Pina colada tart

Pina colada is a popular cocktail that consist of three important ingredients, those are pineapple, coconut and rum. It served as my inspiration for the pina colada tart. The flavors of this dessert remind me of long summer days and drinking cocktails at the beach.

Making this tart is quite simple, the bottom of a tart forms a basic sweet pastry crust that is filled with coconut and rum pastry cream. The tart is topped with fresh pineapple cooked with rum and sugar. I wanted to use fresh pineapple, it gives the dessert a nice acidic tang and isn't overly sweet. If you can't get a hold of a fresh pineapple you can always use a caned version, just skip adding any sugar to it. I adapted this recipe from the Joy of baking web site, which features a lot of delicious sweets and treats and it is worth taking a look.

The most important thing, when making this dessert is, that you bake and cool the pastry before pouring in the rum and coconut pastry cream. If you pour the pastry cream in a hot tart shell you will end up with a (still delicious) coconut soup. It is also important that you chill the pastry crust before baking and do not skip the pastry resting time in the fridge.

The tangy and sweet pineapple works deliciously well with a creamy coconut, and the rum gives the tart a grownup twist. You can enjoy the tart plain or with some whipped cream and/or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Pina colada tart

(Makes one large 20cm)

Time:

Preparation: 30min

Resting: 45min

Baking: 20min

Cooling: 20min

For the pastry:

• 195g plain flour
• 113g room temperature butter
• 50g granulated white sugar
• 1 room temperature egg
• a pinch of salt

For the rum-coconut pastry cream:

• 240ml whole milk (180ml+60ml)
• 300ml dried coconut (75ml for garnish)
• 360ml coconut milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 165g granulated white sugar
• 35g cornstarch (corn flour)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 28g diced butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons rum (I used a combination of dark rum and Malibu)

For the pineapple topping:

• 1/2 large pineapple
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon rum (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon water

Making the pastry:

Put the flour and salt in a bowl and lightly whisk, set aside. Place the butter in the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer) and beat until softened. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg, beating just until incorporated. Add the flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a ball. Flatten the pastry into a disk, cover with plastic foil, and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. Lightly butter and flour the tart shell(s). Roll the pastry into the desired shape and size and gently place it in the tart shell. If you don't want to roll out pastry, you can just evenly pat it down to the bottom and sides of the tart shell. Lightly prick the bottom of the pastry crust with a fork, to prevent the dough from puffing up when it bakes. Cover with plastic foil and put it in the fridge for another 15 minutes. meanwhile preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Bake the pastry case blind (put pie weights or rice on the parchment paper in the tart shell before baking to prevent the pastry from shrinking and puffing up) for around 15 minutes. Take out the pie weights or rice and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Set aside to cool.

Making the rum and coconut pastry cream:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), place the dried coconut on a baking tray and bake for about 5-10 minutes or until brown. Be careful not to burn the coconut and be sure to stir it a few times to ensure even browning.

Remove from the oven and cool before using.

Place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk with the 60ml of milk. In another bowl whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add the sugar mixture to the egg yolks and whisk until smooth, set aside.

Bring the remaining milk (180ml) and the coconut milk to the boil. When the milk just starts to boil, remove from heat and slowly add the milk to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.

Pour the mixture through a strainer into a medium sauce pan and cook until it becomes thick, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter, vanilla extract and rum. Stir in 3/4 of the toasted coconut, saving 1/4 for the topping. Pour into baked and cooled pastry crust, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.

Making the pineapple topping:

Cut the pineapple into small pieces and place in a medium sized saucepan. Put on medium heat and add the brown sugar. Cook the pineapple until tender and the sugar dissolves. Add the rum and water and cook until the sauce slightly thickens. Set aside and cool.

Assembly:

Take the pastry with the coconut filling out of the fridge. Place the pineapple evenly over the coconut filling, pour over the cooking pineapple juices. Sprinkle over the leftover toasted coconut and serve.