Mini Coconut Cream Pies and Mini Vanilla Custard Pies

The weather was crazy last night. We watched Tangled with the boys (which was really cute) and got to bed at a reasonable time (about 10:15). We were exhausted from the stress of the day with the car...let's just say there will be lots of beans and rice around here for the next couple of months...so we thought we were going to get some rest. The key word here is "thought". At about 11:30pm, horrible thunder storms came through and I just could not sleep. The thunder sounded like what I would think a tornado would sound like. I've never been in one before (knocks on wood), but the rumbling would just keep going and get louder and louder. I laid there for hours just listening to it. Why can't we have these storms during the day...while I'm awake? Anyway, so I was going to get up and work out at 6:30am, but due to the lack of sleep, I turned the alarm off. However, I could not go back to sleep, so I should have gotten up anyway. Oh well, hopefully the extra 30 minutes of resting will help get me through the day. I see plenty of coffee in my future.

Since yesterday was such a wait and see day with the car, I did what I always do to relieve stress...I baked. The illustrator and I have been talking about pies lately ever since I made the lemon meringue pie and he has a few ordered up. Coconut cream was the first one. I needed the process to keep me busy, so I jumped into this one head on yesterday.

Since Jay is not a fan of coconut (well the texture, not so much the flavor), I decided to make mini pies and leave some as vanilla pudding pies.

This was actually really easy to make, you just have to go through the steps.

I baked off some gluten free pie dough in my jumbo muffin pan (I used my recipe, but you can use store bought).

Then I made my pastry cream. The egg yolks and sugar form into this beautiful pale, thick and cream mixture.

I used So Delicious Coconut Milk this time and it worked perfectly!

Once everything is cooled, I filled the pie shells with the pudding. 

Then I made my meringue. This stuff is a serious addition here. I never need whipped cream again.

The pastry cream is velvety, rich and creamy. It sets up really well too in order to hold up the meringue. 

I topped the coconut cream pies with toasted coconut to add a little extra coconut goodness (cause really, why not) and to be able to tell the difference between the vanilla and the coconut. 

Vanilla Pastry Cream

(makes 2 cups)

2 cups So Delicious Coconut Milk

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

5 TBSP cornstarch

14 drops vanilla NuNaturals Stevia

In a small sauce pan, heat the coconut milk to a boil.  Remove the milk from the heat and set it aside.  In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until it is fluffy and pale yellow.  Next add the cornstarch to the egg mixture and whisk until there are no lumps.  Now, whisk a little bit of milk into the egg mixture and mix completely. Slowly pour the rest of the milk into the egg mixture while it is being whisked. Next, pour the egg mixture through an strainer back into the sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes just to a boil and it has thickened.  Take off the heat and stir in the stevia. Pour into a container, cover the top of the pastry cream with plastic wrap sprayed with a little cooking spray(directly on it so it does not form a skin).  Allow to cool.  If you are going to use it immediately, just leave it out.  If it will be a while, refrigerate it and remove it about an hour before using.  

Coconut Cream Pudding

1 cup Vanilla Pastry Cream

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Mix well

Meringue Topping

3 large egg whites or 9 TBSP

3/4 cup sugar

1 dropper vanilla NuNatural stevia

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cream of tarter

In a large stainless-steel bowl, combine the egg whites with the sugar, salt and cream of tartar. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Beat the egg whites at high speed until stiff and glossy, about 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat, add the vanilla stevia and continue to beat at high speed until the frosting is cool to the touch, about 8 minutes longer. Use the frosting immediately.  It will store covered in the fridge for a couple of days, but it will stiffen up a bit.

This adventure definitely helped keep my occupied yesterday and it was a delicious end to the day!

I'm sharing this on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.