Little "Triple Coconut Cream Pie" Thingies

Michelle told me that she heard about this recipe while listening to the radio one day and had wanted to try it. After hearing the name of the recipe, I knew it had to be pretty incredible. I've eaten at several of Tom Douglas's restaurants and have never been disappointed. Daliah's Lounge is probably my favorites, although I really enjoy Etta's too.

This was the first recipe of Tom's that I have ever made. It's a bit elaborate and time consuming, but it wasn't too scary. Since I was making it for Sugar Shock Friday and needed to share it with folks at work, I wanted to be able to serve it easily. My first goal was to try and "mini-fy" (is that a word?) the recipe as so as to make it more practical for feeding a crowd. That's where the mini-tart idea came from....that and I just really seem to be into tiny, bite sized food. :-)

I bought a silicone baking pan (my first one!) because I thought a traditional metal pan would be too difficult to work with. Although the silicon pan worked perfectly fine (and removal of the tarts was super easy), the metal pan actually worked just as well.

Note: The crust recipe yields 1 (9") pie crust or about 12-16 mini-pie crusts. I doubled the crust recipe recipe and ended up with 35. The cream filling and whipped cream yields enough to generously fill one 9" pie or 35+ tarts. If you decide to only make one batch of mini-pie crusts, I would half the coconut cream and whipped cream.

Triple Coconut Cream Pie
Adapted from a recipe that I found at CottageLiving.com

Coconut Crust
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, packed
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Coconut Cream Filling
2 cups whole milk
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, packed
1 vanilla bean
2 large eggs
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, chilled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar

Garnish
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut “chips” (large-shred coconut) or 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I use Let's Go Organic brand)
1 (4- to 6-ounce) bar white chocolate, shaved

1. Prepare Crust
Pulse first 5 ingredients in a food processor 6 to 10 times or until mixture is crumbly. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing once after each addition, until dough holds together when pressed between fingers. (Dough will not form a ball or even clump together in processor—it will be loose.)

Turn dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap; press into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour or overnight.

For 9" crust: Roll dough 12- to 13-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming excess to a 1- to 11/2-inch overhang. Turn dough under along rim of pie pan, and flute edges. Chill at least 1 hour before baking.

Preheat oven to 400°. Place a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper in pie crust, extending over edges, and fill with dried beans, rice, or pie weights. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Remove from oven; discard foil and beans, and return pie crust to oven. Bake for 14 to 17 more minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool completely on a wire rack.

For mini tarts: Preheat oven to 400°. Spray a mini muffin tray with Pam. (not Pam with Flour, just plain Pam) Roll dough out to a normal, even thickness. Cut with a round cookie cutter that's slightly larger than the size of the top of the mini muffin cup.

Using a mortar or your fingers, push the dough down into the cup so it's laying flatly at the bottom of the cup. If the dough seems thin, take a small ball of dough and push it down into the bottom of the cup.
Bake one tray at a time in the center of the oven for 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Remove the mini pie shells and cool on wire rack.

2. Prepare Coconut Cream Filling
Combine milk and 2 cups sweetened coconut in a 3 1/2-quart saucepan. Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and scrape seeds into milk mixture. Add pod. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture almost comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

Whisk together eggs, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and flour in a medium bowl until well blended. Gradually whisk about 1/3 cup milk mixture into egg mixture; pour back into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 4-6 minutes or until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Whisk 3 more minutes or until very thick. Remove from heat; add butter, and whisk until melted. Discard vanilla pod. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl, and place entire bowl in a larger bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until mixture cools. Remove medium bowl from ice bath, and place plastic wrap directly on surface of mixture; chill 4 hours or until cold. (Mixture will thicken.)

Fill baked Coconut Pie crust with pastry cream, smoothing surface. For mini tarts, each tart can hold about 3 teaspoons.

3. Prepare Toasted Coconut Topping
Preheat oven to 350°. Spread coconut chips on a baking sheet, and bake at 350° for 7 to 8 minutes or until golden, stirring twice. (Keep an eye on them as they can go from white to burnt quickly!) Cool.

4. Prepare Whipped Topping
Beat whipping cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla extract at medium speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Gradually increase speed to high, and beat until soft peaks form.

