Lime-Coconut Cream Pie

Photo: flickr user jasonlam

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups Flour

1/4 cup Shortening solid

3 tablespoons Butter cold, cut in small

Pieces

3 tablespoons Water cold, or a little

FILLING

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Cornstarch

4 lrg Egg yolks

1 tablespoon Lime peel, grated fresh

1/2 cup Lime juice fresh

cups Water

2 tablespoons Butter

TOPPING

3 tablespoons Water cold

2 teaspoons Unflavored gelatin

8 1/2 ounces Cream of coconut not

Coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 cup Whipping cream

Lime peel removed with

inch Vegetable peeler, cut

Sticks

Preparation

Prep: 40 minutes. Chill: 4 hours 15 minutes. Bake: 27 minutes. Total cost: $4.89. The creamy coconut topping is sublime with the slightly tartfilling. The pie can be made up to 3 days ahead.

Have a 9" pie plate ready. To make pastry in food processor: process flour, shortening, and butter with short pulses until coarse crumbs form.

Add water; process with short pulses just until water is blended. Remove blade, then dough. By hand: cut shortening and butter into flour in mediumbowl with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle onwater, 1 tb at a time, tossing mixture with fork until dough clumps together.

Gather dough into ball, then press into disk. Wrap and refrigerate about 1hour, until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin to 13" circle. Line pie plate with dough.

Foldedge under to form rim. Crimp or flute rim. Prick bottom and sides of shell with fork at 1" intervals. Chill in freezer about 10 minutes, untildough is very firm.

Line chilled pastry with foil and weight with about 2 c dried beans or pieweights. Bake 15 minutes, until pastry is just set. Carefully lift foil with beans and remove. Bake pastry 8-12 minutes longer, until crust is golden brown. Remove to a wire rack. Pour beans into container, cover tightly, and save for future pies. (Do not cook.)

Lime filling: Whisk sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan. Whisk in eggyolks and lime juice until smooth. Stir in water and continue stirring over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil, 5-8 minutes. Boil about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until filling is translucent and thick. Remove from heat. Add lime peel and butter; stir until butter melts.

Pour hot filling into pie shell. Refrigerate 45-60 minutes, until cooled.

Coconut cream topping: sprinkle gelatin on water in 2-quart saucepan and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Stir over medium heat with rubber spatula 1-2 minutes, until gelatin dissolves, liquid is clear, and no granules arevisible. Stir in cream of coconut and vanilla.

Beat whipping cream in medium bowl with electric mixer until stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted. Set pan of topping mixture in larger bowl ofice. Stir with spatula, reaching in corners and scraping bottom of pan.

Mixture will gel as it cools, about 3 minutes. When thick enough to moundwhen dropped from spatula, remove from ice. Whisk 1/2 c beaten cream intotopping mixture until smooth. With rubber spatula, fold in remaining whipped cream. (If necessary, return bowl to ice bath and continue gentlyfolding until mixture is spreadable, but not firm.) Spoon topping on cooledfilling, then spread to cover, swirling topping decoratively.

Refrigerateat least 2 hours, until firm enough to cut. Keeps up to 3 days, refrigerated. To serve, garnish with lime peel.