Mini Coconut Cream Pie with Salted Lime Caramel was the delicious dessert served at our Cooking with Bobby Flay event. Read, Indulge & Share!
Mini Coconut Cream Pie with Salted Lime Caramel
Mini Coconut Cream Pie with Salted Lime Caramel is not a recipe for culinary wimps. Is it delicious? Yes it is! Is it hard to make? Not really. It just has quite a few steps. I even took a few short cuts, which I outlined below. Initially, I planned to make a much easier dessert for our Cooking with Bobby Flay Gourmet Group. That’s because I was up to my eyeballs getting our house ready for sale. Then I started to feel a bit sheepish. It is Gourmet Group after all and we only meet a few times a year. Clearly I can step up my game. With that in mind, this is the recipe that I selected.
As I mentioned in my initial post, I didn’t have much luck with the initial crust. Instead, I decided to use a crust which has more butter and was easier to press into the tins. If you don’t have 8 tins, you can make these crusts in batches. Once they cool for about 5 minutes, set them in the freezer to chill quickly. After chilling in the freezer for an additional 5-8 minutes, pop out the crust and make the remaining batch.
A Few Easy Buttons
While home made caramel sauce is wonderful, there are some equally great products that you can buy. I happen to have a jar of Stonewall Kitchen Sea Salt Caramel Sauce which I received as a hostess gift. I spooned the sauce into a small bowl and whisked the juice of 1 lime into the caramel sauce. What a tasty combination! It also works perfectly with the coconut cream pie. I recommend checking Lund’s & Byerly’s which carries Stonewall Kitchen products or the Bachman’s gift shop in Minneapolis.
The other easy button would be to skip the candied lime slices. I made them because I was serving them to my Gourmet Group. Even without the limes, the pies get a sprinkle of toasted coconut and a drizzle of salted lime caramel which provides plenty of flair and flavor. Enjoy!
Mini Coconut Cream Pie with Salted Lime Caramel
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 1/4 c. flour
- pinch salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 4 oz. 1 stick unsalted cold butter cut into 1/4″ pieces
- 1/2 1 large egg beaten (about 1 3/4 tbsp)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Topping for Pie:
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
Coconut Pastry Cream:
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 3 ounces cream of coconut such as Coco Lopez, whisked before measuring to eliminate lumps
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 egg plus 4 egg yolks
- 1 cup heavy cream
Salted Lime Caramel:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 lime juiced
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter chilled and cut into 4 pieces
- Fleur de sel for sprinkling
- optionally you can purchase a jar of sea salt caramel sauce and add juice of 1 small lime
Candied Key Lime Slices:
- 2 key limes
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Special Equipment
- 4 ” mini pie tins make the crust in batches if you have less the 8 tins
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a processor, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add cold butter slices and process to consistency of cornmeal.
- In small bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla. Add egg to the flour and process until it forms a ball. Remove dough from processor and press together with heels of your hand until smooth.
- Arrange 8 ungreased mini pie tins on a baking sheet. Pinch off about 1 tbsp. of dough, roll into a ball and then press into bottom and sides of pie tin. Repeat with remaining tins.
- Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Remove and cool.
Toasting Coconut – Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast in the oven, tossing once, until toasted, about 6-8 minutes.
Coconut Pastry Cream
- Bring the coconut milk and cream of coconut to a simmer in a medium saucepan.
- Add the sugar and cornstarch to the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk until combined, then add the egg and yolks and whisk on high speed until the mixture reaches a pale yellow color and it drops down like ribbons when you lift the whisk.
- Add a couple of ladles of the hot coconut milk mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to temper the eggs, then pour all of the egg mixture into the coconut milk saucepan and return to medium heat. Whisk vigorously and constantly until the custard starts to boil and thicken.
- Place a bowl into an ice bath (shallow large bowl of cold water and ice) and strain the pastry cream into the bowl to remove any lumps. Place a layer of plastic wrap on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate over the ice bath until cool and firm, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Whip the heavy cream in a medium bowl until it reaches stiff peaks, refrigerate until ready to use.
Salted Lime Caramel
- Add the sugar to a medium saucepan. Pour 1/4 cup of water and squeeze the lime juice over the sugar, swirling the pan to fully moisten. Cook over medium-heat until bubbling and deep amber in color, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, carefully whisk in the cream. Whisk in the butter piece by piece. Finish with a sprinkling of fleur de sel. Note: Optionally you can purchase a jar of sea salt caramel sauce and add juice of 1 small lime. I used Stonewall Kitchens Sea Salt Caramel Sauce.
Candied Key Lime Slices
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make a simple syrup: Heat the sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.
- Slice the key limes into 1/16-inch slices. Brush the slices with the simple syrup and place in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet making sure they do not overlap. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool before using.
Finish and Serve
- Whisk the coconut custard until it is light and smooth. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Spoon the mixture into the pie crusts. Top with the toasted coconut flakes. Place a spoonful of the salted lime caramel on each plate and place a pie on it. Drizzle with more salted lime caramel and garnish with a candied key lime slice.
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