Lee Bailey's Impossible Pie

Impossible Pie. There are a huge number of versions of this old fashioned recipe floating around the web. All of them are delicious. All of them are easy to make.  This is Lee Bailey's recipe, and I personally think that it is the best tasting Impossible Pie around!

For those of you who have been visiting my page for a long time, you will know that I used to cook for an American family on a huge country estate in the UK.  It was an extremely beautiful environment to cook in.  

Situated in the Garden of England the Estate was beautifully landscaped and of historical value. My then husband and myself were given a cottage to live in which was located on a small corner of the Estate. 

Every day I got to work, cook and live in a beautiful place, using only the finest ingredients and equipment. It was a dream job in many ways.

It was not perfect. What job is. But I will always treasure the experience and the skills which I learned while I was working there. It was where I really got to hone my craft and I will always be grateful for that.

 

My boss, who was an American, had a huge library of cookery books, many of which she liked for me to cook from. She was especially fond of Junior League cookbooks, but she also had her favorite chef's. A lot of them were really "cheffie" books and I enjoyed the challenge of cooking from these.

A lot of them were simple books, like Ina Garten's or Martha Stewarts, etc.  In each book she would have annotated which recipes she liked for me to cook. 

One of her favorite books for me to cook desserts from was this book by Lee Bailey, Country Desserts. She actually had quite a few books of his as he was one of her favorites.  I came to love them as well and just recently purchased the Dessert one for myself.

It is filled with an abundance of beautiful, down home, comforting desserts. This pie recipe which I am sharing with you today has been adapted from this book and is the second recipe I have cooked from it. 

I am no stranger to Impossible Pie.  It is something I have been cooking for many, many years. My friend Mabel gave me a recipe for it when we were both young Brides living next door to each other on an airforce base some 4 odd years ago now.

We both had young families and shared a love of cooking and crafts. We used to get together each night after supper, before the dishes were done. We shared a front porch. We would sit on the steps chatting about our days and enjoying a cup of coffee together.  Good times! My how the years have flown. 

In any case, one of the recipes she shared with me was for an Impossible Pie. A pie you mixed together, poured into a pie dish and baked. It magically created filling and crust. It was a type of custard pie and quite delicious.

This pie is very similar to that recipe but also very different. Whilst hers was very simple and basic, this one uses a few different ingredients and creates a pie which is equally if not more delicious than the original. Simple and fabulous at the same time.  I have to tell you up front, this smells AMAZING while it is baking. 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE LEE BAILEY'S IMPOSSIBLE PIE

Simple every day ingredients for the most part with a few unique differences.

• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• 4 large free range eggs
• 2 cups (480ml) whole milk
• 1/2 cup (120g) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup (70g) plain all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup (75g) fresh flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup (80g) honey-roasted peanuts

To serve:

• Whipped cream (he suggested Bourbon whipped cream) 

 

I used organic granulated sugar. In the UK I would recommend using golden Caster sugar. It is nice and fine and has great melting properties when it comes to baking.  Our granulated sugar in North America is quite a bit finer than the regular granulated sugar in the UK.  I would almost equate it to Caster sugar.

I always use large free range eggs. You need to pick your battles and this is one of mine.

He recommended using unsalted butter or margarine. Well, I only have salted butter in my house and it is all that I use. If a recipe calls for salt as well, I will cut back on that.  

He did call for fresh flaked coconut. I did not have any of that, but I did have Kirkland sweetened flaked coconut. I use that and cut back on the sugar required in the recipe by about 2 TBS.

He also required Honey Roasted Peanuts. I did not have those either. Instead I used toasted pecans. We like pecans and they worked very well in this recipe.

Other than those few changes, I used everything that he had listed in the recipe.  (I also use whole milk. I never have anything else.) 

HOW TO MAKE LEE BAILEY'S IMPOSSIBLE PIE

Nothing could be easier than this.  I suppose that is what helps to make it so popular.  When you can drop all of the ingredients into a food processor and blitz together, the pour into a pie dish, what's not to love! 

Begin by preheating your oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4.  You will need a 10 inch pie dish. I used a glass Pyrex one.

Measure all of your ingredients into the bowl of your food processor and process together for one minute. Pour into the pie dish.

Carefully transfer the pie dish to the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour or until set. You will know it is set when the tip of a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Serve, cut into wedges and topped with a dollop of whipped. cream. 

And that's all there is to it.  It seems impossible that anything good can come from such a simple list of ingredients and process, but there you go.

This works exactly like magic while it is cooking, forming its own crust-like bottom and rich custardy filling. Nothing could be easier or tastier.

I have a few other notable desserts here in The English Kitchen which are also quite similar and very delicious. You might also enjoy them!

IMPOSSIBLE PUMPKIN PIE -  Unlike some other versions of this pie, this recipe is totally from scratch and requires no special baking mixes. It has a beautiful texture and is perfectly spiced! 

PEAR, ALMOND & COCONUT IMPOSSIBLE PIE - This is a dessert that is not only impressive, but also very easy to create.  Even easier to eat. Quick to whip together. No "faffing" about.  Easy peasy, lemon squeasy.

     

Lee Bailey's Impossible Pie

Yield: 8

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 5 M

This recipe is adapted from a recipe found in Lee Bailey's cookbook entitled, Country Desserts. It is not only delicious, but incredibly easy to make.

Ingredients

For the pie:

• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• 4 large free range eggs
• 2 cups (480ml) whole milk
• 1/2 cup (120g) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup (70g) plain all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup (75g) fresh flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup (80g) honey-roasted peanuts

To serve:

• Whipped cream, regular or spiked

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. You will need a 10 inch pie dish. (I used a glass Pyrex one.)
2. Measure all of your ingredients into the bowl of your food processor and process together for one minute. Pour into the pie dish.
3. Carefully transfer the pie dish to the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour or until set. You will know it is set when the tip of a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Notes

I don't own a food processor large enough for this recipe. Mine is only small. Neither do I own a blender. I used a large bowl and my stick blender for this and it worked beautifully.

Did you make this recipe?

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