Valentine's Day Treat: Coconut Cream Pie with Vanilla Bean Whipped Topping

This week, I wanted to try another new pie from one of my pie books. I have gotten complacent over the past few months, and have continued to just keep baking the same pies that I have done before. It is easier to go with a pie that you have made before, and know that you are going to like. But for the sake of this blog, I knew I needed to keep exploring the pie world.

My choice was one that I had been wanting to try. It is the "Coconut Cream Pie with Vanilla Bean Whipped Topping", from A Year of Pies, by Ashley English. I have never made a coconut pie, and this one sounded tasty. This is a cream filled pie that has sugar, cornstarch, salt, whole milk, egg yolks, flaked coconut, vanilla and coconut extracts, and butter. After cooking, the filling is cooled, and then put in a prebaked butter crust. One thing that I have learned recently about cream pies is that the cooked filling must be cooled to room temperature before being poured into the crust to chill. I actually learned this from my sister (who has always been smarter than me). Unfortunately, this step is not always stressed in cream pie recipes, and can lead to the cream filling not setting up properly.

The whipped topping is unusual in that the heavy cream is infused with vanilla bean and chilled. After this mixture is chilled, it is whipped with powdered sugar and then spread over the coconut filling. Finally, unsweetened toasted, flaked coconut is sprinkled on top.

I must say that I was skeptical about the pie for one reason. When I was cooking the filling, it cooked too quickly, and turned a little dark. I was afraid that the filling would have a "burnt" flavor. But when I tasted it, I did not notice, and thought it was really very satisfying. It was so satisfying, in fact, that I ate two large pieces. I kept justifying this with the fact that it was Valentine's Day, and everyone eats either chocolate or dessert on this special day. But I also ate two pieces today, so that rationalization does not work anymore! I think that the whipped topping is unique, but the toasted flaked coconut is what really made this pie special. On my recent trip to Asia, I ate quite a few coconut desserts, and this brought back memories of those.

So the verdict on this new pie is that I will definitely make it again. By the way, I think that my filling cooked too quickly because of my 40 plus year old sauce pan. I have tossed it, and will be getting a new one. Sometimes one just has to invest in new cookware, particularly when it is over 4 decades old!