Tea Room Recipe #9 - Katy's Korner (Eureka Springs, Ark.)

For the second week in a row I am featuring a Eureka Springs, Ark. tea room cookbook recipe. This week's recipe was the curiously named Surprise Pie!

The old Katy's Korner Tea Room, I discovered, was actually at 44 Prospect St. in Eureka Springs, the same address as last week's Victorian Sampler Tea Room. So clearly this tea room was known as Katy's Korner and then became the Victorian Sampler. How fun to discover such a connection in this 1979 cookbook!

The recipe that immediately got my attention was called Surprise Pie, and indeed it's surprising for quite a few reasons. First, the ingredients include crushed soda crackers (which you'd never guess from the taste), and second, the pie makes its own crust, a feature I love! The yummy whipped cream topping pairs wonderfully well with the crunchy crust. This was so easy and turned out so perfectly, this is definitely a dish I will be taking to potlucks and family dinners in the future!

Surprise Pie

3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
18 soda crackers, crushed
1 cup nuts (I used a mix of pecans, walnuts and almonds)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons (1 small can) crushed pineapple
3 to 4 tablespoons coconut

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add cream of tartar and beat, then sugar and beat. Fold in the crushed soda crackers. Add nuts and vanilla and combine. Pour into pie pan prepared with cooking spray and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. When pie has completely cooled, beat the whipping cream and add the pineapple. Spread on pie and sprinkle with coconut. Chill before serving.