Coconut cream pie with super easy pie crust

I love coconut in all of its forms – freshly cracked, desiccated in cakes, served alongside spicy curries in a sambal, and especially coconut milk.

We go through so much coconut milk! We eat lots of home-made laksa and curries and even Miss8 and 10 are slowly coming around to the fact that curries don’t have to be spicy. We usually make vegetarian curries with lots of chickpeas – which they both love – and coconut milk for sweetness.

I recently came across a dessert recipe on taste.com.au that used coconut milk and was curious – to me, coconut milk is a savoury cooking ingredient, not sweet. Boy, was I in for a treat! This coconut cream pie was just amazing.

I made a few changes, including using my own pie crust. This pie crust is such a winner – it uses just a handful of ingredients, requires no kneading and can be made using jus a bowl and spoon – no food processor required.

GATHER:

FILLING:

1 cup coconut milk – make sure you shake it thoroughly before opening

1 3/4 cups milk

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup cornflour

3/4 cup thickened cream

1/4 cup shredded coconut

EASY PIE CRUST:

115 grams butter, melted

¼ cup caster sugar

1 ¼ cups plain flour

Base/ pie crust:

In a large bowl stir together all the crust ingredients with a spoon until a soft dough forms – this should take about one minute.

Spray a 20cm round tart pan with non-stick baking paper and press the dough all over the base and up the sides. Using the bottom of a glass helps with this.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C and after 30 minutes remove plastic wrap and use a fork to prick the pastry base all over.

Bake for 20-ish minutes, until lightly golden. Remove and set aside.

Filling:

In a large saucepan over low heat stir together coconut milk and milk and simmer for around three or four minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in milk mixture.

Pour back into pan. Over a low heat, whisk constantly for five minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and pour into clean bowl. Cover with cling film, ensuring it touches the surface to stop skin from forming. Cool to room temperature then tip into pastry case and leave in fridge for at least two hours.

Just before serving beat cream until soft peaks then dollop over tart and decorate with the shredded coconut. Serve immediately.

Tags: baking, cream, easy, pie, recipe, tart