BEST COCONUT CUSTARD PIE RECIPE EVER RECIPES

Steps:

• Prepare and chill the dough. 
• Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. 
• Use a large nail or an ice pick to puncture one of the three eyes on the coconut (only one can be punctured so you will need to try each until you find it). Drain the coconut milk out over a bowl. Strain it to remove any flecks of shell and reserve it. 
• Place the coconut on the oven rack and bake it until it cracks, about 10 to 15 minutes. 
• Remove the coconut from the oven and let it cool slightly. Remove shell (it will come away easily), then cut the coconut meat into 8 or 10 pieces. With a vegetable peeler, remove brown skin. Coarsely grate 1 cup coconut, either by hand or in the food processor, and reserve it for the filling. Process the remaining coconut until it is very fine. 
• In a large saucepan over low heat, scald the milk until there are bubbles around the edges. Add the finely processed coconut. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool completely. Pour it through a fine strainer into a bowl; press coconut to extract as much moisture as possible. 
• In 3 or 4 batches, place coconut in the corner of a clean dish towel and wring out over bowl to extract all remaining liquid. (If you wish, you can toast the wrung out coconut, though it will have very little flavor remaining after soaking in the milk.) Measure the coconut flavored milk and add more milk, if necessary, to make 2 cups. (This may be done earlier in the day or even the day before and set aside tightly covered in the refrigerator.) Pour into a bowl and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla and nutmeg and the reserved coconut milk. Stir in the reserved coarsely grated coconut. 
• Set a rack in the lowest level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough for the bottom crust and arrange in pan. 
• Pour filling into pie crust. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes, until the crust is baked through and the filling is set, but not over-cooked. After the pie has baked for 30 minutes, check it frequently so it does not over-cook. Once the pie is wobbly textured when the pan is gently shaken, remove it from the oven; it will continue to cook for a few minutes longer after it is removed from the oven. If the pie is over baked, it will be heavy and watery. Cool the pie on a rack. 
• To mix the dough by hand, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces and add to dry ingredients. Toss once or twice to coat pieces of butter. Then using your hands or a pastry blender, break the butter into tiny pieces and pinch and squeeze it into the dry ingredients. Occasionally reach down to the bottom of the bowl and mix all the ingredients evenly together. Continue rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible. Beat the egg(s) in a small bowl and pour over the flour and butter mixture. Stir in with a fork until the dough begins to hold together, but still appears somewhat dry. Scatter a teaspoon of flour on the work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is smooth and uniform. 
• To mix the dough in the food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1-second intervals to mix. Cut butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and add to work bowl. Process, pulsing repeatedly at 1-second intervals, until the mixture is fine and powdery, resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible, about 15 pulses in all. Add the egg(s) to the work bowl and pulse ten times or so, until the dough forms a ball. Scatter a teaspoon of flour on the work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is smooth and uniform. Press the dough into a disk (two equal disks for the larger amount of dough). Sandwich the disk(s) of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and press it into a 6-inch circle. Refrigerate the dough until firm, or until you are ready to use it, at least 1 hour. 
• Storage: Keep the dough in the refrigerator up to two days, or freeze it double-wrapped in plastic. Because the dough is thin, it will defrost quickly at room temperature when you intend to use it. 

Steps:

• For the pie crust: Pulse the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal blade until combined. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles yellow cornmeal mixed with bean-size bits of butter, about 10 times. Add the egg and pulse 4 to 5 times until the dough forms a ball. (If the dough is very dry add up to a tablespoon more of cold water.)
• Transfer the dough to a work surface. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.  
• Roll the dough on a lightly-floured surface into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges, leaving about an extra inch hanging over the edge. Tuck the overhanging dough underneath itself to form a thick edge that is even with the rim. Flute the edge as desired. Freeze the pie shell for 30 minutes.  
• Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Put a piece of parchment paper or foil over the pie shell and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake on a baking sheet on the center rack until the dough is set, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and lift the sides of the parchment to remove the beans. Continue baking until the pie shell is lightly golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Cool on a wire rack. 
• For the filling: Whisk together the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the milk and the cornstarch in a medium bowl until smooth and well combined. Stir together the remaining 3/4 cup milk, the half-and-half, sugar and kosher salt in a large saucepan. Heat over medium heat until barely simmering. Temper the egg yolks by slowly pouring the hot milk and cream into the egg yolks while continuing to whisk. Pour the custard back into the pan and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the custard is very thick and smooth, about 5 minutes; it will be the consistency of a pudding. (If the filling has scrambled a bit, or doesn't look smooth, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve into a separate bowl before adding the coconut.) Stir in the butter until melted, then stir in the vanilla and shredded coconut. Spread the filling into the cooled pie crust. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pie and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours, but preferably overnight.  
• For the meringue: Add the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and kosher salt to the bowl of a stand mixture fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk to combine. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture feels very hot to the touch. Transfer the bowl to the mixer and add the vanilla. Whisk on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, 5 to 6 minutes.    
• Remove the plastic wrap from the pie and gently mound the meringue on top of the filling. Use an offset spatula to completely cover the filling and meet the crust all around the edges. (This will completely seal in the filling and help prevent weeping.) Use the offset spatula to form swirls and peaks in the meringue. Toast the meringue using a kitchen torch or broil in the oven until golden brown, keeping an eye on the meringue if broiling. Sprinkle all over with toasted coconut and serve.