What Happens During Naptime- Coconut Cream Pie w/ Vanilla Whipped Cream

Soundtrack ~ Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Milo Greene, and this amazing cover of the Fleetwood Mac song Silver Springs by Lykke Li. Yeah, I know, right! I didn't appreciate this song until I heard someone else do it. FleetM was admitedly before my time, but there are some seriously good lines in that song...

But you have not been lured by coconut cream to hear me talk about 70's music. Well, you kind of were... On to the pie.

This was adapted from Ashley Englishes recipe as found in her book "A Year of Pies". I made some changes because of the sweetness factor. She uses sweetened coconut but I like to have more control in this area. As it turned out, the custard was very sweet, so i was glad to have used the unsweetened stuff. I'm also a big fan of using unsweetend whipped cream that's been infused with a flavor when I make cream pies. I feel like if the pie is sweet and the cream is sweet it can get a little homogenized. But with a clean cool whipped cream with some orange zest, lavender or vanilla beans you really pick up each individual piece. Play with it and decide what you like

COCONUT CREAM PIE WITH VANILLA WHIPPED CREAM

1 basic pie crust
9 inch pie pan

1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups whipping cream

3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cups whole milk (raw is amazing)
3 large egg yolks, beaten
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tsp coconut extract
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes

Whipping Cream Prep:

Scrape vanilla seeds from bean and place in a large jar with the cream. Shake hard, place in fridge and forget about it for about four hours.

Place rolled out crust in pie plate and decorate edges as desired. Place on baking sheet. Prick the bottom of the crust 4 or 5 times to prevent bubbling. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill halfway with beans. Bake 12 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool.

Meanwhile, combine cornstarch sugar and salt in a sauce pan, add milk, and bring to low boil. Stir constantly. Turn heat to lowest.
Remove 1/2 cup of milk mixture and very very slowly whisk it into the egg yolks. Pour eggs back into the saucepan and which constantly 2 to 3 minutes, or until thick. Remove from heat.
Stir in the extract, coconut flakes and butter until the butter is completely combined.















Transfer custard to glass or ceramic bowl and let cool to room temp. Once cooled pour into pan and smooth with a spatula.




















Whip the infused cream and pile it on, mounding the center and covering your custard completely.
Sprinkle the toasted coconut on the top and refridge until your going to eat it. All.