5. Pie Assembly - Yey!
Pipe or spoon whipped cream over pie(s). Sprinkle toasted coconut and white chocolate curls over the pie(s). Cover pie and store in the refrigerator.

Yield: 1 (9-inch) pie crust or about 12-16 mini-pie crusts (I doubled this recipe and ended up with 32)
Would I Make This Again? Overall, this was a pretty good recipe. I could see this being the star of an Easter dessert menu. 4 out of 5 stars.

Yolanda's Raspberry-Lemon Trifle

Yolanda was very specific with her request. Although she didn't say she wanted a trifle per se, she did say she wanted something that was cold, wet, and fruity. She also didn't want anything that contained chocolate. The choice was obvious; it had to be a trifle.

Since raspberries are in season this recipe jumped out to me. It seemed the epitome of summer to me and it tasted like it too with it's flavorful lemon curd, and bright, sweet taste of the raspberries, this dessert was everything I hoped it would be. My only problem was that I didn't buy enough pound cake (I bought a 10 oz instead of the 16 oz) so it was a little on the small side. It worked out fine though. Yolanda was thrilled.

Raspberry Lemon Trifle

Adapted from Bon Appétit, June 2001

Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water

Curd
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Fruit and Topping
4 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries or 1 bag frozen raspberries
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

1 16-ounce frozen pound cake, thawed and trimmed of outside dark outer shell (save trimmings to be added to center of trifle later)

2 cups chilled whipping cream

For syrup: Combine sugar, lemon juice, and water in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 1 minute. Cover and chill.

For curd: Whisk eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Add butter and lemon peel. Stir over medium heat until curd thickens to pudding consistency, about 10 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd. Chill until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be made 3 days ahead.)

For fruit and topping: Combine raspberries and 1/4 cup sugar in bowl. Mash berries coarsely with fork. Let stand until juices form, stirring occasionally for at least 30 minutes.

Cut cake crosswise into 8 pieces. Cut each piece into 3 strips. Line bottom of 3-quart trifle bowl with 8 cake strips, trimming to fit. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons syrup; spread with 2/3 cup curd, then half of mashed berries. Repeat layering. Top with remaining cake, syrup, and curd.

Beat cream and 3 tablespoons sugar in bowl until peaks form; spread over trifle. Cover; chill overnight.

Yield: This will serve several. With the 10oz loaf of pound cake I was able to make about 15 or so 1/2 cup servings, so I'm guessing with a 16 oz loaf, that would be streched to at least 20 or more similar sized servings. It's all in how you plate it.

Would I Make This Again? Yes! The lemon curd was so good! I'd make that by itself any day and will be my go-to recipe for curd for now on. Next time I'll try this with blueberries. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Jeremy's "My TMJ hurts" Vanilla Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake

Jeremy's been talking a bit tight-lipped lately. He has somehow angered his TMJ and opening his mouth too wide or chewing anything too hard causes him to wince in pain. Poor guy! As someone who has also suffered mightily from a ticked-off TMJ, I can definitely empathize. So when he told me that he would like something that had a chocolate and mint combination for his dessert, the choice seemed obvious to me: Taffy! (Only kidding... Ice Cream!)

A few summers ago I was lucky enough to stop at a garage sale of a chap that was selling all of his ex-wife's kitchen appliances for next to nothing out of spite. He told me anything he didn't sell that day was going in the trash so I felt it was my obligation as a earth dwelling citizen to keep perfectly good kitchen equipment out of the landfill. I was able to buy a brand new Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker for $7 (along with a brand new fondue pot and a tart pan)! The ice cream maker has been sitting in a dark cabinet in my kitchen ever since, just waiting for the day when it would be the rock star that I knew it could be. Yesterday was that day!

I followed the Premium Vanilla Ice Cream recipe that came it the recipe booklet (you can find it here). It is essentially a vanilla custard that's then frozen. I added a teaspoon of mint (not peppermint) extract and chopped up Andies Candies, a personal favorite of mine. The ice cream maker did not disappoint. It did a great job and my very first attempt at ice cream was a big success.

Since I spent so much time on the ice cream, I decided to use a boxed brownie mix (I used Duncan Hines Family Size Brownie Mix). I followed the "cake" style method which uses three eggs instead of two. I also added a half of cup of dark cocoa, a half a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a half a teaspoon of mint extract. I baked them in a 9x13" pan for about 20 minutes and let them cool completely.

