Tom Douglas's Triple Coconut Cream Pie
Ingredients:
Coconut Pastry Cream
2 cups milk
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
The Pie
One 9-inch Coconut Pie Shell (recipe below)
prebaked and cooled
2 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Garnish
2 ounces unsweetened "chip" or large-shred coconut (about 11/2 cups) or sweetened shredded coconut
Chunks of white chocolate (4 to 6 ounces, to make 2 ounces of curls)
Preparation:
- To make the pastry cream, combine the milk and coconut in a medium
saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add both the seeds
and pod to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat
and stir occasionally until the mixture almost comes to a boil.
- In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour until well
combined. Temper the eggs (to keep them from scrambling) by pouring a
small amount (about 1/3 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 a 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 crust from forming and
refrigerate until completely cold. The pastry cream will thicken as it
cools.
- When the pastry cream is cold, fill the prebaked pie shell with it,
smoothing the surface. In an electric mixer with the whisk, 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 all over the surface of the pie, or spoon it
over.
- For the garnish, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the coconut chips
on a baking sheet and toast in the oven, watching carefully and stirring
once or twice, since coconut burns easily, until lightly browned, 7 to 8
minutes. Use a vegetable peeler to scrape about 2 ounces of the white
chocolate into curls.
- Cut the pie into
6 to 8 wedges and place on dessert plates. Decorate each wedge of pie
with white chocolate curls and the toasted coconut. If not serving
immediately, keep the pie refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap. The
finished pie should be consumed within a day. Prepare the garnishes just
before serving. The coconut pastry cream can be made a day ahead and
stored chilled in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap as
described above. Fill the pie shell and top it with whipped cream and
garnishes when you are ready to serve the pie.
Coconut Pie Crust
(makes one 9-inch crust)
Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water
Preparation:
- Pulse first 5 ingredients in a food processor 6 to 10 times or until
mixture is crumbly. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing once
after each addition, until dough holds together when pressed between
fingers. (Dough will not form a ball or even clump together in
processor—it will be loose.)
- Turn dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap; press into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill 1 hour.
- Roll dough to a 12- to 13-inch circle on a lightly floured surface.
Fit into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming excess to a 1- to 11/2-inch
overhang. Turn dough under along rim of pie pan, and flute edges. Chill
at least 1 hour before baking.
- Preheat oven to 400°. Place a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment
paper in pie crust, extending over edges, and fill with dried beans,
rice, or pie weights. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Remove from oven;
discard foil and beans, and return pie crust to oven. Bake for 14 to 17
more minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool
completely on a wire rack.
