Coconut Creme Pie

For dessert for the party, I decided to go with three fruity, summery desserts. I love coconut, and had some in the pantry, so I decided to try out a coconut cream pie. I went with Emeril's recipe because he's never given me a bad recipe! However, I made a graham cracker crust instead of a regular pie crust. It was delish!

Coconut Cream Pie

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3 cups milk

4 eggs, separated

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

Toasted coconut, for garnish, optional

Basic Graham Cracker Crust

In a nonstick 1-quart saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar and 2 3/4 cups milk together. Bring the milk to boiling point and scald the milk. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the remaining milk, egg yolks, and cornstarch together. Whisk until smooth. Temper the egg yolk mixture into the scalded milk. Bring the mixture up to a boil and cook for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is thick, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the flaked coconut, vanilla and butter.
Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Chill the pie completely, about 2 hours.

Crust:

2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 c. sugar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, press into a pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes at 350. Cool before filling.