BA's Best Coconut Cream Pie

10 servings

Preheat oven to 350°. Arrange 1¼ cups unsweetened finely shredded coconut in a thin, even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring halfway through, until golden brown, 5–8 minutes; let cool. Set aside ½ cup toasted coconut for the coconut caramel.

Pulse 4 oz. graham crackers (about 7), lightly crushed, 2 Tbsp. sugar, ¼ tsp. kosher salt, and remaining ¾ cup toasted coconut in a food processor until crackers are coarsely ground. With the motor running, stream in ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled, followed by 1 large egg yolk. Do not overprocess; you should have fine crumbs that are the texture of wet sand.

Transfer mixture to pie plate and press firmly and evenly up sides and across the bottom. Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crust is set and edges are brown, 12–18 minutes. Let cool.

Do Ahead: Crust can be baked 1 day ahead. Let cool, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature, or freeze up to 2 weeks.

Sprinkle a thin, even layer of sugar into a small heavy saucepan. Cook, undisturbed, over medium heat until mostly melted, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle another layer of sugar over and cook, stirring to incorporate granular sugar into melted sugar with a heatproof spatula, until melted, another minute or so. Repeat until you’ve used all sugar. Continue to cook, swirling saucepan (do not stir), until caramel is dark amber, about 30 seconds longer. Remove from heat and carefully pour in ¼ cup heavy cream, stirring to combine (caramel will sputter and seize up, but don’t worry).

Return saucepan to low heat and cook, stirring, until any hardened bits of caramel are dissolved. Stir in 2 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil, melted, until mixture is smooth, then fold in ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. plus ⅛ tsp. Morton’s kosher salt and reserved ½ cup toasted coconut. Let caramel cool in pan, then scrape into cooled crust and use an offset spatula to spread in an even layer. Cover with plastic and chill.

Do Ahead: Caramel can be made 4 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill. Rewarm over low heat before pouring into pie crust.

Place 3 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil, room temperature, in a medium bowl and set a fine-mesh sieve over top; set aside. Scrape vanilla seeds from 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, into a heavy medium saucepan. Add vanilla pod and one 13.5-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk, shaken. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until coconut milk is reduced to about 1 cup, 10–15 minutes. Add 1 cup half-and-half and bring to a gentle simmer.

Meanwhile, briskly whisk 1 large egg, 4 large egg yolks, 3 Tbsp. cornstarch, ¼ tsp. kosher salt, and ½ cup sugar in another medium bowl until pale and thickens, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly pour about ½ cup hot milk mixture into egg mixture. Go back to whisking milk mixture in saucepan, then slowly pour tempered egg mixture into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until foam has subsided and custard holds the marks of the whisk, about 2 minutes.

Immediately scrape custard into sieve and use a spatula to press mixture into bowl with oil; pluck out vanilla pod. Whisk strained custard until oil is incorporated and mixture is glossy and smooth.

Set bowl inside another large bowl of ice water. Whisk occasionally until custard is cool, about 3 minutes. Scrape custard into chilled pie crust and smooth top. Press a piece of plastic directly onto surface of custard to prevent a skin from forming, and chill until set, at least 3 hours.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat 1½ cups heavy cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk in remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar.

Remove plastic from surface of pie and dollop cream over set custard. Top with toasted coconut flakes.