I love vintage cookbooks and probably buy more of them than I should. I recently found and purchased this vintage Betty Crocker cookbook: Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book published in 1950.
This cookbook was published as prosperity came to the USA. There were a lot of cookbooks on the market, but this one became the leading cookbook. The Chicago Sun Times described it as a “cookbook that has everything.” Betty Crocker is, of course, a fictional person. She is the iconic image of the General Mills Company, a US based food company. Betty Crocker products can be found in the USA as well as markets worldwide.
Included in the cookbook is a recipe for White Christmas Pie. It sounded just perfect for a Christmas dessert. It is described as a “pure white heavenly concoction”. The original recipe uses uncooked beaten egg whites. I adapted the recipe to use cream cheese and additional heavy whipping cream to replace the egg whites. With cream cheese, whipping cream and sweetened coconut in the pie, I can state with confidence that it is a “pure white heavenly concoction”.
The pie is very easy to make and made even easier by using a store-bought pie crust.
White Christmas Pie
1 pre-baked pie shell
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (such as Knox)
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup boiling water
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 cup sweetened coconut
In a small bowl sprinkle the envelope of unflavored gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water. Let stand for one minute. Add 1/4 cup boiling water, stirring constantly until granules are completely dissolved. Set aside while preparing the filling.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese until smooth and light. Add a little bit of the cream, and beat to loosen. Beat in the remaining cream and sugar, a little at a time, until the mixture almost holds stiff peaks, occasionally scraping the bottom of the bowl. Beat in the salt, vanilla and almond flavorings. Add the gelatin to the whipped cream mixture. Continue to beat until stiff. Fold in the cup of coconut.
Spoon the filling in the prepared pie crust and spread to fill the corners. Chill for several hours. If desired, pie can be garnished with additional whipped cream and coconut.
Notes:
1. I used the wire whip attachment on my KitchenAid stand mixer to beat the cream cheese and whipped cream mixture.
2. I used a Wilton Star 2D tip to pipe whipped cream on the top of the pie and served the pie with a raspberry sauce.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year.
Cooking with Love 
Yum! This looks delicious!
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Thanks so much.
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I love this recipe. Will have to try it. Thinking of many ways to serve it. First, it would be great served at a wedding party. You could also One could also change the color sauces (although, the Raspberry Sauce looks awesome and hard to beat) to fit other occasions. Any ideas on other color sauces? BTW your version of the pies beats Betty Crocker’s by a mile. IMO. :o).
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Thanks very much for your kind words. I almost made a strawberry sauce, but that would be practically the same color as the raspberry. How about a lemon sauce? I love the flavor of lemon and it would offset some of the sweetness of the pie.
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I thin Lemon would be great! I almost forgot, but my very favorite berry, just before raspberry, is blackberry. Color would be somewhat the same, but oh the taste! I can’t wait!
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Blackberry world be great.
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