Checkmate!

This week we present Chess Pie, a southern favorite.
The original recipe was one I received from my friend Sherry Holt.
We made several alterations* to the recipe. The final product was quite tasty!

2 eggs
1 tsp flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract*
2 tsp cardamom*
1/2 tsp salt*
1/2 cup buttermilk*
1 cup coconut
1 pie shell

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl , beat eggs, then whisk in sugar, cardamom, salt & flour. Whisk in butter, vanilla, almond extract & buttermilk. Sprinkle coconut in the bottom of unbaked pie shell, then pour filling over it. Bake until filling is golden & set, about 40-45 minutes.




Trouble shooting: The original recipe called for milk, we substituted buttermilk because other Chess Pie recipes we looked at included buttermilk. The butter didn't fully incorporate into the batter, but then the pie baked it melted right in. We placed the pie on a cookie sheet because we were afraid of it overflowing, but it did not, instead the crust in the center of the pie didn't bake fully. So avoid the cookie sheet! It was a little too sweet so we decided to add salt next time to offset that a little, and more cardamom. That was an addition of ours and we only used about a tsp this time and couldn't really taste it, the almond (another addition of ours) & coconut overpowered the cardamom flavor.

* Thanks to the chief pie taster for the loan of the chess pieces! :)