Pina Colada Pie for Pensburgh

There was talk of having a baked goods recipe exchange at Pensburgh today among some of its Twitter users. (Thanks for the idea, @CariGoPens!) My favorite pastry has always been pie. This is a very summery one that won't heat up your kitchen too much. I had to make it tonight. It is actually half of an absurdly complicated recipe I found in Food and Wine magazine a few years back, poured into a pre-made pie crust. Even though this is a cocktail blog, there's no alcohol, sorry!

Pina Colada Pie

Nilla wafer pie crust, pre-made or homemade

COCONUT CREAM
2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

POACHED PINEAPPLE
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
10 thin lemon slices, seeded
1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
One 3-pound pineapple—peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (4 cups)

MAKE THE COCONUT CREAM: In a medium saucepan, combine the coconut milk with the sugar, butter and vanilla bean and seeds and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water; whisk the mixture into the coconut milk and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Discard the vanilla bean. Pour the coconut cream into a shallow bowl, press plastic wrap directly on top of the cream and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

MAKE THE POACHED PINEAPPLE: In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, lemon slices and vanilla bean and seeds and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the pineapple and cook over moderate heat until the fruit is translucent, about 15 minutes. Transfer the pineapple and its cooking liquid to a bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

MAKE THE PIE: Spoon pineapple onto bottom of pie crust. Spoon coconut cream on top of pineapple. Serve and eat!