Macadamia Coconut Cream Tart Food

MACADAMIA NUT CREAM PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, coconut and salt in a food processor until the coconut is finely chopped. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal with pea-size bits of butter. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough begins to come together (add more water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, if necessary). Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat into a disk. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out the dough into an 11-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the overhanging dough under itself and crimp the edges with your fingers. Pierce the bottom all over with a fork. Refrigerate the crust until firm, about 15 minutes. Line the crust with foil, then fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until golden all over, 10 to 15 more minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Heat 1 1/2 cups milk and the macadamia nuts in a medium saucepan over medium heat (do not boil). Whisk the egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, the cornstarch, vanilla and the remaining 1/4 cup milk in a bowl until combined. Gradually whisk half of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, then pour back into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens and just begins to boil, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the white chocolate until smooth. Transfer the filling to a large bowl and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
• Once the filling is cool, bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Whisk the egg whites and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over the pan (do not let the bowl touch the water) and whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is warm. Remove the bowl from the pan and beat with a hand mixer until the egg whites are glossy and stiff, about 5 minutes. Fold the beaten egg whites into the filling, then spread in the prepared crust. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Just before serving, make the whipped cream for topping: Beat the heavy cream and confectioners' sugar with a mixer until medium peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe around the edge of the pie. Top with the macadamia nuts and toasted coconut.

COCONUT CREAM TART WITH MACADAMIA NUT CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. In a baking pan toast nuts in one layer in middle of oven until golden, about 10 minutes, and cool. Finely chop 2/3 cup nuts. Coarsely chop remaining 2/3 cup nuts and reserve. Cut butter into pieces.
• In a bowl with a pastry blender or in a food processor blend or pulse together finely chopped nuts, flour, sugar, and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yolks and blend dough until it begins to come together but is still crumbly. Press dough in bottom and up side of an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Chill crust 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Bake crust in middle of oven until golden, about 25 minutes, and transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Make filling:
• In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over rum to soften 5 minutes. In a bowl whisk together yolks, sugar, and a pinch salt. In a large saucepan bring coconut milk to a boil and remove pan from heat. Gradually whisk half of coconut milk into yolk mixture and whisk back into pan with remaining coconut milk. Cook custard over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and a thermometer registers 170°F, about 12 minutes (do not let custard boil). Remove pan from heat and add gelatin mixture, whisking until gelatin is dissolved. Transfer custard to a bowl to cool and chill, stirring frequently, until thickened but not set, about 30 minutes.
• Beat cream until it just holds soft peaks and fold gently into custard. Pour filling into crust. Chill tart until filling is set, about 4 hours.
• Remove rim of pan and sprinkle tart with coconut and reserved nuts.

DARK CHOCOLATE COCONUT CREAM TART

Steps:

• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom. Pulse the toasted almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add the cookie crumbs, granulated sugar, and salt. Pulse until combined. Gradually add the melted butter and pulse until a dough forms. Pat the mixture into and up the sides of the tart pan. Bake until the crust is set, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
• Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the heavy cream and corn syrup to a simmer in a small saucepan. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Pour the ganache into the prepared crust. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• For the filling: Bring the coconut milk and whole milk to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until pale and thickened. Gradually add a quarter of the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly. Whisk in the remaining milk and return the mixture to the saucepan.
• Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens (do not boil). Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, vanilla, and toasted coconut. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until cooled, about 30 minutes.
• For the almond whipped cream: Beat the heavy cream and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Add the almond extract, if desired, and beat until stiff peaks form.
• Spoon the whipped cream over the tart and garnish as desired.

MACADAMIA COCONUT TART

Steps:

• Roll out dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Fit into tart pan and trim edges. Chill shell until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork, then line with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until deep golden, 10 to 15 minutes more. Leave oven on.
• Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined, then whisk in melted butter, nuts, and coconut. Pour filling into tart shell and bake until set in center, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 30 minutes, then remove side of pan and cool tart to room temperature, 1 1/2 to 2 hours more.

CHILLED LIME-COCONUT PIE WITH MACADAMIA-COCONUT CRUST

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind cookies and nuts in processor. Transfer to medium bowl. Mix in coconut. Add butter and stir until blended. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter metal or glass pie dish. Cover and freeze 30 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead. Keep frozen.) Bake until crust is golden, about 20 minutes. Cool completely.
• Make filling:
• Whisk first 4 ingredients in 4-cup measuring cup or large bowl to blend.
• Pour 3 tablespoons cold water into small metal bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes. Set bowl in small saucepan of barely simmering water; whisk until gelatin dissolves, about 1 minute. Whisk into coconut mixture. Pour into crust (filling will reach top of crust). Chill until set, about 4 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)
• Beat cream and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe around edge of pie. Dip lime rounds into additional powdered sugar. Garnish pie with lime.

CARAMEL MACADAMIA NUT TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom of a 10-inch removable bottom tart pan with a circle of parchment paper.
• In an electric mixer, beat together all the crust ingredients until smooth and creamy. Pour the batter into the prepared tart pan and bake for 15 minutes, or until the crust is set.
• For the filling, combine the butter, agave nectar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. The mixture should reach 250°F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream, nuts, and vanilla extract. Pour into the prebaked crust and return to the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden and bubbly.
• Important note: place the tart pan on a baking sheet before placing in the oven. This will prevent the caramel from dripping inside your oven and make it easier to remove the hot tart from the oven.
• Cool the tart to room temperature, then refrigerate for 4 or more hours. It will look a bit gooey at first, but the caramel hardens when refrigerated. When the tart has set, carefully cut out wedges, remembering to peel off the parchment paper. This tart is difficult to remove as a whole from the pan because of the hardened caramel topping, so you'll need to cut it into individual pieces to serve. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.