Creme Pies

For a 9" pie:
2/3 C. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. salt
Mix in saucepan.
Gradually stir in
3 C. milk
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let boil 1 min. In a separate bowl, beat a little of the boiled mixture into 3 egg yolks. Add egg mixture to pan and boil another minute. Stir in
2 T. butter
1 1/2 t. vanilla
This recipe is for vanilla cream. For banana cream pie, layer sliced bananas in the bottom of a pre-baked pie shell. Pour filling over bananas. Beat egg whites left over from filling with 1/4 C. sugar and 1/4 t. cream of tartar until stiff. Top pie with whites and bake in 400 deg. oven until slightly browned. You can add 1 t. banana extract if you want, but I never do because I don't like the fake taste. For coconut cream, you can just add a cup of coconut to the filling, but I like to use coconut milk too. Use the whole can and subtract that amount from the milk in the recipe. I think the cans are 15 oz., so you could use one can plus one cup of milk. Close enough. Cooking time and directions are the same. 1/2 and 1/2 or heavy cream can also be used for part of the milk, (not more than 1 cup though), for a richer filling. You can add anything you like to the basic vanilla cream. Fresh berriese or canned fruit. Canned fruit should be well drained and I don't put it directly on the bottom crust as it will make it soggy faster. You can brush the crust with egg wash before baking and that will also help keep it from getting soggy.