One of IT Guy's most favorite desserts is Coconut Cream Pie. I decided last time I was going to make him one, I would change it up a bit. I changed the crust from a regular pie crust to a cookie crust and then added pineapple and used coconut milk instead of half & half. It turned out great, he loved it and the end result was a creamy pie that wasn't heavy. It's a great summertime treat!
Tropical Pie
Crust:
20 crisp oatmeal cookies
½ stick butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Whirl cookies in a food processor. Add butter until well mixed. Pour into a 9” pie plate and press crumbs over bottom and up sides of pie plate. Bake for 12 minutes until crumbs are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
Filling:
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, in its own juice. Drain well and reserve juice.
1 14-ounce can coconut milk (NOT cream of coconut)
5 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
In a large saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch. Add enough pineapple juice to the coconut milk to make 2 ½ cups. Stir into sugar mixture then bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute then remove from heat. Whisk yolks in a small bowl and add enough of the hot mixture to temper. Add yolk mixture to saucepan. Stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Stir in drained pineapple and coconut. Pour into crust. Cover surface with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours or overnight. Up to 2 hours before serving, whip 2 cups of cream with 4 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread over pie and sprinkle with more coconut.
Our cast of characters.
Whiz the cookies in a food
processor then add the melted butter.
Press the cookie mixture into a pie plate
and bake it up for a few minutes.
Drain the pineapple but reserve the juice.
In a saucepan, mix the sugar and cornstarch.
In a large measuring cup, dump the coconut milk.
It will come out all lumpy and weird looking.
Just whisk it up until it smooths out.
Then add enough of the reserved
pineapple juice to make 2 1/2 cups.
Pour that into the sugar/cornstarch mixture.
Heat it up until it thickens.
Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl
and temper them with some of the liquid mixture.
Then pour the egg mixture BACK into
the saucepan with the coconut milk mixture.
Cook until nicely thickened and then add the butter.
Stir in the coconut. To make it extra yummy,
toast the coconut if you want.
Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and then
cover it with plastic wrap. Press the plastic wrap right
down on top of the filling. Chill for several hours.
The plastic wrap will lift right off!
Whip some cream and sprinkle with
more coconut...toasted if desired!
