Black-Bottomed Coconut Cream Pie

It has taken me awhile to put this post together. To be honest, I can't think of a single thing to say, and it's all this pie's fault. Every time I open Blogger to write this post, I am quickly distracted by the picture below. Bam. That piece of pie. How good does that look right now? How could anybody think about anything when that piece of pie is right in front of them? When I see this picture, I begin to reminisce on eating this pie. It was one of the best experiences of my life. And I say experience because eating this pie was truly an experience: the buttery almond shortbread crust, the cold and creamy custard, the crunchy toasted coconut. Every aspect of this pie came together to create an indulgent journey into an undiscovered part of the pie world. Everything you once knew about pie is going to change after you eat this. Prepare yourself. 

I'm not sure I've ever had a pie as good as this one. 

If I tried to explain this pie, I would find myself using the same overused words when describing food for lack of a good enough word to describe how wonderful it is. Delicious, scrumptious, finger-licking-good, delectable, heavenly, marvelous, yummy, healthy...wait, no...this pie is the complete opposite of that. But none of those words can do this pie justice. It just simply is THE pie. It's the pie that should come to mind when you think about a good pie. It's the pie that doesn't need an introduction. It's the pie that makes people forget everything their mother taught them. It's the most interesting pie in the world. I'm not even sure how it came into existence but here it is. 

Here's the rundown: almond shortbread crust, chocolate layer, coconut cream custard, homemade whipped cream, dusted cocoa powder, and toasted coconut. I took a bunch of components of different recipes and combined them to create the king of all things good. I didn't want to make an ordinary coconut cream pie, so I didn't. I pulled out my favorite cooking book, The Flavor Bible, and looked at ingredients that would match well with coconut and come together to create a non-ordinary coconut cream pie. What I found was that chocolate and almond would work well with the coconut...just like an Almond Joy. Aha! It all clicked. Upon first bite, I instantaneously fell in love. I look at pie differently now. It's my new favorite....not just favorite dessert but favorite anything. 

Black-Bottomed Coconut Cream Pie:

For the almond crust:

- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup ground almonds
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/3 cup powdered milk

For the chocolate layer:

- 2/3 (4.5 ounces) cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons butter

For the custard filling:

- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 1/4 cup half & half
- 1 1/4 cups shredded or flaked coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:

- 1 cup heavy whipping cream

- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened

- Cocoa powder for dusting

Directions:

Make crust

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. In a small mixer bowl, beat flour, sugar, almonds, butter and powdered milk until a soft crumbly dough forms. 

3. Press the dough into 9” pie pan. 

4. Bake 12-14 minutes until puffed. Cool completely.

Make filling

1. In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Use a fork or a whisk to mix them well. Pour the milk into the pan and stir well with a whisk or a spatula until incorporated and the dry ingredients seem to have dissolved. 

3. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, still stirring with the whisk or spatula, until the mixture heats up and almost reaches a boil and steams and thickens into a smooth, velvety sauce, 6 to 8 minutes. (It won't be very thick at this point.) Remove the pan from the heat.
4. Scoop out about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture with a measuring cup. Begin stirring the beaten egg yolks with a whisk and slowly start to add the 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture to the yolks, stirring constantly as you pour. (This will help temper the eggs and keep them from curdling.) 

5. Slowly pour the egg yolk and milk mixture back into the mixture in the saucepan, stirring until completely incorporated.
6. Place the pan back over medium heat and continue to cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan often, for 2 to 3 minutes. 

7. Continue to cook, still stirring, until the mixture thickens considerably. Then let it come to a gentle but noisy boil, with large bubbles surfacing. Let it boil gently for 1 minute. 

8. Remove the pan from the heat. Add 1 cup of the coconut, the butter, and the vanilla to the custard in the pan and stir to combine. When the butter is melted and incorporated into the custard, place a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard to keep a film from forming on the top of the custard and set it aside to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, make the chocolate layer.

Make chocolate layer

1. Combine butter and chocolate in double-boiler over medium heat and cook until smooth, stirring constantly. 

Make whipped cream

1. Put 1 cup of whipping cream into mixer with whisk attachment and whip on high until soft peaks begin to form (2-3 minutes). Once soft peaks have formed, add sugar and vanilla and continue to whip until stiff peaks have formed (another 1-2 minutes). 

*watch whipped cream closely so you do not over whip your cream

** I like to put my mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for a couple minutes before making whipped cream because the cream will whip better when cold. 

Toast Coconut

1. Place coconut on baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. Stir and check coconut frequently until it turns a golden brown color. 

Assembly

1. Once the pie crust has cooled completely, spoon the warm, melted chocolate over pie crust and spread over the whole bottom of pie.  Place in the fridge for a couple of minutes to let chocolate layer harden.

2. Once chocolate layer has hardened, remove the pie from the fridge and spread the cooled coconut custard over the chocolate layer. 

3. Put whipped cream on top of custard and spread to the edges of pie. 

4. Top pie with cocoa powder and toasted coconut as desired. 

- Sarah -