Buko (Young Coconut) Custard Pie

Coconut is known to be the "tree of life" because it's highly valued as a source of food and medicine. Coconuts provide a nutritious source of meat, juice, milk and oil that has fed and nourished the Filipino population for generations.

Fresh Young Coconut

Did you know: Early Spanish explorers called it coco, which means "monkey face" because the three indentations (eyes) on the hairy coconut resembles the head and face of a monkey. 

According to the Food & Agriculture of the UN, Philippines is the largest producer of coconuts and naturally the versatile fruit is used as medicine, decorations, clothing, construction materials, instruments, jewelry and food!

Did you know: Coconuts are classified as a fibrous one-seeded drup. A drupe is a fruit with a hard stone.

Young Coconut Meat

The young coconut meat, buko, is tender, creamy and juicy. The delicious, buko pie is one of the most famous desserts from Laguna, 35 miles south of Manila, PHI. Wrapped in a flaky crust and filled with custard made with buko and condensed milk, it's a treat worth making for all special occasions.

Ingredients

Crust:
3 cups pastry flour
2 tbsp sugar
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter, diced
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
 6- 8 tbsp (1/2 cup) ice water
1 egg whites

Preparation:
1) Place flour & sugar in a bowl and stir. Cut in butter, using finger tips or a food processor with a steel blade and pulse until mixture is crumbly and butter is the size of peas.
2) Sprinkle ice water until dough comes together. Dump dough onto a floured board and divide into 2 equal balls, flattened. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out one dough into 11" circle then place onto a 9" pie plate. Smooth the dough into the bottom and sides of pie plate.
4) Trim off excess around edges of pie plate. Prick bottom & sides with fork. Blind bake for 15 minutes. Let cool and brush with egg whites, set aside.

Buko custard:
4 cups young coconut meat, 1" strips (frozen or fresh)
2 cups young coconut water, divided
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
egg wash (egg yolk & water)

Coconut Custard

Preparation:
1) In a medium saucepan, combine the coconut meat, 1 cup coconut water, evaporated milk, sugar and condensed milk. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often for about 8-10 minutes until mixture starts to simmer.
2) Stir in cornstarch with 1 cup coconut water to dissolve.

3) When mixture starts to boil, add cornstarch & coconut water, stirring quickly until mixture thickens. Will take about 5 minutes, then set aside.

Baked Buko Pie

Assembly:
1) Pour buko custard into the crust, smooth top.
2) Roll out the 2nd piece of dough into 11" circle. East on top of custard and pinch edges to seal crust.
3) Brush top of crust with egg wash.
4) Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
5) I like to let pie cool completely then at serve room temperature with ube ice-cream!!