Coconut Cream Trifile "Pie"

I had quite a bit of poundcake leftover from Friday. I froze half, and I put the rest to use in this.

Danny had been reading a story that mentioned coconut cream pie. he asked if we could make one. I absently told him to go look for a recipe, and he immediately turned to the pie section of my 1950 edition of the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook.

"OK", I thought, "why not?"

Danny wanted chocolate whipped cream which turned out rather well (I used a few tablespoons of powdered cocoa rather than melting and cooling squares of chocolate). I put everything together earlier in the day and by this evening we had a really delicious dessert. Truthfully, it will be even better tomorrow when the poundcake has really absorbed the custard, but then it won't cut into attractive slices for a photograph on the cooking blog.

I cheated and toasted the coconut in a small frying pan on the stove. You really need to watch it when doing coconut that way, but it did save the hassle of heating the oven-and the house smelled so wonderful.

You Will Need:

Stale poundcake, cut into slices to fit the bottom of a pie plate
Custard (recipe follows)
3/4 cup coconut plus 1/4 cup for toasting as a topping
Whipped cream with optional cocoa and powdered sugar

For the custard:

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. AP flour
3 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup coconut

In a saucepan mix the sugar, salt, cornstarch, and flour. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil over medium heat. When mixture boils, cook one minute longer, then remove from heat. Add about 1 cup of the mixture slowly to the eggs and whisk quickly. Slowly add another 1/2 cup and mix well. Return egg mixture to pot and return to heat. Whisking constantly, return to a boil over medium heat and then cook one minute longer or until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla and fold in coconut. Remove to a clean bowl and cool. When slightly cooled, chill before using.

To Assemble:

Pour cooled custard over slices of poundcake in pie plate. Top generously with whipped cream, flavoured and sweetened to your taste, and then toss top with a scattering of toasted coconut. Chill several hours before serving.