Coconut Cream Pie

I have a serious addiction to coconut cream pie. Key Lime pie is up there as well, but coconut cream pie is my downfall.

I've never actually made one before as I generally only indulge when we order chicken from Swiss Chalet (which is rarely).

I had a real hankering one night after online chatting with a friend, who was in the middle of making one. It was one of those had to have, need to have right now kind of cravings. I didn't have anything available to make one, the stores were all closed so I suffered.

Trying to find a good coconut cream pie in a grocery store is not an easy task so I decided to make one.

I looked at a few recipes online and decided to try one. It turned out alright but the filling was somewhat runny. I made some changes to the recipe and the following is my improved recipe.

This one is pretty good on the coconut cream scale. I may tinker some more or if anyone has any suggestions to improve this one I'll gladly accept but all in all, quite simple to make and very tasty.

Edited to add some details after watching my pretty coconut cream pie disappear in record time tonight. The changes I made were killer!!! Even husband who is not a big fan of coconut said it was absolutely delish!! YAY me. I had a slice and will admit...it was good...very very good.

Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk
approx 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
2 eggs plus one egg yolk
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crust:
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter

Topping:
1-2 cups real whipped cream

Directions:
Pour coconut milk into a large measuring cup. Add half and half until you reach the 3 cup mark. Add the eggs and egg yolk and mix well.

Pour into a medium saucepan and add sugar, cornstarch, salt. Whisk this mixture completely until totally smooth. (I take some of the milk/half and half and combine with the cornstarch in a seperate bowl until smooth and add it to the saucepan to ensure no lumps.

Bring to a boil over low/medium heat stirring constantly and remove from heat when boiled or getting thick.

Add the coconut flakes, and vanilla, combine well.

Pour into prepared pie shell and cool for 2-4 hours until set.

Top with whip cream and sprinkle additional flaked coconut on top.

I pipe the whip cream on with a large tip on the icing bag just to make it look pretty.

For the crust: Combine graham crumbs with melted butter and press onto the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. Refrigerate of put aside until you need it.

This has instantly become a family favorite. (My daughter is off school today and busy stirring the mixture in the kitchen while I type this) If you filling gets lumpy while on the stove whisk it well. One thing we have done in the past is take the handblender to it to before adding the coconut flakes and pouring into the prepared shell to ensure a smooth filling.

Here you see the mixture warming on the stove (Ignore my plank of wood, we had a piece of granite fall off the endcap, so this is my temporary solution until the granite comes in.

Once it’s thickened you pour it into your prepared shell

Once it has cooled for a couple of hours, top with whip cream, and sprinkle some more coconut on it.

My husband and oldest son have just requested I attempt a key lime pie next time. Perhaps that will be the goal next week. ….. in the meantime I need to finish preparing dinner, and make some Ameretto Almond Cupcakes.