Coconut Custard Pie

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) Refrigerated unbaked pie crust
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg separated
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Separate one egg and keep yolk and white separate.

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and heavy cream. Heat until just starting to boil – be sure to watch it because it will go from barely simmering to heavy boiling rather quickly. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the one egg yolk, the three whole eggs (beaten), sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.

Slowly add in the hot milk mixture continuing to beat continuously so that the egg mixture already in the bowl does not “cook”. Once the hot milk mixture is completely blended in, add in the coconut and mix well.

Place the unbaked pie crust on a cookie sheet lined with a parchment paper or foil. Brush the insides (bottom, sides and top) with the egg white to help prevent the crust from getting soggy. Carefully pour the custard mixture into the pie crust.

Bake for 35 minutes then carefully… carefully place strips of aluminum foil over the exposed crust to prevent it from getting too dark. Reduce the oven temp to 250 degrees and bake for about another 20 minutes or until the filling is just about set. It should not be liquid but definitely not solid. It should still jiggle a little.

Remove from oven and cool on rack. When pie is just about room temperature place in refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Note: I add 3 drops of yellow food coloring just after I add the coconut to the hot milk mixture to make it look even more delicious!

Source: Hoosier Mama Pie Company