Nelson potter and foodie Eryn Prospero shares her recipe for coconut cream pie.
Crust:
1 box of digestive cookies
1/2 cup of butter
1 tbsp of icing sugar
Zest of an orange
Cut room temperature butter into small squares. Blend cookies in the food processor till ground, add butter, icing sugar, and orange zest and blend till mixture has clumped together.
Put crust mixture into a pie plate, form to plate with fingers, chill for a few hours.
Pie Filling:
2 cans coconut milk
¾ cup of sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tsp of vanilla
1 ½ cup of toasted coconut
¼ cup corn starch
1 tsp butter
In a saucepan, whisk both cans of coconut milk and 3/4 cup sugar together. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Whisk the egg yolks together. Temper the hot coconut milk slowly into the egg yolks. Whisk the egg mixture into the hot coconut milk mixture.
In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining coconut milk. Whisk this into the hot milk mixture. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until the filling is thick, about 4 to 6 minutes. Fold in the vanilla, coconut, and butter.
Pour mixture into the chilled pie crust, chill pie in fridge over night (for best tasting results)
Add a generous dollop of whip cream on top of each cut piece and finish with toasted coconut.
Suggested wine from BC Wine Guys: I had a bottle of Paradise Ranch 2008 Chardonnay Icewine the other day that just rocks a coconut cream pie. Its richness stands up to the sweet creamy flavours and the nutty tropical notes of the chardonnay grape amps up the coconut. The natural acidity of BC grapes keep it all lively and fresh. It's a reasonable $29 taxes included.