By I am teaching again — not at the school, not in a classroom, but at the kitchen table. Ethan comes on Saturday mornings and we cook together: this week, challah. I taught him the braiding — the three-strand braid, the basic braid, the one Sylvia taught me, the one I taught David and Rebecca, the one that has been passed from hand to hand for as many generations as anyone can remember. Ethan's hands are nine years old and still learning the tension, the pull, the way the strands must be tight enough to hold but loose enough to rise. His first braid was lopsided. His second was better. His third was good. I said, "You're getting it." He said, "How many times did it take you?" I said, "Fifty." He said, "Then I have forty-seven to go." The math is correct. The boy can braid and count. The chain is in good hands.
I brought the challah to Marvin on Saturday afternoon — Ethan's challah, braided by his grandson's hands, baked in Bubbe's oven. I tore off a piece and put it on Marvin's tongue and I said, "Ethan made this, Marv. Your grandson made this challah." Marvin chewed. He swallowed. He said nothing. But the eating was the receiving, and the receiving was the acknowledgment, and the acknowledgment was the chain, and the chain connected a nine-year-old boy at a kitchen table in Oceanside to a seventy-three-year-old man in a recliner in Cedarhurst, and the connection was a piece of bread, and the bread was braided by the boy's hands, and the braiding was taught by the grandmother, and the grandmother learned from her mother, and the learning goes back and back and back, to a woman in a kitchen that no longer exists, in a country that no longer exists, braiding bread for a family that was about to be destroyed, and the bread survived, and the family survived, and the braiding survived, and Ethan is braiding, and Marvin is eating, and the chain doesn't break.
The challah was Ethan’s moment, and it always will be — but the afternoon baking didn’t end when the braided loaf went into the oven. While we waited, I pulled out the index card I’ve been carrying for fifty years: Mom Mom Bessie’s Coconut Molasses Pie, written in handwriting that isn’t mine and isn’t my mother’s either. Ethan asked what it was, and I told him it was another thing we don’t lose. I bake it the same way it was baked for me, the same proportions, the same pan, and I told Ethan that one day he’ll bake it for someone who asks him where it came from, and he’ll say the same thing I said: I don’t know exactly, but it goes back further than I can see.
Mom Mom Bessie’s Coconut Molasses Pie
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust, store-bought or homemade
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 3/4 cup unsulfured molasses
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, plus 2 tablespoons for topping
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Fit the unbaked pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate, crimp the edges, and set aside on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Mix the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the beaten eggs, molasses, and granulated sugar until smooth and well combined, about 1 minute.
- Add remaining ingredients. Whisk in the melted butter, evaporated milk, flour, vanilla extract, and salt until fully incorporated and no streaks remain. Fold in 1 cup of shredded coconut.
- Fill the crust. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust. Scatter the remaining 2 tablespoons of shredded coconut evenly over the top.
- Bake. Bake on the center rack for 45—50 minutes, until the filling is set with only a very slight jiggle at the center when the pan is nudged. If the crust edges brown too quickly, cover them loosely with foil after the first 25 minutes.
- Cool completely. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. The filling will firm up as it cools. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 375 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 51g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 215mg