Out & About #1151 | Coconut Cream Pie with Thai Tea Ganache Montée & Toasted Coconut

With every weekend comes a new project - a mission to maximize existing pantry ingredients before their demise. A coconut-centred creation was this round's object of desire.

1) ​Coconut Cream Pie with Thai Tea Ganache Montée

A) Pie Crust

The food processor pie crust that I had deemed a failure has been frozen for months now. It bothered me for its exorbitant freezer real estate. Naturally, it formed the basis of the recipe: I had to recover some space.

Against my better decision, I rushed to blind bake the crust before heading out to Vaughan. In hindsight, it was a good idea to bake in the morning, but a bad idea to start baking so close to my intended departure time.

Before the oven had adequately reached the blind-baking temperature, I removed the weight. I had also raised the oven temperature in an effort to quicken the process so I could leave the house. The combined actions led to puffing of the crust, which later solidified and resulted in an uneven base.

The bulge could not be deflated after cooling, for applied force would cause the entire crust to crack. Using a paring knife, I trimmed away the bulge instead.
About half the base was removed through this process, causing me to fret over structural stability.

B) Tempered White Chocolate Base

​Drawing inspiration from my Strawberry Custard Tart with Balsamic Glaze, I took to a layer of tempered white chocolate to seal the base.

Unfortunately, I had overestimated the amount required to fill the ridges. Unlike the Tart, a noticeable layer of white chocolate lined the bottom - detectable both in terms of thickness and prominent profile. A sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut was distributed as uniformly as possible, adhering to the chocolate layer.

On the first day of assembly, the chocolate had rendered the pie extremely rigid and impossible to slice. After chilling overnight and leaving at room temperature for an hour before serving, all portioning issues were somehow magically resolved.

​C) Coconut Pudding

The component known as "'coconut cream" in SK's recipe for Triple Coconut Cream Pie had spurred some reservations: Was it a custard? A pudding? A cream? Based on the images, it was allowed for clean slices. Based on the ingredient list, it sounded like it would weep and never fully stabilize.

I adhered to her recipe anyway, but made a few swaps while maintaining the overall quantity of liquid.

There did not appear to be a distinct reason for using half coconut milk and half regular milk, so I used the entire 400 ml can for the sake of simplicity. Making up the remaining amount of liquid was 70 ml of 2% milk. I also swapped gold rum for coconut rum, which seemed most reasonable given its availability.

Ingredients:

• 25 g AP flour
• 125 g granulated sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 2 eggs
• 70 ml 2% milk
• 400 ml AORY-D coconut milk

• 60 g unsalted butter, diced
• 9 ml vanilla extract
• 10 ml Coconut Rum

Directions

1. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium saucepan. Ensure that there is no flour stuck along the rim the pot.
2. Add in eggs and vanilla bean paste. Combine well.
3. Slowly add in coconut milk while whisking, followed by milk.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-high heat. In the meantime, mise the unsalted butter, vanilla extract, and coconut rum.
5. Allow the coconut custard to thicken, whisking vigorously to prevent clumps. Air bubbles should dissipate as the liquid evaporates and instead be replaced with large, slow bubbles at the base of pot.
6. Remove the custard from the heat and add in butter, vanilla extract, and coconut rum. Whisk until butter is fully incorporated.
7. Transfer to a heatproof bowl. Cover tightly with cling film and transfer to refrigerator until ready to use.

​Although I had adhered to SK's method of mixing together the dry ingredients, next eggs, and lastly milks, any future attempts would commence by whisking together eggs, sugar, salt, and flour first, then streaming in the wet ingredients as to prevent lumps.

D) Thai Tea Ganache Montée

​Pairing coconut with Thai tea was a no brainer for me. The method would involve infusion, which required raising the temperature of heavy cream beyond the allowable threshold for whipping. And so, a whipped ganache it was!

Ingredients:

• 159 g heavy cream
• 25 g Thai tea leaves

• 150 g cold heavy cream
• 150 g white chocolate couverture

​Total: 309 g cream

​​Directions

1. Combine Thai tea leaves and heavy cream in a heatproof pitcher. Bring to a simmer in the microwave. Cover and let steep for 10-15 minutes.
2. Place white chocolate couverture in a large heatproof bowl.
3. Strain Thai tea-infused cream over the chocolate using a fine mesh strainer. (A sieve will not work! Please take it from yours truly.) Mix well, until all chocolate is dissolved. If necessary, microwave at intervals of ten seconds to facilitate dissolution. Do not overheat, as a film could form on the surface.
4. Add in cold heavy cream. Mix well.
5. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
6. Beat mixture until the desired consistency is reached. Soft peaks are customary for cake filling, but stiff peaks are better for icing and finishing.

E) Toasted Coconut

The remaining unsweetened shredded coconut was toasted for decorating the pie, akin to SK's rendition. As opposed to merely dusting on top though, I opted to concentrate the strands between my utterly unplanned, queso-looking squiggles.

Ingredients:

• 45 g shredded unsweetened coconut

Bake at 325 F 5 mins, 350F 2 mins, then 325 F 2 mins.

As a consequence of uneven toasting, there was quite a drastic gradient observed. But this blunder contributed to unexpected visual appeal, much to my glee.

Truthfully, I wasn't sure what to expect of this concoction, but results were positively sublime. The pie was, in essence, a spinoff of SK's Triple Coconut Pie with the addition of a silky, potent Thai tea topping. Although I wasn't fond of the ganache montée bleeding into the underlying layer of coconut custard, the combination was irrefutably delicious and, most importantly, harmonious.

2) Cupcakes with Thai Tea Whipped Ganache & Toasted Coconut

An excess of ganache and toasted coconut prompted me to turn to a low-effort vessel to deplete the toppings. I immediately took to Sunday Baking's No Butter Victoria Sponge. The recipe used oil in place of butter, which not only eliminated the need to melt butter, but also proved more suited towards cupcakes for its ability to improve tenderness and retain moisture even after refrigerating.

​​It was an incredibly reliable yellow cake that readily received adjustments. My only error was overfilling the mini muffin tins slightly, which caused batter to climb from the centre and solidify on the side.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 50 g canola oil
• 100 g milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100 g  ̶A̶P̶ ̶f̶l̶o̶u̶r̶ cake flour
• vanilla extract 

Yield: 24 mini cupcakes - slightly overfilled though, so probably 26 level ones

​These cupcakes were extremely easy to construct, and even easier to frost and decorate. While the process of transferring the ganache to use a different piping tip was tedious and troublesome, beautiful swirls emerged with little effort. I had, unintentionally, beaten the ganache montée a tad too much, for graininess was beginning to show. The extensive beating had also rendered it structurally sound, which facilitated both transport and inverting the cupcakes into toasted coconut for coating.

​I was pleased with the turnout of both items: The cupcakes were bite-sized blessings of flavour, while the pie was a coconut lover's dream!

It was difficult for members of the office not to agree with my stance. Within two hours, the spread had vanished from the kitchen - no advertising necessary.

"You been at it again!"
"Another banger today."
"Thai tea?? Ganache??"
​
Word has now spread across the floor regarding my exclusive weekly drops, and the responses have been overwhelming positive and cheerful.

​The most important takeaway was the virtue of patience. Having tested three knives (paring, chopping, and serrated) against the tempered chocolate coating on the first day and failing to obtain clean slices, I angrily slide the pie into my plastic carrier without a second thought. In actuality, I had nothing to fear with regard to slicing and distribution. All it needed was time to thaw.