Tag Archives: Pie Week

November 19, 2013 · 6:06 AM

Pie Week: Black & White Coconut Tart

The Theme Weavers are ringing in the holidays with PIE WEEK. Wahoooooo! I love pie. Love, love, love it. It’s my favorite of all of the Food Groups – Pie, Bacon, Cheese, Chocolate & Booze. If only we could all be in one room so we could face plant into all the glorious pies to be featured this week, it would be a dream come true. Also dreamy, this gorgeous Black & White Coconut Tart.

Black & White Coconut Tart - Banners

It starts with Kirsten’s ‘No Excuses’ pie dough recipe, pre-baked into the perfect vessel. Then it gets a schmear of hot fudge sauce (it’s okay… just breathe) and a luscious layer of coconut cream. Finally, it’s crowned with glorious mounds of whipped cream and toasted coconut. Have I mentioned that I love pie?

Let’s start at the beginning – a very good place to start. Pie dough. When I say this one is easy, I’m not joking. Made in the food processor, it’s ready in a flash and flawless every single time. It’s the only recipe I use.

Black & White Coconut Tart - Kirsten's Pie Dough

For this tart, I chose to use a vintage 8″ square baking tin I found while antiquing with Kirsten last May. Using the pan reminds me of her and proves two points – 1. food = love and 2. blogging friends are real (and are lots of fun).

Black & White Coconut Tart - Fitting Dough to Pan

One of my favorite pie tools – a pizza cutter. I love a good sharp edge when working with pie dough. There’s no better example of that than this next shot, where I decide to make a fancy braided edge for my tart. Curse you, Pinterest!

Black & White Coconut Tart - Braid Collage

Did I just hear you say “Whatever!”? Oooo… I’m gonna… Ha! Not really. Truth is, this trick is not as complicated as it looks. I found the key is pinching the ends together and pressing them into the countertop to anchor the strands. From there, it’s just a regular braid. When you’re done, pinch the other ends together to seal the deal, then apply it to the tart with a little egg white as glue.

Black & White Coconut Tart - Egg Wash Glue

Once applied, press gently to make sure it’s stuck, then pop then entire thing into the freezer for half an hour. Why? Because a frozen pie shell bakes much better than a room-temperature pie shell. More flaky layers; less shrinkage. After 30 minutes, remove it from the freezer, line it with parchment paper and fill it with dried beans or pie weights to keep the crust from falling into the pan while it bakes. My tip: cut two paper strips to create a sling instead of trying to fold parchment into the corners. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Before (L) and after (R) - the beans keep the dough in place.

Before baking (L) and after (R) – the beans keep the dough in place.

Bake in a hot oven until it’s a light golden brown, then allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes with the beans still in place. After 15 minutes, you can lift out the beans and allow the tart shell to cool completely. If you plan to put your dried beans back in the pantry for soup later, be sure to let them cool completely before you seal them into a container. If you don’t, they’ll create steam in the container which will cause them to mold later.

While my tart shell was chilling, I made a batch of coconut custard from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. I chose this filling because it used coconut milk for extra flavor, which was a good call – it’s dreamy. Cooked on the stove, it comes together quickly. The hardest part is resisting the urge to eat it while it cools. Once it’s done and slightly cooled, the trick is to cover it with plastic wrap so it doesn’t get that tough pudding skin layer on top. Two words that should never be used together – pudding & skin.

Black & White Coconut Tart - Coconut Custard

So now you have a baked & cooled tart shell and a cooled custard. What’s next? Assembly! First up is a layer of your favorite fudge sauce, then a thick layer of coconut custard, and finally a piped dome of whipped cream sprinkled with lightly toasted coconut. Licking the spatula is highly recommended.

Black & White Custard Tart - Filling Collage

Days like this make me happy to be one of those people who plays with their food. This one was fun to put together. Have you ever made anything that turned out so perfectly you thought, “Man, I hate to cut this!” Yeah, me neither.

Black & White Coconut Tarts - A Slice

NANABREAD’S BLACK & WHITE COCONUT TART:

One recipe of No Excuses Pie Dough (use half, freeze half for later)
One batch of America’s Test Kitchen Coconut Cream Pie custard:

  • 1 14-oz. can coconut milk (not cream of coconut)
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/3 cup shredded coconut
  • 2/3 cup sugar (divided in half)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold & diced)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

One batch of stabilized whipped cream topping:

  • one pint heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 heaping tablespoon instant vanilla pudding powder

One cup of your favorite hot fudge sauce (at room temperature)
One cup lightly toasted unsweetened coconut flakes, for garnish

To make the pie shell:
Roll the pie dough out and place in a lightly sprayed pie or tart pan. Flute or attach a decorative edge, then freeze for 30 minutes. Remove from the freezer, line the pie shell with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes, or until the edge is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool 15-20 minutes, then lift out the paper & beans and allow it to cool completely.

