heavenly hawaiian haupia pie

Hi! This is Sandy from Sandy a la Mode .My husband and I love visiting the islands of shaved ice, luaus, leis, beautiful beach weather...oh, heavenly Hawaii! Our first trip together in Hawaii was for my best friend's wedding, when we visited Oahu and Maui. Our second time there was for our honeymoon, when we visited Hawaii (Big Island) and Kauai. We loved exploring Hawaii's natural beauties: the cliffs, beaches, waterfalls... and, of course, the delicious beauties: shaved ice, lava flows, maui onion chips, pupu platters, loco mocos and haupia pie.

What is haupia pie, you ask? Well let me tell you, Lola Girl's readers...haupia is essentially coconut pudding. Add in the word pie and you've a got a flaky crust, chocolate (or vanilla), whipped cream topping and a heavenly slice of the dessert that defines a Hawaiian luau. My husband and I first had haupia pie in Ching Young Village in Kauai. A quick web search shows that Ted's Bakery may be the best place to get it in Oahu, but I bet the locals know of other hidden gems! After we had this dessert we could not stop thinking (and drooling) about it. One day after returning from a business trip, my sweet husband even surprised me with a homemade version of it! We never really had a "song" to define our relationship but this was the "dessert" that defined our relationship. ;)

So because we are all jealous (well, at least I am) that Jozen and her family are in beautiful, sunny Hawaii right now, please take the following ingredients out of your pantry/fridge so you can follow along and make your own slice of Hawaiian heaven! :P

Ingredients (taken from Allrecipes)

• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust


• 1 cup milk


• 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk


• 1 cup white sugar


• 1 cup water


• 1/2 cup cornstarch


• 7/8 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream


• 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake crust for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.


2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, coconut milk and 1 cup sugar. In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in water. Bring coconut mixture to a boil. Reduce to simmer and slowly whisk in the cornstarch. Continue stirring mixture over low heat until thickened, about 3 minutes.


3. In a glass bowl, microwave chocolate chips for 1 minute or until melted. Divide the coconut pudding evenly into two bowls. Mix chocolate into one portion. Spread on the bottom of the pie crust. Pour the remaining portion of pudding on top of the chocolate and spread smooth. Refrigerate for about an hour.


4. Whip cream with 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. Layer the cream on pie; if desired garnish chocolate shavings (I added toasted coconut shavings, which made for a nice contrasting texture!)

This really is the PERFECT summer dessert for a party, BBQ or picnic! It takes a couple hours from start to finish but you will be soo happy you made it, girl scout's honor! I've also seen some recipes that used graham cracker or Oreo for the crust or vanilla, banana, or even sweet potato for the filling. By the way, did you notice the beautiful, flowery fabric I used in these last three photos? Hop on over to my blog, Sandy a la Mode, to see what I made with it with an easy sewing tutorial (hint: it's something you can wear)! :)