This is the ulitmate Coconut Cream Pie! It's starts with a buttery flakey pie crust then it's layered with a rich and luscious (non-runny) coconut custard, fluffy whipped cream and finished with toasted coconut. A must try pie recipe that's sure to impress coconut lovers!
Pulse 3/4 cup coconut in a food processor until ground into small pieces, about 1 minute, set aside. In a medium saucepan combine coconut milk, 1/2 cup of the milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and the salt.
Set mixture over medium heat, and bring mixture nearly to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl (or liquid measuring cup used to measure milk), whisk together remaining 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch until well blended.
In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks with remaining 3 Tbsp sugar until mixture is slightly pale, about 2 minutes. While whisking, pour 1/2 cup of the nearly boiling milk into egg yolk mixture.
While whisking mixture in saucepan, pour egg yolk mixture followed by cornstarch mixture into saucepan. Cook mixture until thickened, whisking constantly and vigorously to prevent curdling, about 2 - 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and add in cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and coconut extract, stir until well blended. Stir in ground coconut. Pour mixture into baked pie crust.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill 2 - 3 hours.
For the topping:
In a cold mixing bowl, whip heavy cream with remaining 3 Tbsp granulated sugar on low speed until thickened slightly then increase to high speed and whip until stiff peaks form.
Spread over chilled pie and top with toasted coconut. Cut into slices. Store pie in an airtight container in refrigerator.
Notes
Be sure to buy full-fat canned coconut milk. The canned kind is much thicker and richer than what's sold in cartons as a beverage.
Heavy cream is a must in this recipe. You can't use a substitute here, otherwise your pie might not set up properly.