Miss Scarlett Cooks! Coconut Cream Pie

Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everybody! I've got a recipe here that's a sweet treat to beat the summer heat! Honestly, nothing says "summer" to me more than citrus and coconut, so this coconut pie is the perfect dessert for a summer meal.




The Ingredients:

• One 9-inch pie crust, either homemade or premade
• One can coconut milk**
• Half and half, about 1 and a 1/2 cups
• 4 beaten egg yolks
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup corn starch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• Whipped topping (homemade, Cool Whip, etc.)

**You can usually find these in the Goya section at supermarkets. If you can't get any, then bump up the half and half to 3 cups, add 1 tsp coconut extract (if you have it), and sub 1/2 cup flour for the corn starch. Also, DO NOT REFRIGERATE COCONUT MILK. It will separate and solidify and is a royal pain to reconstitute.

The Tools:

• A 9-inch pie plate
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Medium saucepan
• Wire whisk
• Plastic wrap

How to make it:

1. Bake your pie shell. If doing pre-made, follow the instructions on the box. If you're making this by hand, than you know way more than me and you should probably be giving ME tips.
2. Measure out the coconut milk and the half and half, to get 3 cups total. Mix the two together in the saucepan. Add in the eggs, sugar, salt, and cornstarch, whisking to combine. Turn your burner on to a little above low heat. (I'd say between low and medium low.)
3. Begin whisking the mixture, slowly. Eventually, the mixture will start to feel heavy, and sort of drag against the whisk. Shortly afterward, the mixture will begin to boil and thicken into pudding. 
4. You'll know that the pudding is boiling when lots of bubbles start to break the surface. Once that happens, whisk harder for about a minute, and then take it off of the heat.
5. Add the coconut, vanilla, and butter to the pudding, and stir to combine it all.
6. Pour the pudding into the pie shell, while the pudding is STILL HOT.
7. Refrigerate the pie for about 4-5 hours. Tip: if you wrap the pie up in plastic wrap and make sure the plastic touches the pudding surface, you'll prevent a skin from forming.
8. Top the pie with whipped topping and coconut (you can toast it if you want to get fancy) when you're ready to serve it.

Stay cool, everyone! Miss Scarlett, signing out!