Coconut Cream Pie with Half & Half
Coconut Cream Pie with Half & Half is one of our family's favorite coconut cream pies. This recipe gives you a lot of whipped cream topping so if you want less, use the amounts in parenthesis.
Servings 8
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 9 inch deep dish pastry crust, baked
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- ⅓ cup cornstarch (45 grams)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 ¾ cups half & half (14 oz)
- 1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz)
- 1 tablespoon butter, cut into smaller chunks (14 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon good quality coconut extract or just use extra vanilla
- 1 ¼ cup flaked sweetened coconut, divided use
Whipped Cream Topping
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream or just 1 cup
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar (I use ⅓ cup, but you can lower to 3T.)
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract** or 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- In a heavy saucepan (about 3 to 3 ½ quarts) off heat, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and a cup or so of the half & half. Whisk in the egg yolks.
- Gradually whisk in the remaining half & half and the coconut milk, then put the pan over low to medium-low heat. Continue whisking until mixture starts to boil, then continue whisking as it boils for 1 minute. That is, 1 extra minute from the time it just starts to boil.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and salt. Let cool a little more and add both extracts and about ¾ cup of the coconut. Alternatively, you can leave the coconut out of the main filling and just sprinkle toasted coconut over the bottom of the pastry. This is for people who like the flavor of coconut, but don't love the texture of it in their cream.
- Put in a bowl, press a piece of greased wax or parchment paper over to keep skin from forming and let cool to room temperature. When cool, transfer to your baked pie shell and chill. Alternatively, you can whisk the mixture for a few minutes, set it in in an ice bath and whisk a little more to quick cool before putting it in the pastry shell.
- While you are waiting for the pie to chill, toast the remaining coconut. Just lay it on a toaster oven or regular oven tray, preferably lined with foil, and bake at 350 degrees F. just until the edges start to brown. Keep an eye on it! It can take anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes. Let cool.
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form, then add powdered sugar. Start with ¼ cup and add more to taste (up to ⅓ cup) and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla. Pipe or spread over the pie.
- Sprinkle with the toasted coconut.
Notes
This pie was originally adapted from Crisco's collection, but I've modified it quite a bit and have incorporated the coconut milk for extra flavor.