Chocolate Haupia Pie

The task this week:  Ted's Bakery Chocolate Haupia Pie.

"Haupia is a traditional coconut milk based dessert often found at luaus and other local gatherings...  Although technically considered a pudding, the consistency of haupia closely approximates gelatin dessert and is usually served in blocks like gelatin."  (Wikipedia)  

 As I said before, in Hawaii we typically take something that is delicious (haupia) and then make it even more delicious (in this case by adding chocolate and then stuffing it all in a pie).

STEP 1:  PIE CRUST

Did I mention how sweet my roommate is?  Well, she is really sweet and bought this excellent pie crust on Amazon.  It got great reviews (4.6 out of 5 stars), so we decided to give it a go.


Additional Ingredients Needed
-1/4 tsp baking powder
-2 tbsp sugar (optional)
-10 tbsp cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
-10 tbsp butter-flavored veg. shortening cut into small pieces
-2 eggs
-2 tbsp cider vinegar

(1) Mix together the dry ingredients:  pie mix, baking powder, and sugar
(2) Cut up the butter and shortening into small cubes and add to the dry mix
(3) Mix together the wet ingredients:  eggs, water, and vinegar.
(4) Combine the wet ingredients with the mix.
(5) Form the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge for 1 hour -- this chill step is essential, the dough is extremely soft and difficult to work with prior to chilling.

One box of pie mix = Four 8" crusts
We only wanted a base, so we split off 1/4th of the dough and froze the rest for later.

(6) Roll the dough out between 2 layers of plastic wrap... okay, so I don't have a rolling pin, a container of quaker oats works also

(7) Transfer the circle of dough to a pie pan
 *Note:  You really have to work fast or the dough begins to melt on you.
In the future I think I'll cool down my counter prior to rolling out the dough.

 (8) Prick bottom and bake for 12-15 minutes at 425F.

My roommate is obsessed with the idea of mini pies.  So, here's a picture of them (pie and mini pie) in the oven.





STEP 2:  PIE FILLING
This recipe was another great find on the AllRecipes website.

Ingredients:
-1 cup milk
-1 (14 oz) can of coconut milk
-1 cup white sugar
-1 cup water
-1/2 cup cornstarch
-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

My roommate stirring -- Thanks roomie!

(1) On low/medium heat, whisk together the milk, coconut milk, and sugar.  Gradually bring this coconut mixture to a boil.
*Stir, stir, stir!  This burns very easily.
(2) In a separate bowl dissolve the cornstarch in water.  Once the coconut mixture comes to a boil, gradually stir in the cornstarch water.  After all the cornstarch is added, continue to stir for 3 minutes.

CHOCOLATE!!!!! :)))))

(3) Microwave the chocolate chips for about 1-2 minutes (just until they melt).  Divide the coconut pudding into 2 bowls, then stir the chocolate into one of bowls of coconut pudding. 
(4) Pour the chocolate coconut mixture into the cooked pie crust and spread evenly.  Then, pour the white coconut pudding on top of the chocolate layer and spread evenly.
(5)  Place pie in fridge for about 1 hour.
 

TADA!  All Done!

All in all, this was a really simple recipe that looks and tastes great!!!

A few more pictures + the pie crust review:

A review of the pie crust:
-Price:  $0.91/ crust -- really awesome!
Price math:  
Pie crust 6 pack on Amazon: $21.91
Price for one box (4 crusts):  $3.65
Price for one pie crust: $0.91   
-Convenience:  None of the ingredients added to the pie crust were difficult to find.  In all, it was a fairly simple pie crust to make.  However, I definitely need to chill the dough more in the future. 
-Taste:  Buttery and delicious.  Perfect for this particular recipe.  I imagine this would go well with really any fruit pie.
-Texture:  Flaky due to the high Crisco and butter content.  Surprisingly, the crust was not grainy at all!




-Overall:  ^.^  ^.^  ^.^  ^.^  ^.^
(5 out of 5 happy Asian smiles)

I really loved this pie crust and will be using it this Thanksgiving to make some delicious pumpkin pie!  Yum yum! 

A practice run of my roommate's mini pumpkin pies!  I can't wait for Thanksgiving!