The smell of coconut immediately brings to my mind thoughts of summer, sun, and beaches, so I was super excited when I recently came across a great recipe from an old
Bon Appetit (November 1992) for a delicious coconut pie. It isn't a traditional coconut cream pie, but almost more like the pie version of a macaroon. (Is your mouth watering yet?) The article mentioned that the pie is very rich and should be served in small wedges, and I totally agree. However, it never hurts to have a few small wedges right?
Francis Oliver's Coconut Pie recipe (as adjusted by me)
Ingredients:
1 All Ready Pie Crust (half of 15-ounce package), room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar (you can use a little less if you think the pie is too sweet)
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or use 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract)
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450°F. Roll out folds in crust, and press crust into 9-inch glass pie plate. Trim and crimp edges. Bake crust until light golden, about 9 minutes. (I use ceramic pie beads when I bake a pie crust without a filling, but you can also use dried beans - cover the raw pie crust with aluminum foil and cover the foil with pie beads or beans and bake as directed. Remove foil and beads/beans from the pie crust once cooled. Do not eat beans after using them for this purpose.) Transfer to rack and cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat or in the microwave. Add sugar and stir until mixture is heated through. Transfer to bowl. Add eggs, lemon juice and vanilla and whisk to combine. Stir in 1 1/2 cups coconut.
Pour filling into crust. Bake until filling is deep golden brown and set, about 40 minutes. Cool on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.) Garnish with shredded coconut, if desired.
