Coconut Tart with Spicy Gingersnap Crust

I needed a break from pie. Isn’t that awful? Who says that?

Every year for Father’s Day I make my dad a fruit pie. This year, I couldn’t get motivated to do it. I didn’t feel driven or inspired by any of my usual fruit pie variations. And actually, I hadn’t felt really inspired to bake much since we moved into our new house.

Did I mention that we bought a new house?

We’ve spent the last year unpacking, discussing color options, designing our gardens and sitting by our woodstove. A friend wisely said we would be nesting for a while, but didn’t expect settling into our new space to pull energy away from our other interests too. I guess it did.

Meanwhile, this all started to worry me. Was I giving up on baking? Who am I? What am I interested in now? What do I do next? Should I get rid of my cookbook collection?  Is it my interests that define me or something more complicated? The internal angst was intense and I was having crazy thoughts! Get rid of my cookbook collection? What?

Never fear dear reader, I got my groove back.  I was buying fresh local strawberries planning on slogging through a double crust strawberry something-something and then all of a sudden I had my plan. My plan! Inspiration was back! I had had a mini tart a week or so ago at another bakery. It had a cookie crust, vanilla pastry cream and away strawberries doused in powdered sugar. I wanted to make a version of that tart but make it better. And incorporate some of my dad’s favorite flavors.

I grabbed a few bags of spicy ginger snaps, a couple cans of coconut milk and some candied ginger chunks to go along with the strawberries. My dad loves ginger and coconut. I was going to make a ginger cookie crust, fill it with coconut pastry cream and top the whole thing with fresh sliced strawberries and thin slices of candied ginger. Ta-da!

I used Mi-Del brand gingersnap cookies. I like them because they are spicy and chewy and the chewiness carries over into the crust. No soggy bottoms here! You can find Mi-Del ginger snaps in natural food stores and in larger grocery stores in your area. I ground the cookies in my Cuisinart to make the cookie crumbs for the crust. You could also put them in a zip-top bag and bash them with a rolling pin until you have small bits.

The tart can be refrigerated without the sliced fruit for 24 hours. Add the sliced fruit and candied ginger just before serving.

Coconut Tart with Spicy Gingersnap Crust

 

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The combination of spicy ginger and creamy coconut would lend itself well to other fruits if strawberries are out of season. I plan to try this tart with mango or stone fruit. It would also be good with sliced banana in a pinch.

Author: A Tart of Gold

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 6 - 8

Ingredients

• 12 oz Mi-Del Gingersnap cookies coarsely broken
• ½ C unsalted butter, melted
• 32 oz coconut milk
• 5 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 10 oz sugar
• 3 oz cornstarch
• ¼ t kosher salt
• 4 T room temperature butter
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1 qt fresh strawberries sliced
• candied ginger, thinly sliced - optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In the bowl of a food processor, grind cookies to a fine crumb
3. Add melted butter to cookie crumbs and process until moist
4. Press crumb mixture evenly up the sides and over the bottom of a fluted 10 - 12" tart pan with a removable bottom
5. Bake the tart crust on the middle rack of the oven for 16 minutes. The crust will harden as it cools.
6. Meanwhile to make the pastry cream, bring the coconut milk to a slow simmer in a medium saucepan
7. Combine the eggs, yolks, sugar, cornstarch ans salt in a medium bowl. Whisk well to break up any lumps of sugar or constarch
8. Slowly pour a little of the hot coconut milk into the egg mixture while whisking rapidly to temper the eggs. Continue to whisk while pouring the rest of the coconut milk into the eggs. When the two are thoroughly combined, return the mixture to the saucepan
9. Whisk vigorously over medium low heat until the pastry cream starts to thicken.
10. Continue cooking and whisking for one minute more to fully cook and activate the starches
11. Strain the hot pastry cream through a fine mesh strainer suspended over a heatproof bowl. Any scrambled bits of egg will be left in the strainer.
12. Add the room temperature butter and vanilla to the pastry cream now and stir to combine
13. Press a piece of plastic wrap over the pastry cream and cool completely.
14. Once the pastry cream has cooled and before filling the tart, whisk the pastry cream well to bring it back to it's smooth consistency.
15. Gently release the tart from it's outer ring. Slide a thin spatula between the crust and the bottom of the tart pan to release the tart
16. Gently place the tart shell on your serving platter of choice. Any cracks can be hidden by the pastry cream and artfully arranged fruit
17. Gently spoon and smooth the pastry cream into the tart shell
18. The tart can now be covered and refridgerated for up to one day
19. Garnish with the strawberries and thinly sliced candied ginger before serving

Notes

It is very important to cook the starchiness out of the pastry cream without overcooking and scrambling the eggs. Patience and a strong whisking arm are key. Do not try to speed this process by increasing the heat.
Coconut pastry cream never looks as white or creamy yellow as regular pastry cream and can even look slightly gray in the pan. I am alarmed every time I make it. Do not fear. Once the tart is assembled the pastry cream will look creamy-white and delicious.
For the freshest appearance top the tart with the berries just before serving. The sliced berries and ginger can weep into the top of the tart if assembled too soon.

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