Coconut Cream Pie

Prepare gelatin

Add gelatin to small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of water. Stir and set aside.

Mix egg yolks

In a medium bowl, beat egg yolk and cornstarch with a wire whisk to combine.

Set up measuring cup

Set a 2-cup heat-proof measuring cup next to stovetop.

Heat milk mixture

In a 3-qt. or larger heavy-bottomed saucepan stir milk, sugar and salt together to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, just until it barely begins to boil. Then remove from heat.

Temper egg yolks

Pour 2 cups of hot milk into the measuring cup. Slowly pour the hot milk from the measuring cup into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Then, pour everything back into the saucepan and set it over low heat. Heat slowly to prevent eggs from scrambling—this should take roughly 15 minutes.

Thicken custard

Cook, stirring constantly until the custard is thick and begins to boil. Stir with a silicone spatula until it starts to thicken, then switch to a whisk. As soon as it thickens to the consistency of pudding and barely begins to boil, remove it from the heat and whisk vigorously for about 20 seconds longer.

Add flavorings

Break the gelatin into small pieces and drop them onto the hot pastry cream. Add 1 teaspoon of coconut extract and ½ teaspoon of almond extract. Stir to fully incorporate. Add more coconut extract if desired.

Chill pastry cream

Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap over the surface of the pastry cream. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 48 hours.

Toast coconut

Add the coconut to a large skillet and set it over medium heat. Cook the coconut, stirring frequently, until about half of the coconut is golden brown. (If you cook it much longer some of the pieces will begin to burn.) Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

Bake and cool crust

Bake the pie crust according to your recipe. Let the crust cool completely before filling. The crust can be baked up to 48 hours in advance—cover and store at room temperature.

Whip first portion of cream

Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat ¾ cup (6 oz.) of the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.

Combine with pastry cream

Remove the cooled coconut pastry cream from the refrigerator and add it to the whipped cream. Beat on medium speed with an electric mixer until fully combined, about 1 minute.

Fold in toasted coconut

Add 1 cup of the toasted coconut to the coconut pastry cream and stir to combine.

Fill pie crust

Scoop the coconut cream filling into the cooled pie crust, smoothing it out into an even layer.

Make whipped cream topping

Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the remaining ¾ cup (6 ounces) of heavy cream with the powdered sugar and an additional ½ teaspoon of coconut extract until stiff peaks form. Use pastry bag with a large star attachment. Pipe the whipped cream onto the top of the coconut cream pie in decorative mounds.

Garnish with coconut

Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of toasted coconut over the top of the pie.

Chill before serving

Refrigerate the pie until ready to serve.