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It was one-out-of-two for the man’s birthday. My rack of lamb exceeded our expectations, but this year’s requested birthday pastry, a coconut custard pie, was a miserable flop. I ask you, what’s wrong with a cake? That I could’ve pulled off.

First, the good news, because rack of lamb has got to be one of the best kept secrets of domestic goddess-hood and one worth sharing. Julia Child’s very prescriptive, “The Way to Cook,” features a foolproof recipe, and given the price tag (around $12 a pound), a sure thing’s a good thing. For two racks, which served four people, all it took was marinating them for around six hours in mustard, rosemary, lemon juice and olive oil, following by 10 minutes of roasting at 500 degrees, then 20 minutes at 400 degrees. When I lowered the heat, I packed a handful of fresh white breadcrumbs and some drizzles of butter onto the fat. After it rested, I carved the chops and served them cross-legged over mashed potatoes. They were perfect medium rare with crispy delicate breadcrumbs and a fabulous rosemary bouquet. Yum!

And thank God it turned out so well because what followed was a mammoth blunder. What could be so hard about a coconut custard pie? Only everything. I knew I was in trouble when, as I slid it from the fridge an hour before dinner, the meringue broke loose from the sides and shimmied around like soup lay underneath. The custard never thickened. Slicing it would have been absurd. I went for a spoon and some ice cream bowls.

What was even more heartbreaking was the sorry crust, which resembled sailor’s hard tack. Surely it was the recipe. I followed one in the “All Butter Sugar Packed Real Cream” cookbook to the letter, just knowing that I was cutting-in-the-butter-to-resemble-coarse-meal like the best of them. Not so. What resulted was a monolithic slab with absolutely no flakin’ going on.

I wish I knew what went wrong because mastering flaky pastry is the ultimate in bragging rights. After a little recon, I discovered I should have used butter and shortening and kept everything in the freezer before beginning. Maybe next time I should also buy a new rolling pin and pie dish because surely my equipment was the culprit.

Pie people, please help me crack the code.