Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, soft
- 1 cup Imperial Sugar Confectioners Powdered Sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Coconut Crust
- 2 cups unsweetened coconut
- 2 cups all-purpose flour*
- Strawberry Cream Pie Filling
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, very soft at room temperature
- 5 tablespoons Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup whipping cream, very cold
- 1-2 pints fresh strawberries
*Spoon & Sweep method: Use a spoon to fill measuring cup with flour until required amount is obtained. Scooping measuring cup directly into flour bag will firmly pack flour resulting in too much flour required for recipe.
Directions
- Oven temperature 350°F.
- Cream butter until smooth, add powdered sugar and mix more. Add egg yolk, vanilla, salt and mix until well combined but not light and fluffy.
- Combine flour and coconut in a food processor and mix until coconut is chopped very finely. (Without a food processor chop the coconut fine using a knife.)
- Add coconut- flour mixture in one step to the creamed mixture and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Press dough flat on a plastic food film lined cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator until firm enough to roll. About 1 hour or leave overnight.
- This dough tends to become soft very quickly during rolling. Tip: place 2 cookie sheets filled with ice cubes on the area where you will be rolling dough. This will keep dough longer cool and make it easier to work. Using the least amount of flour during rolling will give the most delectable result.
- Turn on oven. Sprinkle the work surface with a small amount of flour and roll dough 4 stacked credit cards thick. Place into a 9 inch pie tin and cut away excess dough.
- Place in oven and keep an eye on pie shell; if bubbles develop prick these with the tip of a paring knife. Bake until light golden, about 16 minutes, baking time will depend on thickness of pie dough. Set aside.
- To make the filling, ensure that cream cheese is very soft and at room temperature. Add sugar and vanilla extract and mix using a rubber spatula until smooth and creamy.
- In a separate bowl, whip cream to a thick and soft peak consistency. (Do not whip cream stiff as you would for decorating a pie.)
- Add half of whipped cream to cheese mixture and once folded in add remaining half. Do not keep folding once the mixture is smooth.
- Scrape into prebaked pie shell and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more.
- Wash and dry strawberries. Remove stem. Set strawberries straight up and cut thin slices from top towards bottom, do not cut all the way through.
- Twist strawberry to create a fanned appearance. Place on pie. Repeat until entire surface of pie is covered.
Imperial Sugar Insight
TIP: If in a hurry and you don't have time to make the coconut crust from scratch, a store-bought graham cracker crust works well too.