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Side view of a slice of coconut cream pie on a plate.

Amazing Coconut Cream Pie

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 17 reviews
  • Author: Julianne Dell
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Chill Time: 5 hours
  • Cook Time: 15
  • Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: 10 slices
  • Category: Pie
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This coconut cream pie is a dreamy dessert, made with sweet and silky coconut custard in a flaky crust topped with pillows of whipped cream and toasted coconut.


Ingredients

Crust

For the filling

  • 3 Large egg yolks, at room temperature
  • ¾ cup (143g) Granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup (40g) All-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (236ml) Heavy whipping cream
  • 1 can (13.5 oz)  Full-fat coconut milk
  • 1 can (14 oz) Sweetened condensed milk
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) Coconut extract (or sub vanilla extract)
  • 1 ½ cups Sweetened shredded coconut

For the topping

  • 2 cups (472ml) Heavy whipping cream, chilled
  • 1 cup (130g) powdered sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
  • Unsweetened Coconut Chips or ½ cup Toasted Coconut (optional garnish)
  • 4-ounce White chocolate bar (optional garnish)

Instructions

For the Filling:

  1. In a small bowl gently whisk the egg yolks until foamy and set aside.
  2. In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the flour, granulated sugar, heavy cream, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk and salt. Heat over medium-low heat. Start by continuously stirring to dissolve the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the filling is warm to the touch and slightly thickened but not boiling.
  3. Take about ½ cup of the hot filling mixture and whisk into the egg yolks to temper the egg yolks. Pour the egg yolks back into the pan of filling and whisk to combine.
  4. Continue stirring until the pudding starts to bubble slightly and thicken. Once big bubbles start to pop at the surface, cook for at least 60-90 seconds while continuously stirring. The filling should be thickened like pudding.
  5. Pour the pudding through a fine sieve into a medium-sized bowl. If needed, you can use a whisk or spatula to help push it through the sieve. Optional: strain a second time through the sieve, washing in between.
  6. Stir in the coconut extract and shredded sweetened coconut and mix well. Place a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding and chill on the counter for 1 hour.
  7. Then pour the filling into the bake pie crust. Cover the top of the pudding again, directly on the surface. Refrigerate 2-4 hours until it’s completely cold.

For the Topping:

  1. Prepare the whipped cream. Place the mixing bowl in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Pour the heavy whipping cream into the chilled bowl and use a stand or electric mixer with a whip attachment to beat the heavy cream at a high speed until the cream thickens to soft peaks.
  2. Add the powdered sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla extract and continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form.
  3. Remove the saran wrap and spread as much of the whipped cream over the filling as you would like, or use a large piping tip to decorate the pie.
  4. Garnish with coconut chips or toasted coconut and white chocolate curls. To make the white chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and drag it across the edges of the chocolate bar, allowing it to fall on top of the pie. Alternatively, you can make white chocolate shavings but thinly slicing the white chocolate.

Equipment


Notes

  • Original Coconut Cream Pie recipes- here’s the PDF
  • To make this gluten-free, use my gluten-free pie crust and swap out the flour in the filling for cornstarch
  • Troubleshooting tips: Lots of helpful information in the blog post

Pie Crust

  • Prepare the freeze the dough for up to one month. Thaw before rolling.
  • A fully-baked crust can be done up to 24 hours in advance of serving. Here’s my full tutorial for how to blind-bake a crust
  • The crust must be fully cooled before filling

Make-Ahead

  • Filling: This needs time to cool and fully set. You can make this 24 hours ahead of time and store in an airtight container before filling the pie crust. Be sure to place a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent that skin from forming (even in the airtight container).
  • Whipped cream topping: I recommend making this the same day you plan to serve for best results. Decorate the pie a few hours before serving.

Storing

  • Store your leftover coconut cream pie covered in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. You may notice that the whipped cream starts to weep after a day or two.