Key Lime - Coconut Cream Pie

Key Lime - Coconut Cream Pie

The Man loves pie. His favorite is Key Lime, and his second favorite is Coconut Cream. So for his birthday, I usually make a Key Lime Pie. This year, I decided to get creative and try combining the two pies. This was really quite risky because I seem to find a way to mess up birthday desserts, even when I'm following a simple recipe. Usually it's a cake, though. I'm a little bit better at pies, so I guess that's why I was brave enough to try it. I wasn't brave enough to make my own graham cracker crust, though. I don't think I've ever made one that would actually stick together, so I just bought one. Anyway, here is the recipe. The recipes are each for a whole pie, but cutting them in half might not give you enough of each, so I would just make the whole recipe.

Key Lime Pie

You can make this part the day before you make the coconut cream part.

1 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk

4 large Egg Yolks

1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons fresh or bottled Key Lime Juice

Whisk the Condensed Milk and the Yolks together until they are well combined.

Add the Juice and whisk until combined and slightly thickened.

Pour filling into a baked nine-inch crust and bake for 15 minutes.

Cool Pie completely on rack and then cover and chill for at least eight hours.

Coconut Cream Pie

1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

3/4 cup White Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

2 large Eggs

1 1/2 cups Half & Half

1 1/2 cups Coconut Milk

1 1/4 cups Sweetened Flaked Coconut

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

In large saucepan, whisk Flour, Sugar and Salt together.

Whisk in Eggs, Half & Half and Coconut Milk until smooth.

Heat the mixture over medium heat, whisking frequently, until the custard comes to a boil and is thick.

Boil until you can see impressions from the whisk hold their shape in the custard (about one minute after it starts to boil.

Remove from heat and stir in Vanilla Extract and Coconut.

If you are making the Coconut Cream Pie only, pour it into a baked pie shell after you take it off the stove. If you are making the Key Lime - Coconut Cream Pie, let the Coconut Cream filling cool before spooning it onto the chilled Key Lime Pie.

Let the pie chill again for at least four hours, and then top with some Sweetened Whipped Cream and dig in!