Preparing food is one of the things that relaxes many people. Of course, it can also be a tough obligation if you are doing it all the time. However, if you doing it as a hobby, this can be an entertaining activity that can fulfill your free time with joy and happiness.
There are a couple of things that can make the entire process a bit more complex. First of all, you need to have the necessary equipment and ingredients, but we believe most people can afford to get that. A more challenging part is to use the best possible way to make something. In this article, we would like to talk about the process of making a coconut cream pie.
Coconut cream pie is only one of many homemade pies that you can enjoy at. People do not make them all the time, but you can often see them on a table when some important events and dates come. For instance, families often prepare them for Thanksgiving Day and Easter. However, if you want to eat them a bit more often, then we prepared a list of things you should know to prepare it. Let’s find out together how to make a coconut cream pie and which ingredients you exactly need.
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Ingredients That You Need to Make
The list of ingredients that you need is not quite short. However, the three main ones that we would like to talk about are unsweetened coconut milk, coconut, and a pre-baked Pie crust.
When you go to a store to purchase a coconut, you may hesitate about which one you should use. Most people decide on using shredded sweetened coconut flakes. However, you also have the option to purchase an unsweetened one and enjoy the pies as well. On the other hand, unsweetened coconut milk is something you will manage to find in all grocery stores. In most cases, that milk will be packed in a can, and we recommend you purchase only those.
Speaking of pre-baked pie crust, they are also not mandatory. You can also use a store-bought crust, but we still believe that pre-baked ones will improve the taste more.
Okay, after getting the three main ingredients, there are the other ones that you need to have. They are coconut extracts, vanilla, cream cheese, egg yolk, cornstarch, half and half, sugar, and salt. In the end, if you decide on the topping, it may be good to use toasted coconut and whipped cream. However, buying this is optional because some people simply do not like it.
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Bonus: You Can Also Toast the Coconut
If you want to add a pie filling and topping, then you should toast the coconut before that. This move will provide you with additional flavors that will make your cream pie even tastier. Doing that is not as difficult as it seems, and you need to go through three different steps to reach the final goal.
Before everything, you need to determine the correct amount of coconut and put it in a large skillet. A lot of heat is not going to help here, so we recommend you cook over medium-low heat. However, just because the heat is not high, that doesn’t mean you should leave it there. Instead of that, you should toss and stir it regularly until the flakes become golden brown. Keep in mind you need to complete this part with a high level of concentration. When the toasting process starts, things start to change too quickly.
After you remove the coconut from heat, put it to cool for a couple of minutes. When it gets cold, store the toasted coconut in a jat and keep it there for around a month. If you don’t have a jar, then you can use the alternative in form of airtight containers.
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How to Make a Coconut Cream Pie
After we made everything clear, let’s start with the main point. Believe it or not, the entire process contains only six steps. Your duty will be to apply each one. Of course, this counts only when you prepare the cream pie for the first time. If you are a curious person, you can always change the process or adapt it to your taste, requirements, and expectations. However, don’t do that until you improve your “experience”.
Anyway, the first thing you need to do is to make the filling. You will do that by making a mixture of sugar, salt, coconut milk, and 1 cup of half and half. After that, the next step you need to make is making a cornstarch slurry. You can easily do that by mixing cornstarch and 1/2 cup of half and half.
The third thing you have to do is tempering the egg yolks. This may be a bit challenging because the way you add to the egg yolks needs to be adequate. Try to do that as slow as you can and ensure that eggs don’t cook. When you complete this task, use the egg yolks and cornstarch and add them to a pan.
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The fourth, fifth, and sixth steps are actually pretty simple and they do not require a lot of time and energy. The fourth step refers to finishing the pudding. When you remove it from the heat, you need to add cream cheese as well vanilla and coconut extracts. This will make your “creation” even testier. Despite that, the fifth and last step is to pour the mixture into baked pie crust.
Believe it or not, that’s it. The sixth step (if we can name it that way) is to leave your coconut cream pie to cool. It is recommendable that you cover it with some plastic wrap and leave it that way for around three hours. If you want, you can top the whipped creamed as well as toasted coconut. We explained to you how you can do that, so we recommend you read that part once again.
Final Thought
We shared some pieces of advice that will help you make a tasty coconut cream pie. However, no one says this is the only way to complete the job. Whichever type of food you want to prepare, you should gain more information from different cookbooks and find out the best way to do that. The good news is that you are living in the 21st century, and there are many websites like Joye Law Firm where you can download some books for free and improve your cooking/baking skills. The more you learn, the tastier your meals will be!
