Coconut Banana Cream Pie

I have an amazing cookbook by Cook's Illustrated titled, Baking Illustrated. It teaches you how to make the best of every dessert possible. Like a baking encyclopedia. I love it. This original recipe for Coconut Cream Pie came from them - I tweaked it a bit to make it my own, and now Tom's favorite.

INGREDIENTS

1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk, well stirred. (not cream of coconut!)
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup (1 1/4) oz.) unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 T. unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 - 2 bananas sliced
whipped topping

DIRECTIONS

Bring the coconut milk, milk, shredded coconut, 1/3 c. sugar and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. When the mixture reaches a simmer, whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl to break them up, then whisk in the remaining 1/3 c. sugar and cornstarch until well combined and no lumps remain. Gradually whisk the simmering liquid into the yolk mixture to temper it, then return the mixture to the saucepan, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until 3 or 4 bubbles burst on the surface and the mixture is thickened, about 30 seconds (it actually took a few minutes for me). Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla and butter. Pour half the filling into a cooled, baked pie crust. Slice the bananas on top of filling and add remaining filling on top of bananas. Press a sheet of plastic wrap over the surface of the pie and refrigerate until the filling is cold and firm, at least 3 hours.

Serve with whipped topping. You can add toasted coconut on the top of the whipped cream, but I preferred not to. The coconut in the filling was sufficient to my taste.

Posted by Debi