Tomato Tomatoe

coconut cream pie

I’ve always been a huge fan of coconut cream pie. There’s a local bakery that makes a great one and I had a thought one day that I should try making it myself. Turns out it was super easy to make! The part that took the longest was waiting for the pastry cream to set in the fridge. Other than that it was a very straightforward and easy dessert to make. After making this, I can confidently say that mine tastes better than my local bakery. If you love coconut cream pie, you need to try this one! I found the recipe from Dahlia’s Bakery in Seattle but I used my pie dough recipe for the crust. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!

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coconut cream pie

Ingredients

Pie Crust

• 1 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 stick cold butter, cubed
• 6 tbsp ice water
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Coconut Pastry Cream

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 cup shredded toasted coconut
• 1 cup shredded coconut (untoasted)
• 1 vanilla pod
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 4 tbsp room temperature butter

Whipped Cream & Topping

• 1 cup plus 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup shredded toasting coconut

Directions

Pie Crust

1. Cut the chilled butter into small cubes. Place the butter in a large bowl and add the flour and sugar. Flatten the butter with your fingers and work it into the flour. Do not over work the dough. Add apple cider vinegar and add a few tbsp at a time of the ice water. Work the dough gently using your hands until it forms a shaggy dough. Do not knead or overwork. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour. The dough will last in the fridge for up to 3 days.
2. Once the dough has been chilled, remove from the fridge. Dust a rolling pin with flour. Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll the dough out into a circle to 1/8 inch thickness. Lift the dough occasionally to ensure that it’s not sticking. Add more flour to the work surface if the dough is sticking.
3. Transfer the dough to a 9 inch pie dish. Trim an excess dough. Use your fingers to flute the edges. Chill the dough while the oven preheats.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degree F. Place a piece of parchment paper on the dough and add dried beans or pie weights. Bake the pie crust for 20-25 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and dried beans and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden. Let the pie shell cool completely before adding the coconut cream filling.

Coconut Pastry Cream

1. Toast 1 cup of shredded coconut in the oven. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, tossing the coconut halfway through. Bake until golden.
2. Combine the milk, coconut milk and shredded coconut in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add this to the mixture. Add the vanilla pod to the mixture once the seeds have been removed. Heat the saucepan to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil.
3. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar and flour until well combined. Temper the eggs by slowly adding in a spoonful of the liquid. Mix this well. Add a few more spoonful’s and continue to mix. Then add the rest of the mixture and combine. Add this back to the saucepan.
4. Whisk the mixture over medium-high heat until the pastry cream thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the mixture is very thick. This should take 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the butter. Mix until the butter has melted.
5. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and place it over a bowl filled with ice water. Let this cool. Once cooled, add the pastry cream to the cooled pie shell and smooth it down with a spoon. Add a layer of plastic wrap so that it’s touching the pastry cream. Let this firm up in the fridge for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight.

Whipped Cream & Topping

1. Add heavy cream, sugar and vanilla to a mixer and whip until stiff peaks form.
2. Take the pie out of the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Add the whipped cream on top and sprinkle on the toasted coconut.

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