To make the custard:
In a heavy saucepan, bring the coconut milk, whole milk, shredded coconut, 1/3 cup of sugar and salt to a gentle bubble, stirring often. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch until smooth. Slowly ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot custard into the egg yolk mixture, whisking vigorously to avoid lumps. Once combined, whisk the egg yolk mixture into the pan of custard and whisk to combine. Continue to simmer over medium-low heat until the custard begins to thicken. Whisk in the vanilla extract and turn off the heat. Move to a cold burner and allow it to cool for 15 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and allow it to cool, covered, until it comes to room temperature.

To make the whipped cream topping:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the heavy cream and sugar. Whisk on high until the cream just begins to thicken. Sprinkle in the instant vanilla pudding powder and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form. Scrape into a piping bag with a large star tip and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

To assemble the tart:
Spread a 1/4″ to 1/2″ layer of your favorite hot fudge sauce into the tart shell, spreading it an even layer. Gently spoon the coconut custard onto the fudge sauce layer and spread it into an even layer. Top with whipped cream and shaved coconut and chill until ready to serve. Makes four large servings or six smaller ones, if baked in an 8″ x 8″ square pan as seen above. Keep refrigerated.

Black & White Coconut Tarts - My Slice

Before you face plant into that last shot, be sure and check out these Theme Weavers and their crusted contributions to Pie Week:

Monday, Nov. 18:
Kirsten @ Comfortably Domestic – Mile High Apple Pie
Anne @ From My Sweet Heart – Cranberry Cherry Ricotta Pie
Haley @ The Girly Girl Cooks – Coconut Cream Pie
Katie @ The Hill Country Cook – New Mexico Apple Pie

Tropical Tuesday, Nov. 19:
Mads @ La Petite Pancake – Pineapple Pie
Monica @ The Grommom – Papaya Pie
Jeanne @ Inside NanaBread’s Head – Black & White Coconut Tart (that’s me!)

Wednesday, Nov. 20:
Kat @ Tenaciously Yours – Grandma’s Chocolate Pie
Carrie @ Bakeaholic Mama – Chocolate Cream Pie
Kirsten @ Comfortably Domestic – Maple Sweet Potato with Swiss Meringue

Thursday, Nov. 21:
Shanna @ Pineapple and Coconut – Boozy Pumpkin Eggnog Pie
Carrie @ Bakeaholic Mama – Sweet Potato Tartlets
Christina @ Buffy and George – Deep Dish Apple Pie

Friday, Nov. 22:
Madeline @ Munching in the Mitten – Sweet Potato Pie
Allison @ Decadent Philistines Save the World – Refrigerator Pumpkin Porter Chocolate Pie with Toasted Pumpkin Porter Marshmallow “Meringue”
Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain – Mini Butternut Squash Glazed Pie Stacks with Marshmallow Frosting

Saturday, Nov. 23:
Megan @ Country Cleaver – Biscoff Pie with Whiskey Mallow Fluff
Kirsten @ Comfortably Domestic – Berry Cherry Pie
Shanna @ Pineapple & Coconut – Persimmon & Pear Brandy Pie with Vanilla Bean Crumble

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November 8, 2011 · 7:30 AM

Pie Week: If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for Bananas Foster Fried Pies

Bananas Foster Fried Pies. No fooling. It's Bananas Foster. In a Fried Pie.


What do you get when you combine six gregarious bloggers with one fabulous pie dough recipe? Pie Week, of course! Kirsten at Comfortably Domestic inspired us when she posted a recipe for fabulous “no excuses” pie dough made in a food processor in mere minutes. Needless to say, I had to give it a shot. My last few attempts at pie dough failed miserably. Too dry. Too wet. Too flavorless. Too pathetic. Father, forgive me for I had sinned; Pillsbury pie dough from the dairy aisle had become my ‘go to’ for all things pie. But not anymore. Using Kirsten’s pie dough as our common denominator, the following bloggers decided to unite and shout our love of pie from the rooftops.

Want to know who’s participating?
Monday – Kirsten from Comfortably Domestic
Tuesday – Jeanne from Inside NanaBread’s Head (hey, that’s me!)
Wednesday – Kat from Tenaciously Yours
Thursday – Mads from La Petite Pancake
Friday – Megan from Wanna Be A Country Clever
Saturday – Allison from Decadent Philistines Save the World

Each of us will be posting our own pie selection using Kirsten’s amazing pie dough recipe as the common thread. My contribution came to me when I was contemplating what to do with a bowl of rapidly ripening bananas. A few minutes later, I was rummaging through my pantry and accidentally ran into a bottle of Bacardi. What? Like you’ve never done that before. But hey… this isn’t about me and my burgeoning booze stash. It’s about PIE, so let’s get to it!

