut, cream all have oil in it. Coconut has a lot of sat fat in it too. Could it be that is why it was oily? and oozing?

I had the same problem with a graham cracker crust for my blueberry pie with a crumble top and I used the Honeymaid brand. I measured out the graham cracker crust according to the packaged directions. The box should be enough to make three 9-inch pie crusts. It calls for 1 1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs + 1/4 cup sugar + 5 tablespoons of melted margarine; and says to press “firmly” on bottom and up sid of 9-inch pie plate.

Charles maybe onto something about pressing too hard. I will have to try this pie again at another time though with the graham cracker crust.