Black Bottom Banana Coconut Cream Pie

Black Bottom Banana Coconut Cream Pie is a pie recipe built around brown sugar, heavy cream and heavy cream or half and half. Plan on 12 servings and about 320 minutes.

• Yield 12 servings
• Ready in 320 minutes
• Prep 300 minutes
• Cook 20 minutes

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
• 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

Instructions

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Refrigerate the pie until chilled, 1-2 hours.
7. 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).

Let the center settle before you cut it, or the slices will slump.