Coconut Custard Pie

 

“Claudia passes me a slice of pie. I’m too full. I politely refuse, she insists I taste. When I come to, having no idea that I am lying on the floor with a huge smile on my face, Claudia is beaming.”

~  Andrew Zimmern

I love coconut custard pie, but I've never made it because I've been afraid nothing will live up to my childhood memories of my mother's pie.  But Andrew Zimmern's comment gave me the encouragement I needed to try this recipe.  Not realizing a crust recipe came with the pie recipe, I used an old standard instead, swapping out the shortening for butter.  (They were pretty similar anyway.)  Then I blended it with the dough remnants from this Sweet Green Tomato Pie (which, of course, left me with remnants of this dough.)

As much as I love pie, I wasn't prepared to be left with a whole one, so I cut the recipe in half.  One reviewer said she always has too much filling, but once again my shell could have used more.  As with this half-sized pumpkin pie, I used an 8¼" x 1¼" Marie Callender's pie pan, but next time I'm going to use a pan that's every so slightly smaller and see if that will fill the shell without overflowing. 

Here's what I used:

Filling
par-baked pie crust (recipe below)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut (3 ounces) 

In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar with the butter, then whisk in the eggs. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and salt and whisk until incorporated. Stir in the coconut.  Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 40 to 45 minutes 45 to 50 for a full recipe), until the custard is set and golden brown on top.  

 

Pie crust
1¼ cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter
3 - 4 tablespoons ice water

Prepare dough (for a mealy crust) and chill for at least an hour.  Preheat the oven to 375°. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Cover the rim with strips of foil and bake in the lower third of the oven for about 20 minutes, until the crust is barely set. Remove the parchment and pie weights and bake for 5 minutes longer, until the crust is just set but not brown. Poke the bottom of the crust lightly to deflate it if it is puffed. Let cool; leave the foil strips on the rim. Lower the oven temperature to 350°.  Proceed with filling directions.

Well, if nothing else, this pie will fill your house with the heavenly scent of buttery sweetness. It was near impossible waiting for it to cool! But it was worth the wait. This really is a delicious pie. Not the same as my mom's, but in the absence of hers, not a bad substitute. And so easy to make! Just blend everything in a Pyrex and pour it in to the shell. (It's really the crust that's the fussy part -- I'm not sure you could get away with not pre-baking it and having as good of flavor.)

Conclusion: Definitely a keeper! Way too easy and too tasty not to have in your repertoire. If I were to make any improvement, I might reduce the sugar slightly. For most people, and if you're having just a standard slice (and not a quarter pie as I tend to do), it's fine as is. But if you prefer desserts a little less sweet, perhaps cut the sugar back 2 - 4 tablespoons, or use unsweetened coconut. Also, even with par-baking the crust and finishing with a browned bottom, the crust seemed a little doughy on the bottom. Not sure how to remedy that-- perhaps brushing it with egg white to seal it, as I did for Cafe Pasqual's pumpkin pie. (Or making a mealy crust instead of a flaky one, which I've added to the instructions. I should have done that anyway.) Lastly, don't use salted butter -- it makes the flavor too caramelly and intense.

Recipe:  Coconut Custard Pie via Food and Wine, courtesy of  T.W. Graham & Co., McClellanville, SC; pastry for single-crust pie via Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, ninth edition, 1985