This gorgeous triple coconut cream pie is a recipe from Dahlia Bakery in Seattle. I visited them in 2013 and it only took me 8 years to recreate it!
Every week, my (work) team and I have a virtual meeting just to catch up. When we have nothing to talk about, I try to ask them thought-provoking questions. It’s been fun learning about my teammates and revealing a little bit more about myself. It’s good to be vulnerable, right?
One of the questions I asked a few weeks ago was, “What one excuse do you find yourself using a lot?” My answer is that is that “I don’t have time.” Yes, I am a busy person, but I should learn how to not use that as an excuse. I need to prioritize time for the things I want to do. I will work around my skating hours, so why not something else?
A dessert that I’ve been meaning to bake but didn’t have time–er, didn’t prioritize the time for– was this triple coconut cream pie from Dahlia Bakery. My husband and I made a trip to Seattle for our business fraternity’s bi-annual conference. While we were there, we stopped by Dahlia Bakery and bought little mini bites of the coconut cream pie. My cooking friends were raving about this pie at the time, and they all recreated it. Obviously, I am the last to jump on the bandwagon.
I finally stopped making excuses and made the pie. While I couldn’t find large chip coconut (my Whole Foods did not carry it), I used the regular sweetened shredded coconut as a substitute. I knew I wouldn’t eat much of this because I have never been a been coconut fan, but I knew my husband and daughter would gobble this up. As expected, they both loved the pie and were sad when I opted to give some away to friends.
This pie has coconut in the crust, pastry cream and the topping. Coconut fans should love this pie!
Husband’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
My rating: 4 out of 5 (I am not a fan of coconut; if I was, I’d rate this higher)
Dahlia Bakery triple coconut cream pie
Ingredients
Coconut crust
- 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (165 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 grams) shredded sweetened coconut
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 grams) cold unsalted butter diced into small cubes
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) ice cold water
Coconut pastry cream
- 1 cup (230 grams) milk I used 1%
- 1 cup (230 grams) canned unsweetened coconut milk stirred
- 2 cups (170 grams) shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 vanilla bean split in half lengthwise (I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract as a substitute)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons (125 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (26 grams) all-purpose flour
- 4 Tablespoons (½ stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter room temperature
Whipped cream
- 2 and ½ cups (600 grams) heavy cream chilled
- ⅓ cup (63 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish
- 2 ounces (57 grams) unsweetened chip or large-shred coconut (about 1 and ½ cups) can substitute with ⅔ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 4-6 ounces white chocolate to turn into chocolate curls (I omitted)
Instructions
Make the crust
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, coconut, butter, sugar and salt. Pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand with some small pea-sized chunks.
- Slowly stream in the water, about 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough comes together. You may not need all of the water so keep an eye on the food processor carefully. Your dough should stay together if you press down on it.
- Transfer the dough to a large sheet of plastic wrap. Fold the wrap around the dough fairly loosely and press down on the dough so that it forms a large disc. Wrap the dough tightly and place it into your refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large circle about ⅛ inch thick. Gently place the dough into a 9 inch pie pan and trim off any excess dough (you'll want about a 1 to 1 and ½ inch overhang). Tuck the overhang underneath the edges of the rim of the pan and flute the edges if desired. Place the dough back into the refrigerator to chill for another hour.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top and add some pie weights on top.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the edges start to turn a light golden brown. Remove the pie weights and the parchment paper and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes. Allow the crust to cool completely before assembling the pie.
Make the coconut pastry cream
- In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix together the milk, coconut milk, and shredded coconut. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla pod and mix well (add the vanilla pod into the pan). Turn the heat onto medium-high and keep stirring until the mixture almost comes to a boil.
- In a separate medium sized bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, and flour until well blended. Pour about ⅓ to ½ cup of the hot milk mixture into this bowl and whisk vigorously. Then pour everything back into the large saucepan and mix well.
- Keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken, about 4-5 minutes.
- Remove the vanilla pod (dry it and add it to your container of sugar for some fabulous vanilla sugar!) and stir in the butter. Whisk vigorously until the butter melts and your pastry cream is smooth.
- Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream and transfer it to your refrigerator to cool completely, at least another 2 hours.
- Once the pastry cream is fully chilled, spread it onto your cooled crust. Make sure you smooth the top with a spatula.
Make the whipped cream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cold heavy cream on high speed until you achieve soft peaks. Slowly add in the granulated sugar and vanilla cream and continue to beat on high speed until you achieve stiff peaks.
- Transfer the whipped cream to a pastry bag and using an open star tip, pipe the whipped cream on top of the pastry cream.
Garnish the pie
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place the coconut on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet, making sure to spread out the coconut so they are in a single layer.
- Bake in your preheated oven for about 7-8 minutes or until golden. I recommend you check the oven every few minutes to make sure the coconut isn't burning.
- Allow the coconut to cool and then sprinkle it on top of the whipped cream.
- For the white chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler to scrape the chocolate into curls. If needed, you can microwave the chocolate for a few seconds so the chocolate is softer and curls more easily. Add the chocolate curls on top of the pie.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!