Last week I found myself shooting some freelance content that required me to stop into some of Toronto’s newest (and might I add prettiest) restaurants. One of the restaurants was a recently opened Jamaican spot called Chubbys and it also happened to be our last stop for the day. After shooting the photos I needed for my content, Jamie and I were both feeling hungry and the delicious scents coming from the kitchen told us we should probably eat there. We enjoyed the jerk chicken and chicken curry and they were both SO yummy. We also saved room for dessert where we ordered the coconut cream and passionfruit pie, which leads me into todays post. I enjoyed the tropical pie so much that I knew immediately that I wanted to try to recreate the flavours at home in the following days. I picked up all the ingredients this past weekend and got down to business. While these tarts took some time to put together, ultimately the delicious flavours were so worth the time and effort to put these together. I ended up being so proud of how these tarts turned out and I can’t wait to serve them up at any and all future dinner parties.
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup butter (cut into chunks)
- 1 egg yolk
- 4-6 Mini tart pans or 1 large tart pan
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup cream of coconut
- 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 vanilla bean (split)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 4-5 passion fruit
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pinch salt
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into chunks.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a food processor, process the flour, sugar and salt for about 10 seconds.
- Then add the chunks of butter and process until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
- Add the egg yolk and process again until the egg is thoroughly combined.
- If you are making mini tarts (tartlets), separate the mixture into 6 – 3 inch tart pans, and press the dough into the molds, making the sides slightly higher than the centre. Bake for 12-15 minutes, making sure to prick them with a fork several times, as the dough tends to puff up. Watch them carefully, as they go from not done to overcooked very quickly!
- If you are making one large tart, press the mixture into a 10 inch tart pan (making the sides slightly higher than the centre) and bake for about 15-18 minutes. Again make sure to prick the tart with a fork several times while baking, and watch it carefully.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk, cream of coconut, coconut, and the vanilla bean to a simmer.
- Remove from heat, an let sit for 1 hour.
- In a mixer, beat together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
- Beat together until thick and pale yellow.
- After the milk mixture has sat for the 1 hour, reheat it until it is hot again.
- Once the milk mixture is hot, slowly pour it into the mixer, while the mixer is going at medium speed.
- Once the cream is mixed thoroughly, transfer it to a saucepan and cook it over medium heat, whisking constantly, until boiling, and the mixture thickens.
- You can strain the cream through a sieve to remove the shredded coconut, but I like to leave it in the cream. It’s delicious!
- Let the coconut cream cool completely before adding it to your tarts.
- Make sure to stir the cream well before using.
- Slice each passion fruit in half and scoop the pulp into a blender. On low speed, pulse the blender to separate the seeds from their gelatinous membrane, but not enough to puree the seeds. Rest a fine mesh sieve over a small bowl and pour the passion fruit into the sieve. Use the back of a spoon to press out the juice, stirring and pressing several times, until you're just left with pulp and seeds in the sieve. Discard pulp and seeds. You should have about 1/2 cup of passion fruit juice.
- In a small saucepan, combine the egg yolks, passion fruit juice and sugar. Stir constantly over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat. Add salt and butter, one chunk at a time, stirring after each addition until the butter melts.
- Place a clean sieve or fine mesh strainer over a small bowl and pour the curd into the strainer. Stir the curd, pushing gently through the sieve (you're removing any egg solids from the curd by straining a second time -- and ensuring a silky smooth texture). Transfer curd to a serving bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap to the top of the curd to avoid a skin. Refrigerate until chilled. Can be made one day ahead.
- Allow the coconut mixture to cool before adding it to your tarts. Once cooled add a big dollop to the tarts making sure to leave some room for the curd so that it won't overflow when you place it on.
- Transfer the tarts to the fridge for at least an hour while the curd is still cooling at setting.
- Remove tarts from fridge and gently spoon passionfruit over top of the coconut cream tart
- Top with either fresh whipped cream or meringue
