Triple Coconut Cream Pie

I bought some coconuts for props (because we're making a little video for church based on "Jungle Book".)  A friend is coming for dinner and said we should have the coconuts.  I've never used fresh coconut before, but decided to give it a try.  We have a lot of whipping cream in the fridge, so I decided to try this recipe from the Dahlie Bakery in Seattle.  I used the link from Family Friendly Food for the recipe.  (Clink the link for the details.)

I found this video was so helpful.  Since moving to the UK my grandma's never fail pie crust recipe hasn't worked so well.  I'm always on the lookout for how to make a decent pie crust and the video gave some great tips.  (Mainly to have everything, including the pie plate, very cold.)

The pie was good and rich.  But I made the crust a bit too thick!

I thought I rolled the pie dough thin enough but in hindsight I wish I would have gone thinner.

 And the tip about tucking the crust under around the top made it looked pretty.

Blind baked the crust, then made the coconut custard.

Cooled the custard and then poured it in the crust.

It took me ages to open the coconut.  I tried draining the coconut water.  Then a hammer.  Finally I just banged it against the cement step outside.  I cooked the coconut for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, which helped to peel it.  But it was still difficult to shave.

Then I browned the coconut.

Whipped the cream and then topped with the shaved coconut and shaved white chocolate.

Mini Lemon-Lime Pies

I used a key lime pie recipe from Southern Grace Gourmet.  Key limes are pretty hard to come by, so we used regular limes.  Maybe lime pie isn't that common here because I was talking to a friend and she thought I said we were having slime pie!  (Or maybe I don't enunciate very well.)

In the end we didn't have enough lime juice, so I used half lemon juice.  I don't know why I keep using muffin tins instead of a full pie plate, but mini pies it is.

I used a digestive biscuit base (1 cup digestive biscuit crumbs, 1/4 cup melted butter) and fresh whip cream as a topping (double cream with a bit of icing sugar and vanilla.)

For the lemon-lime filling:

Ingredients

1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
5 egg yolks
1 can of condensed milk (14 ounce or equivalent)
2-3 teaspoons of lime zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with papers and place the crust in each cup.  Press the crust up the sides to make a well.

In a bowl, add the filling ingredients.  (Niall's much better at grating than I am.)

Mix well.

Pour about 1/3 cup of filling into each muffin tin.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, remove from the oven and refrigerate for about three hours.  Before serving, whip the cream.