This Coconut Cream Pie is made with a homemade coconut custard filling in a buttery pie crust topped with fresh whipped cream and toasted coconut. This is the famous Dahlia Bakery's secret coconut cream pie recipe.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the canned coconut milk, whole milk, and shredded coconut. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir until the mixture just begins to show signs of bubbling.
In a medium bowl, stir together eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and flour until combined. Temper the eggs by adding 1/4 cup of hot milk mixture at a time to egg mixture, stirring after each addition. Whisk well. After you add it 3 times, add the warmed egg mixture into the saucepan with the coconut milk.
Whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream begins to thicken and bubble. Keep whisking until the mixture is very thick, about 4-5 minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
Add butter and vanilla and keep whisking until butter is melted. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and place it over another bowl filled with ice to expedite the chilling process. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the custard to prevent a film from forming and place in the refrigerator to chill. Let it chill long enough to become cold, about 1-2 hours.
Whipped Cream:
In a large mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until peaks form that is firm enough to hold their shape.
Assemble the Pie:
Take the pre-baked cooled pie crust and fill it with cooled coconut cream filling. Fill a pastry bag with whipped cream and pipe it over the pie.
To toast coconut: bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until light golden brown color. Sprinkle all over the pie.
Notes
This recipe is from the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook which is famous for its Coconut Cream Pie Recipe. For more coconut flavor, I suggest adding coconut extract.