Black Bottom Banana Coconut Cream Pie
Ingredients
Coconut Graham Cracker Crust:
- 1 ½ cups (150 g) graham cracker crumbs, about 11 rectangle graham crackers
- ½ cup (43 g) toasted shredded coconut (see note)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter, melted
Chocolate Ganache:
- ½ cup (85 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy cream
Pudding Filling:
- 1 (13-ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream or half and half
- 3 large egg yolks
- ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 2-3 medium bananas, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
Topping:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup (29 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (43 g) toasted shredded coconut (see note)
Instructions
- For the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all the crust ingredients together until evenly moistened. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8-9 minutes until very lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- For the ganache, heat the cream to a simmer in the microwave or on the stovetop. Add the chocolate chips. Let sit for 3-5 minutes until the chocolate chips are melted. Stir until glossy and smooth. Spread evenly over the bottom of the cooled crust. Refrigerate until ready to assemble the rest of the pie.
- For the pudding, in a medium saucepan, add the coconut milk, cream (or half and half), egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt and whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking or stirring constantly. Cook until large bubbles pop at the surface the mixture has thickened.
- Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla and coconut extracts. Note: if the pudding separates or looks curdled at this point, whisk it vigorously for a minute or two until it comes back together (it will; I promise). Strain through a fine mesh strainer (optional, but helps get rid of small lumps). Press plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding and refrigerate until no longer warm, 1-2 hours.
- To assemble, place banana slices in a single layer over the ganache. Spread half of the pudding over the bananas, spreading all the way to the edges to cover the bananas completely (so they don't brown). Top the pudding with another layer of sliced bananas and then spread the remaining pudding over the top, spreading all the way to the edges.
- Refrigerate the pie until chilled, 1-2 hours.
- For the topping, whip the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla together until thick and creamy (I use my blender; you can use an electric handheld or stand mixer). Spread whipped cream over pie and top with toasted coconut. At this point, the pie can be served immediately or refrigerated for another 1-2 hours (much longer and the whipped cream may get a little weepy and put off liquid).
Notes
Toasted Coconut: I use this microwave method to easily toast the coconut. You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut.
Crust: if using sweetened, shredded coconut, you can leave out the brown sugar for a less sweet crust.
Coconut Milk: use the coconut milk that comes in a can, not in cartons in the refrigerated section. You can use light or regular coconut milk, but the coconut flavor seems to be more prominent in full fat coconut milk.
Make-Ahead Tips: all of the components can be made several days ahead of time and refrigerated. Because the bananas tend to brown if made more than 12-18 hours in advance, if all the layers are made, it can be assembled quickly. The ganache will harden in the refrigerator, lightly warm in the microwave until just spreadable.