Passion Fruit Pie with Coconut Cookie Crust
I have made this pie for many occasions, always with a mixture of lemon and lime juice, and sometimes, just with lime juice. Today, on a whim, I defrosted some passion fruit puree I just happened (oh, me!) to have in my freezer and substituted it for the usual citrus.
Oh boy. If you are like me and love passion fruit as much as I do, then you are in for a treat.
If you can’t find passion fruit puree (You can often find it at Latin American markets or restaurant suppliers with a retail wing, such as Baldor.), pick a favorite citrus to flavor the pie with. All lime? A lemon and lime blend? Will you be fancy and use Meyer lemons? Or in a hurry (and with no judgement from me) and use bottled Key lime juice? My only rule: Do not use citrus juice from one of those odd plastic containers shaped like a lemon or lime.
Plan accordingly: This pie needs to chill for 4 hours in the refrigerator before serving.
Passion Fruit Pie/Lemon-Lime Pie with Coconut Cookie Crust
(Read carefully: The ingredients list has a passion fruit option and a regular citrus juice option. Choose one.)
What You Need:
For the crust:
1 7-ounce bag Tate’s coconut crisp cookies*
6 tablespoons softened butter
½ teaspoon sea salt, such as Maldon (If you don’t have, don’t go crazy and buy it. You can substitute kosher salt.)
For the filling:
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
If making passion fruit pie use 1/2 cup passion fruit puree and 2 tablespoons lemon juice
OR:
If making a citrus-juice pie of some sort, use ½ cup lime juice (or citrus juice of your choice)
2 teaspoons citrus zest
What You Do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Find the 8-inch pie pan that you know you have somewhere. Discover you don’t have one and drive to the supermarket to buy yourself a Pyrex one, which you’ll be glad you have in the long run because it ensures a lovely golden crust.
3. Place the cookies in a large zip-top plastic bag, press the air out and seal. Crush the cookies into a coarse meal. Pour into a bowl, add butter and salt and blend with your hands/a spatula until the mixture resembles moist sand. Think about how you aren’t at the beach, but still at home in your kitchen, which really needs the floor mopped. Marvel that you could be at the beach now if you’d only looked for a beach house to rent back in February when the prices were affordable and now you’re never going away because all the houses available are either rat traps or cost 40K a week. Wonder at why you don’t have the kind of friends who have vacation houses you could borrow.
4. Remind yourself pie solves all problems and resume baking. Press the cookie mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan. Chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator, then bake for 15 minutes or until light golden in color.
5. Meanwhile, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, lime juice and zest until completely blended. Bake for 15-18 minutes until just set. (This means it will jiggle a bit in the center if you give it a nudge. It should not be loose.
6. Cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate at least 4 hours, or until ready to serve.
Clever Things You Could Do:
I like to serve this pie garnished with whipped cream. Or if I’m feeling especially ambitious, I make meringue kisses to use up the leftover egg whites from making the pie filling and decorate the pie with those. Note: This kind of ambition is rare. Egg whites can also be frozen up to 12 months. Alternatively, you could make yourself an egg-white omelet and just relax already.
Use the egg whites to make a baked meringue topping
Garnish a lime version of the pie with whipped cream made with a tablespoon or two of tequila whipped in at the end.
Garnish with whipped cream and toasted coconut.
*Can’t find Tate’s? Substitute shortbread cookies or any other crisp buttery cookie.
