Coconut cream meringue pie

This is a weird pie. I'm telling you. Not that it tastes weird, but it has some funky ingredients in it. That said, it's a coconut lover's dream. And my friend Amanda is one of them.

A couple months ago I won a contest and received a bunch of coconut stuff at home. The pack included coconut cream and coconut oil so I figured using them would make the pie even more coconutty.

To make it extra extra special I used a chocolate pie crust. Looks good huh? On top of that, the actual pie filling plus a generous dusting with coconut flakes and of course, there's no pie without meringue on top. I love meringue. My mum loves meringue. It's a family thing you know.

Here are the ingredients and the possible substitutions.

For the chocolate crust
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 sticks unsalted butter, very cold cubed
1/4 cup very cold water

For the filling
8 tablespoons coconut cream + 2 cups of water (substitute for 2 cups coconut milk)
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons coconut oil (substitute for 2 tbsp butter)
1/4 cup cornstarch
(2/3 cup sugar, optional, I didn't add it)

For filling topping use 1 cup coconut flakes

For the meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 tablespoons sugar

To make the crust:
In a bowl, mix cocoa powder and flour until well combined. Add the cubed cold butter and mix with your hands, two knifes or a pastry cutter until pebbles form. Add the water and mix until smooth. Don't be lazy! Get your workout of the day!

Blind bake the crust at 350 F for 15 min.

To make the filling:
In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, coconut milk (cream + water) and coconut oil. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Second part of your workout: you're gonna have to whisk well to incorporate the cornstarch. If you get too tired you can always use a handmixer with a whisk attachment. Stir a small amount of the mix into the egg yolks and whisk well. This will bring the eggs to the mix temperature and prevent them from curdling. Add a little more mix, you can never be too cautious. Now add the eggs to the rest of the mix and cook for 2 minutes while whisking. Pour hot filling into the baked crust. Let it cool down for about 10 min and sprinkle with the coconut flakes. Set aside and let it come to room temperature.

To make the meringue and assemble the cake
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a bowl, preferably cold, add the egg whites and start whipping. When soft peaks form, add the cream of tartar and the sugar. Keep beating until hard picks form. Drop by tablespoonfuls (or pipe with a bag) over filling. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the meringue is golden. Cool on a wire rack for an hour and then transfer to the fridge for at least 2 hrs before serving.

After the hard work, eat a big piece!