Angela, my roommate in university and one of my best friends on the planet, really loves coconut. She told me this story once about how she was talking to a really hot guy at a bar, and when he asked her what kinds of stuff she liked, all she could squeak out was “Coconut!” Ange is a world traveller these days, but next time she comes home, I’ll be using this pie to coerce her to stay a little longer.
Ingredients
How to Make It
- Prepare the pastry and whipped cream and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Spread the coconut on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until fragrant and golden. Let sit.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Combine the two discs and, on a well-floured surface, roll out to a circle about ¼ inch thick and 12 inches in diameter. This will allow room to crimp the edges. Transfer by gently rolling the dough around the rolling pin like a jelly roll, then unrolling it onto a 9-inch glass pie plate and lightly pressing it down. Trim the overhang and crimp the pastry edges with your fingers or a fork to seal. Using a fork, prick the bottom about a dozen times and evenly distribute pie weights or dried beans in the pie shell. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle oven rack, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven, remove pie weights and let sit.
- In a food processor, process the tofu until smooth and creamy. Add 2 cups coconut milk and the sugar and salt. Process until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup coconut milk and arrowroot starch to create a slurry.
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the tofu mixture to a gentle boil. Whisk in the slurry, continuing to whisk until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and ¾ cup toasted coconut.
- Pour the mixture into the pie shell and refrigerate for about 4 hours, and up to overnight. Once firmed up, spread or pipe the whipped cream over top and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup toasted coconut. Keep cool until ready to serve.