I had this elaborate plan to create a checkerboard pattern out of the ice cream and brownie but the ice cream was so soft, I just wasn't sure how that would be possible. I ended up just putting the brownies in a big, long, Tupperware container and topping them with the ice cream.

This turned out pretty much as I had hoped it would. Yey!

Happy Half Birthday Jeremy!

Yield: I made a double recipe so I hope it will feed about 20.
Would I Make This Again? Yes! The ice cream was so yummy and fresh tasting and the brownies pretty good too. Both have a lot of room of experimentation. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Aleigh's Lemon Poppy-Seed Rice Pudding

I always love to think outside of the culinary box when cooking and it seems the more I cook, the more brazen I get. So when I asked Allison, a fellow foodie, what she wanted for her birthday treat and she said she liked the idea of something with lemon and poppy-seeds, I wanted to make her something out of the ordinary. With Allison's blessings, I opted for to go flour-less. I had seen a recipe in last November's issue of Food & Wine for a lime and poppy-seed rice pudding* that I thought with just a little tweaking, would make both of us happy. The upgraded the rice to arborio, omitted the mango, simply substituted lemon zest for the lime and lo! a delicate, new lemon poppy-seed dessert gem was born. So the next time you want a lemon and poppy-seed confection but a muffin, scone, or cake just won't do, try this pudding. Delishy!

Lemon Poppy-Seed Rice Pudding

• 3 quarts of whole milk
• 1 lb of arborio rice (Risotto quality rice)
• 1 14oz can of unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 whole vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
• 2 Tbsp poppy-seeds
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1/2 cups of heavy or whipping cream
• Zest of one lemon

1. In a large, heavy pot, combine milk, rice, coconut milk. Mix well and let sit for 30 minutes. Add vanilla bean (entire bean and scraped seeds) and poppy seeds. Mix well and bring to a simmer over a moderately high heat. When it starts to bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until the rice is tender (approximately 50-75 minutes).

2. Add the sugar, cream, and lemon zest and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and cover with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Yields about 12 cups

* The adapted Food & Wine recipe can be found here

Steve's Ultimate Chocolate Trifle

I think I might have driven Steve a little nutty with regard to him being in the office on his birthday. But I think he will agree that my badgering was worth it! For Steve's birthday his request was simple, "Something chocolaty". For a few months I've been waiting for the right time to unleash what I think might be the king of chocolaty-ness: A Chocolate Trifle. What's a Chocolate Trifle you ask? Well, it starts with chocolate chip brownies, which are then topped with chocolate mousse, and layered in fresh whipped cream. This process is then repeated twice and when you're finished, you're left with a pristine whipped cream surface on which to sprinkle little curls of decadent Swiss milk chocolate. If this isn't "something chocolaty", I don't know what is.

As sweet as this dessert may be, it is a little bit bittersweet because it will probably be the last I make for Steve on his birthday. I've had the pleasure of working with, and baking for, Steve for the last three years and next Friday will be his last day at SerSol. But today we will not be sad; we will celebrate and stuff our faces with a dessert fit for a king. Here's to you Steve! Thanks for being such a great leader!

Ultimate Chocolate Trifle Recipe

• Double Batch of Ghiradelli's Award Winning Double Chocolate Brownies . This recipe is on the back of the can of Ghiradelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa can. Almost any brownies would work with this recipe except for super fudgy ones. I think these work because they are very porus and not too dry.


• 1 batch of Chocolate Mousse (I used this one but I didn't wait 6 hours.)


• 1 1/2 pints of whipped cream, whipped with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of powdered suger. Be sure to only whip it until very soft peaks form. If you over whip it, just add more cream to soften it up. You don't want it too thick.


• 1/4 cup of milk chocolate curls

Assembly

1. Prepare mousse and refrigerate.

2. Bake the brownies as indicated in the recipe. Cool completely.

3. Prepare whipped cream.

4. Depending on the size of your container, start with a layer of brownies, then top with mousse. If the mousse gets too thick, thin it out with cream. Then top with a layer of whipped cream. Keep layering until you run out of brownies. Whipped cream should be your last layer. Top with chocolate curls.

Serves 25-30