Ingredients
- Pie Dough
- 4¼ cups (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut, finely grated
- ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons (3.5 ounces) sugar
- 3 egg whites
- ½ vanilla bean
- 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter, melted
- Filling
- ½ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
- 1½ cups whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (4½ ounces) Valrhona bittersweet chocolate (61%), finely chopped
- 5 yolks from large eggs
Directions
Pie Dough
Preheat the oven to 325° F. Combine all pie dough ingredients by hand until mixture comes together. Press the dough into six 5-inch pie tins. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Filling
Preheat oven to 250° F with rack in the middle position.
Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a 2-3-quart heavy saucepan with tip of a paring knife. Add the vanilla pod, milk, cream and sugar to the pan and bring just to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Add the chocolate and cook over moderately high heat, stirring gently with a whisk, until chocolate is melted and mixture just boils. Remove from heat.
Pour the mixture into a metal bowl and set the bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
Whisk in the yolks and pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a 1-quart measure, discarding the pod and any other solids.
Divide mixture among pre-baked shells. Bake until the pudding is just set around the edge, 40-50 minutes. Centers will wobble slightly when shaken.
Remove from the oven and let cool. Top with freshly whipped cream.
Nutritional Analysis:
Calories: 390 (per half pie), Carbohydrates: 27 g (per half pie), Protein: 6 g (per half pie), Fat: 31 g (per half pie), Cholesterol: 90 mg (per half pie), Sodium: 45 mg (per half pie), Fiber: 5 g (per half pie)
Recipe by Tracy Kamperdyk Assue, the executive pastry chef for City Limits in White Plains, New York, and Stamford, Connecticut.
Photo by Paul Johnson.
