Family Chefmate: Coconut Cream Pie With A Black Bottom Crust

Coconut pie with a black bottom crust is fun to make with the kids. My kids love stirring the custard over the stove and then stirring the custard in an ice bath. Forget the box pudding! This coconut cream pie is loaded with omega 3 rich eggs not yellow die. I use none fat milk so you feel good that this dessert is lower in calories then the ones you buy in the store. So if you want a healthy dessert this is the pie for you. You can use this custard base to make banana cream pie as well. The black bottom refers to the pie crust that you paint with melted chocolate. The chocolate keeps the crust crust from becoming soggy.

Coconut Cream Pie With A Black Bottom Crust:
Pre-Heat Oven: 400 Degrees
Servings: 9

Pudding:
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
1/3 cup corn starch
pinch of salt
3 cups cold none fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 egg yolks (like egg lands best or eggs with omega 3s)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups Baker's Coconut, toasted
1 Deep dish pie crust (like Marie Callender's)
Pudding recipe above
1 cup melted dark chocolate (like Ghirardelli's bitter sweet chips)
Whip cream

1. Bake your Marie Callender's deep dish pie crust at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Make sure you either prick the bottom of the crust with a fork or place a piece of parchment paper in the middle of the crust and fill the paper with dried beans. This is called blind baking your crust. Then remove the parchment paper and dried beans and allow the crust to bake for another 7 minutes or until golden brown.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat add the cold milk, corn starch, sugar and a pinch of salt. Using a wire whisk stir all the ingredients together. Bring the mixture up to a bowl whisking continually. Bring the milk mixture up to simmer and the pudding begins to thicken (the pudding will coat the back of a spoon. Remove the pudding from the heat.

3. In two small bowls separate out your eggs. Whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot milk mixture to the eggs while whisking at all times. This is called tempering so you don't scrabbled the eggs. Then whisk the yolk mixture slowly back into the hot milk mixture. Allow the mixture to come up to a simmer and allow the pudding to cook 2 more minutes or until thick. Remove front the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. In a large bowl put some cold water and ice to make an ice bath. Place the pan you cooked the pudding into the ice bath and continue to whisk occasionally until the pudding cools off. Then remove the pudding from the pan and place in the refrigerator in a sealed container. Allow pudding to cool for one hour before using.

4. Toast 2 cups of coconut in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Stir the coconut half way through cooking it. Watch the coconut near the end because it will burn very easily.
Allow coconut to cool on a wire rack.

5. Assembling the pie. Place your chocolate chips into a microwave save dish. Microwave the chips on high for 1 minute then stir the chocolate. Then microwave for another minute and stir. Your chocolate should be fully melted. Using a pastry brush, paint the bottom of the crust with the melted chocolate. Put into the freezer for 10 minutes or until the chocolate is hard. Mix in one cup of coconut with your pudding. Then spoon the pudding mixture into the crust. Then add the other cup of coconut on top of the pudding. Garnish the coconut cream pie with whip cream.

Addition notes: If you want to make it a banana cream pie, just don't add in the coconut to the pudding or on the top of the pie. Instead slice bananas and place them on the bottom of the pie crust. Add the pudding on top and garnish with whip cream.

Coconut Cream Pie With A Black Bottom Crust