Old-fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

• The coconut custard – The pie filling is made all in one saucepan on the stove top. It’s a creamy coconut custard made with coconut milk, whole milk, egg yolks and flour to thicken it. It’s sweetened with granulated sugar and flavored with a little vanilla extract and optional coconut extract if you want it extra coconut-y. Afterwards, sweet coconut shreds are stirred through the custard.

• The pie crust – I like using a homemade pie crust for this recipe. It’s buttery, flaky and delicious. The flaky crust is fully baked before the filling goes in. If you want, you can use a homemade graham cracker crust instead. Bake it for 10 minutes before adding the filling.

• The topping – The best coconut cream pie has plenty of whipped cream on top of the pie to make it extra luscious and creamy. Spoon on softly whipped cream and toasted coconut flakes or shreds. These stand out beautifully against the white cream.

Blind bake pastry

Make the pie dough at least 2 hours ahead of time so it can chill before being rolled out.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch/30cm circle using a rolling pin.

Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour, then gently roll it up the rolling pin like a spiral. Transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate and carefully unroll it from the rolling pin until it’s draped over it and overhangs the sides. Dust off any excess flour.

If your circle is uneven, cut off any excess dough around the pie dish to make it even, but leave a bit of an overhang. Roll the overhanging dough under the edge to make a thick border.

Push an index finger from one hand into the dough edge between the thumb and index finger of the opposite hand. Continue this all around the dough edges. Chill the pastry for at least 20 minutes while you preheat the oven.

Prick the bottom of the pie crust all over with a fork. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights.

Bake it at 400°F/205°C for around 15-20 minutes until the edges of the pie crust are lightly browned.

Remove it from the oven and lift off the parchment paper and weights. Lower the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C)

Place the pastry back in the oven for a further 15-20 minutes until it’s golden brown and crisp looking. Let the pie shell cool down completely. You can do this step up to 2 days ahead of time.

In a medium saucepan add the coconut milk, whole milk, egg yolks, vanilla, sugar, flour and salt. Whisk it all together until smooth.

Place saucepan over medium heat.

Whisk it continuously as the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.

Once the mixture is bubbling and thick, lower the heat to medium-low heat and let it boil for two minutes, whisking the whole time. This step is important or else the custard won’t set.

Remove the custard from the heat and stir through the shredded coconut and the butter.

Pour the custard into the baked crust.

You can cover the coconut filling with a piece of plastic wrap, and gently press it onto it.

This stops a skin from forming. This isn’t a necessity though.

Let the pie cool to room temperature, then chill it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours until firm. When ready to serve, layer whipped cream on top of the pie.

Whipped cream

In a bowl combine heavy cream and powdered sugar. Whip it with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks.

Dollop the cream or pipe it around the edge of the pie. Sprinkle over a little toasted coconut for garnish.