Coconut Cream Tart with Chocolate Macadamia Nut Crust

Oh my lord. When I was poking over Sweet and Crumbly earlier last week, we got to talking about restaurants on Kauai. Geni had just come back, and I'll be heading out in 5 weeks time.

She posted a picture of some seriously delicious looking Haupia Pie, and I got to wondering about doing some kind of riff off the chocolate-coconut-macadamia nut pie, except making it vegan.

It was a challenge I was SUPER excited about tackling.

I whipped up a simple coconut custard and poured it into a macadamia-coconut version of the hazelnut crust I did a few weeks ago. My intention was to make this a frozen tart, but after tt set up in the freezer for a couple of hours, the night was coming to an end. So, it was whipped out early and was quickly inhaled by three of us during the end of  Bachelorette.

YUM.

Coconut Cream Tart with Chocolate Macadamia Nut Crust

Ingredients

for filling

1 cup almond or soy milk
1 cup coconut milk
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp coconut extract
1 ripe banana
1 oz grated chocolate
¼ cup flaked coconut

for crust

½ cup macadamia nuts 
¼ cup flaked unsweetened coconut
¼ cup oats
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. For filling: In a measuring cup, whisk together almond and coconut milks. Set aside. In a saucepan set over medium heat, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add in coconut milk mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Stir in vanilla and coconut extracts. Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Press the plastic directly onto the custard, so it does not form a skin. Set in fridge to chill. Mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.

2. For crust: Heat oven to 350º. Spread macadamia nuts, coconut and oats on a baking sheet. Toast for 5 or so minutes, or until just beginning to colour. Place nuts, coconut and oats in a food processor and pulse 2-3 times, just to break up the mixture. Add in the remaining crust ingredients and pulse until mixture is crumbly. Pat into a greased, parchment lined 6" springform pan. Be sure to form a rim up the wall of the pan to keep the custard in. Set aside in freezer to chill for 30 minutes.

3. To assemble: Remove crust from freezer. Slice banana thinly and place directly on top of crust. Pour custard over bananas. Sprinkle with grated chocolate and flaked coconut. Place back in freezer for 1-2 hours, until just beginning to freeze. Serve with additional grated chocolate if desired.

Toasted Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies with White Chocolate

This summer, Phil and I are going on vacation in Hawaii - we'll be escaping on our own in Kauai for a bit before joining my parents at the condo they've rented in Kauai and then we're all going back to Maui.

I've been dreaming of this:

View to Kahului from the Waihe'e Ridge Trail

and this:

Eggs Benny /w Portugese Sausage and Coconut-Pineapple Pancakes at the Hula Grill Waikiki

And the trees at the Kahana Village (I took this picture from my seat at dinner the night before my husband and I were married:

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And most of all the water. God. I love the water.

Kahekili Beach, Maui

All the thinking and dreaming of my summer vacation has me salivating for island food. So, riffing off of the vegan brownie bites I did last week, I played around and came up with this recipe. The coconut oil just called for more coconuty goodness, you know?

Toasted Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies with White Chocolate

Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt (if you're feeling adventurous, replace the salt with 1½ tsp white miso! Inspiration here.)
1/3 cup almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp coconut extract

¼ cup chopped toasted macadamia nuts
¼ cup toasted flaked coconut
¼ cup coarsely chopped white chocolate (use dried pineapple or mango if you want to make these vegan)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. In a large bowl, stir together first 6 ingredients (oatmeal through salt). In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients (milk through extracts). Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir, just to combine. Stir in chopped hazelnuts and coconut and white chocolate.

3. Divide batter into 20 balls (roll with your hands), and place on parchment lined baking sheets about 1" apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Do not overcook these! You want them to be nice and chewy.

4. Remove from pan and let cool on rack. Keeps in an airtight container for 3-4 days.