Shelly's Recipe

Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Category: Pies - Cream and Custard

Crust:1 prepared pie crust (homemade, store bought, or even GF homemade/store bought pie crust)

Pastry cream:
1 cup 2% milk
1 cup coconut milk
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Pie:1 coconut pie crust (one of the above), prebaked and cooled
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure coconut extract
2 ounces unsweetened “chip” or large-shred coconut
1 white chocolate candy bar

For the crust:
Unwrap the dough and roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick, adding more flour if it begins to stick. Trim to a 12- to 13-inch circle. Ease the rolled dough onto a 9-inch pie pan. Chill the unbaked pie crust at least an hour before baking.

Preheat the oven to 400. Place a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper in the pie crust and fill the cavity with dried beans or pie weights. Bake the crust until the edge is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, lift off the foil and beans, and return the crust to the oven. Bake until the bottom of the crust shows golden-brown patches, 10 to 12 minutes more. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

For the pastry cream:In a medium saucepan, combine the milks and sweetened shredded coconut. Add the vanilla to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir the mixture occasionally until it begins to steam and tiny bubbles start to form around the edges but do not let it come to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour until well combined. As you whisk, temper the egg mixture (to keep it from curdling) by pouring about 1/3 cup of the scalded milk into the egg mixture. Then add the warmed egg mixture to the milk and coconut mixture in the saucepan. Place the pan over medium-high heat and whisk until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the pastry cream is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl, then place it over another bowl filled with ice water. Stir occasionally until it is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming, and refrigerate until cold, about an hour. The cream will thicken as it cools. When the pastry cream is cold, pour it into the prebaked pie crust, smoothing the surface with a spatula.

For the whipped cream:
In an electric mixer with whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream with the sugar and vanilla on medium speed. Gradually increase the speed to high, and whip to peaks that are firm enough to hold their shape. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with the whipped cream and pipe it over the surface of the pie, or spoon it over.

To finish the pie:In a dry nonstick skillet over medium heat, spread the coconut chips and toast on the stove-top. Stir the chips once or twice while they toast until they are lightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool slightly. Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the whipped cream layer of the pie.

Using a vegetable peeler, shave about 2 ounces of the white chocolate into curls. Garnish the top of the pie with a sprinkling of the white chocolate curls.

Make ahead - The coconut pastry cream can be made a day ahead, covered with plastic wrap as above, and chilled in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to serve the pie, fill the prebaked crust with the cream, then top the filling with the whipped cream, coconut, and white chocolate.