Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie

So you may or may not have heard that last week was national chocolate week! We had been invited round for dinner by some new friends and I offered to bring dessert.  I immediately thought of whipping up my coconut cream pie and then thought how amazing would a Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie be! 

So I began as usual by baking up a biscuit base...

and then making the deliciously thick coconut cream filling...

and then I added some melted Valrhona...

and mixed in all that chocolatey goodness! I didn't add too much as I still wanted the coconut flavour to come through but it was just enough to get a burst of chocolate too...

and lots of desiccated coconut.

Then it gets poured into your pre baked base...

topped with a delicious coconut cream...

sprinkled with some toasted shredded coconut...

and finished off with a drizzle of chocolate! 

Coconut Cream Pie is one of my new favourite desserts, but the addition of chocolate took it to new heights of tastiness!! If you don't believe me, there was a lactose intolerant guest at our meal who even helped himself to seconds! 

I converted the recipe this time around into metric measurements for all my UK followers, but if you prefer using cups or are on the other side of the pond you can find those measurements the last time I baked Coconut Cream Pie.

Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie:

Serves 14-16

Adapted from Cupcake Crazy Gem

Base: 

300g Hobnobs/crushed biscuits

110g unsalted butter (melted)

Filling:

 140g caster sugar

30g corn flour

240g coconut milk

240g whole milk

10g vanilla bean paste

30g unsalted butter (cut into cubes)

60g/3 egg yolks

60g/1 large egg

60g chocolate (I used 68% Valrhona)

50g desiccated coconut 

Topping:

475g double cream

80g coconut milk

56g caster sugar

 A handful of shredded coconut (toasted)

Melted chocolate for drizzle

Preheat oven to 150 degrees c.

Melt butter in a pan on the hob (or in microwave in short low heat bursts).  Crush your biscuits up in a food processor (or like me in a zip loc bag with a rolling pin).  Mix the butter into the biscuits and spread your biscuit base into your pan.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Whilst that is baking, pre mix the caster sugar and the corn flour together with a whisk in a saucepan.  Add the coconut milk, whole milk, vanilla bean paste, butter, egg yolks and whole egg into the pan as well.  Heat all ingredients on a medium-high heat on the hob for 5 minutes, or until all of the butter has melted and all the ingredients are well mixed together.  Mix for a further five minutes until the mixture thickens (the original method I followed instructed you to do figure of 8's with your whisk at this point, I'm not sure if it's actually necessary but I did it anyway!).

Remove your pan from the heat.  In a separate pan or in the microwave melt the chocolate.  Add it to the coconut cream filling which is still in the pan.  Add the desiccated coconut and mix everything together.

Pour it into your biscuit base that you have removed from the oven.  Leave it to firm up in the fridge for an hour, I left mine overnight.

Sprinkle a few handfuls of shredded coconut or however much you would like for your decoration on to a baking tray.  Place it under the grill and watch it as it can burn very quickly! You want it so that it is lightly toasted, with some pieces brown but not necessarily all pieces.  Approx 3-5mins.  Take out the oven and leave to cool.

Add the double cream and coconut milk to your mixer.  Whip on medium speed until it begins to thicken. Add the caster sugar a little at a time, increase the speed to high and whip until stiff.  

Remove your pie from the fridge and top with the coconut cream.  

Sprinkle the now cooled toasted coconut on top and finish off by melting chocolate, putting it in a piping bag and drizzling it over the top of the pie.

I'm sharing this over at The Tuesday Talent Show - go check out the other amazing things bloggers have been creating this week!