The cast of characters - all laid out and ready to roll. Ha! I kill me.

NanaBread’s Bananas Foster Fried Pies:
Kirsten’s pie dough (link above; I doubled it)
3 tablespoons of your favorite rum (or more, to your taste)
24 individually wrapped Kraft caramels
1/2 cup of evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 ripe banana (ripe but still firm works best)
1 egg plus 2 tablespoons of water (for egg wash)
Oil for frying, approximately 24 ounces
powdered sugar for dusting

Start by placing a small skillet on the stove; add the rum, then turn heat on to medium. Once it starts to bubble lightly, use a long kitchen match or long-neck butane lighter to flame the rum and burn off the alcohol. Please be careful here. I don’t want anyone to get burned. Allow the rum to flame until it goes out on its own; reduce to 1 tablespoon. Pour the rum into a heatproof bowl and set it aside.

Unwrap your caramels and place them in a microwaveable bowl; add the evaporated milk. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring or whisking each time, until the caramels are melted and incorporated into the milk. Add the rum and vanilla; whisk until smooth. Set it aside and let it cool until it’s the consistency of creamy peanut butter. If you need to speed up the process, put it in the refrigerator. Just check it every 5 minutes to make sure it doesn’t get too firm.

While your caramel is cooling, flour your work surface and roll your pie crust thin (approximately 1/8th to 1/16th of an inch). You don’t want it too thick or it won’t fry properly and nothing is worse than a gummy fried pie. While we’re talking about rolling pie dough, I have to say that Kirsten’s version rolls beautifully. No jagged edges. No tearing. I could roll it thin and still pick it up to move it around without it tearing. So far, it’s a solid A+.

Look how smooth and perfect Kirsten's pie dough turns out.

Using a bench scraper (or a knife), cut the pie dough into 5″ squares. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and water for your egg wash. Working with four squares at a time, use a pasty brush or your fingers if you’re not fussy like me and brush each square with egg wash to help seal your edges.

Which came first - the caramel or the banana?

Place one tablespoon of caramel into the center of each square. Slice your banana on a bias to make longer, uniform pieces approximately 1/2″ thick. Place one slice of banana on top of the caramel on each square. Fold into a triangle and gently press the edges to seal. I like to let mine sit for a few minutes to give the egg wash time to do its thing. Using a fork, dip the ends of the tines in flour and gently crimp your fried pies. Set the crimped pies onto parchment or waxed paper and allow them to rest while you assemble the rest of the pies.

Make sure your oil is at 300F before you start frying.

In a large heavy-bottomed pan, heat 1″ of oil to 300F. I use canola oil, but you can use whatever you prefer. Once your oil is hot, fry the pies one at a time until they are golden brown on each side. I like to use a flat frying ladle and spoon hot oil over the top as they’re frying. This helps create those gorgeous bubbles in the dough. Check it out. (PS – I love the morning light at my kitchen window.)

Now that, my friends, is a perfectly fried Fried Pie.

Drain the fried pies on paper towels to absorb the oil and allow them to cool. To serve, dust lightly with powdered sugar and drizzle lightly with the remaining caramel sauce. If it’s too thick to drizzle, microwave it for 15-30 seconds, or until it softens enough to drizzle easily. Or you could skip the powdered sugar, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and drizzle caramel over that. Or you could skip the powdered sugar and the extra caramel and just eat these plain or with whipped cream. Trust me; these are plenty sweet on their own. Must be all those buttery sweet caramels. Mmmmm… caramel.

Crispy, chewy, sugary, gooey. It doesn't get any better than this.

If there are any pies left over {go ahead…I’ll wait until you stop laughing} wrap them in parchment or waxed paper and slip them into freezer bags. Store in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. To reheat, unwrap the pies and place them on a baking sheet. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, or until they are warmed through. Could you microwave them instead? Sure, but baking will help restore that crispy crust to the outside. And I’m all about crispy, flaky pie crust.

Thank you, Kirsten, for sharing your recipe with the world and for inspiring our pie shenanigans this week. See what you started? And speaking of – be sure to check in with Kat, Mads, Megan and Allison as Pie Week continues. There’s no telling what those ladies are up to, but it’s sure to be delicious!

Pie Week, Day 1 – click here to see Kirsten’s Monday entry – Apple Tart with a Cheddar Streusel Topping It’s sure to be an All-American family favorite.

Up Next: Kat at Tenaciously Yours tackles her first pie…EVER! Can’t wait for Wednesday to see it. Let’s just say they don’t call her ‘tenacious’ for nothing.

*UPDATE* November 16th is “Love the Pie” Party Day at www.TidyMom.net. Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom sponsored by Cherokee USA, Le Creuset, Wilton, Bags by Bloom and Harvard Common Press and browse the pie links bloggers are sharing. If you love pie like I love pie, you will not want to miss it!

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