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Coconut Cream Pie

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Ingredients
  

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 3 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 BAKED Pie shell

Pie Topping

  • 1/2 cup toasted coconut
  • 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • unflavored gelatin (optional)

Notes

Stir the cornstarch, sugar, and salt together in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in the milk to avoid lumps. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let boil for one minute. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl. SLOWLY whisk in some of the hot milk mixture to the eggs. Do this SLOWLY to temper the eggs and not scramble them. Then add the egg/milk mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the milk mixture. Cook and allow to boil for another minute - stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add in the vanilla, butter, and coconut. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then pour into your BAKED pie shell. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours until set and firm (Freeze for an hour before serving if want nice and firm slices)
Before serving, beat the whipping cream and sugar together to get stiff peaks. If you plan to keep the pie more than a day, sprinkle the gelatin over 3 tbsp cold water and allow to "bloom" for about 5 minutes. Then microwave for about 10 seconds and it once again becomes a liquid. Be sure to stir and make sure everything is dissolved. While the whipping cream is whipping, slowly drizzle the gelatin mixture over the cream at the soft peak stage. Then continue whipping to stiff peaks. Spread over pie and top with toasted coconut!
To toast coconut, stick coconut in oven at 400 on a cookie sheet for a few minutes, stirring as one side browns. This does not take long and will easily burn if you don't watch the coconut.