Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Ever since I made a few things from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook when it was my Cookbook of the Week, I've been dying to try out their Triple Coconut Cream Pie. Last night while folding laundry, I could resist the temptation no longer. Oh My. Staying up baking until 11:30 at night on a Sunday night before a busy week may seem a bit wild (for me), but it was the best way I can think of to start the week. Unless of course I would have had a slice for breakfast this morning (not that the thought didn't cross my mind). Even Hubby, who is gradually warming up to coconut, said several times that it was a really tasty pie, even though he isn't a fan of coconut cream pie usually. (More for me!) Give this a try...(it even has coconut in the crust!) and then buy the cookbook...everything in there is delicious!

Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Credit: The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by Tom Douglas and Shelley Lance

Ingredients:

One 9-inch blind-baked and cooled coconut pastry shell (recipe here)

For the coconut pastry cream-

1 cup milk

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk, stirred

2 cups shredded sweetened coconut

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

2 large eggs

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

For the whipped cream topping-

2 ½cups heavy cream, chilled

⅓ cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnish-

⅓ cup shredded coconut, toasted (350 degree oven for 7 minutes)

Directions:

1. To  make the coconut pastry cream, combine the milk, coconut milk and shredded coconut in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Use a paring knife to scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add both the scrapings and the pod to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir occasionally until the mixture almost comes to a boil.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and the flour until well combined. Temper the eggs by pouring a small amount (about ⅓ cup) of the scalded milk into the egg mixture while whisking. Then add the warmed egg mixture to the saucepan of milk and coconut. Whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more.

Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts. Remove and discard the vanilla pod. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and place it over another bowl of 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 skin from forming and refrigerate until completely cold. The pastry cream will thicken as it cools.

3. When the pastry cream is cold, fill the pastry shell, smoothing the surface with a rubber spatula.

4. In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream with the sugar and vanilla extract until stiff peak form. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with the whipped cream and pipe it all over the surface of the pie. Sprinkle the top of the pie with toasted coconut. Serve!