How do you keep a coconut cream pie from getting watery?
A ½ cup of cornstarch is used for the coconut cream filling to keep the coconut cream pie from getting watery. Also, don't forget to let the baked pie crust cool completely before adding the coconut cream filling, and beat the heavy cream with sugar until stiff peaks form.
To avoid soupy, runny pudding, make sure to use whole milk (or at least 2%) and cook it until it's nice and thick. Undercooked pudding is the #1 reason the pie gets soupy. One trick to check the doneness is to coat the back of the spoon with pudding and run your finger right through the middle.
Pay attention to bake times: one reason you'll often end up with a runny fruit pie is simply that it hasn't been baked long enough. Any thickener you use needs a little time to set up, and people often see their crust turning light brown and think the pie is done when it's really not.
Simply take out some of your liquid coconut cream and mix a little coconut flour to it. Stir it to make a slurry and add it back to your original batch. Mix it together and repeat until desired thickness is reached.
Make sure you follow the directions for chilling and that your custard layer is totally cooled before adding the whipped cream. If the custard is still warm when you add whipped cream, the custard will sweat under the cold cream and everything will be watery and runny.
Sprinkle dried breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes, or other types of cereal, on the bottom crust before filling and baking in the oven. This will prevent the filling from turning the crust soggy.
All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.
When thickening a fruit pie filling, there are several options to consider. Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency.
One of the reasons that fruit pies have a soggy bottom is from the moisture of the fruit. A good way to reduce the amount of fruit juices in the filling is to toss the fruit with sugar, letting sit in a bowl for about 30 minutes. Then strain the fruit, eliminating some of the liquid.
And, when it comes to thickness, they say your pie crust should be exactly an eighth of an inch thick. Remember to rotate your dough in quarter turns so you don't overwork it and you should stop rolling once the crust matches the height of two quarters.
What happens if pie crust has too much water?
If you add a bit too much water, it's easily fixed by a little more flour. But if you add way too much liquid, you need to start the dough again, because adding a lot more flour will throw off that fat-to-flour ratio that you want to make a nice crust.
Overfilling the Pie Pan
Piling the filling too high in the pie pan will cause it to overflow—especially with extra juicy fruit fillings. Prevent any small spills (and make transferring the pie in and out of the oven easier) by placing the filled pie pan on a baking sheet.
Emulsifiers are chemical additives which cause the fatty and watery layers to stop separating from one another, and if they're in your coconut milk, you'll probably never get that thick creamy layer at the top of the can no matter what you do.
Mix in cornstarch or all-purpose flour.
You can use cornstarch or all-purpose flour as a thickening agent. Dissolve some cornstarch or cornflour in a bowl with cold water to make a slurry. Then add the slurry to the coconut milk and boil until it reaches your desired consistency.
If you find that your coconut whipped cream is not thickening up, you can add some tapioca starch to it. The powdered sugar brand uses tapioca starch so that should help, but a tablespoon at a time will definitely do the trick. Don't add too much or else you'll end up with a very artificial tasting whipped cream.
Cornstarch – a key ingredient, used to thicken the filling. Egg yolks – these also help thicken up the filling so they'll stand in nice sturdy slices. Cream cheese – once you have coconut cream pie with this you'll never look back. It adds a delicious flavor.
However if the proteins are overcooked, either by using a temperature that is too high or just cooking for too long, then the proteins will come together so tightly that they will start to squeeze out water and this causes the weeping in an egg custard (or the scientific term for this is syneresis).
How To Tell If A Custard Pie Is Done - YouTube
How to Fix a Soggy Pie Crust. A lot of times, the top crust on a pie will cook faster than the bottom. If your bottom crust is underdone, cover the top with foil so it doesn't burn, and throw your pie back in the oven at 425ºF to 450ºF for about 12 minutes.
Blind Bake
The most common way to ward off a soggy pie crust is by a process called blind baking. Blind baking means you pre-bake the crust (sometimes covered with parchment or foil and weighed down with pie weights to prevent the crust from bubbling up) so that it sets and crisps up before you add any wet filling.
Should you poke holes in bottom of pie crust?
Poking holes allows steam to escape
Air bubbles can also lead to cracks, and cracks inevitably lead to leaks. Therefore, for a level, leak-proof crust, a perforated crust is key. If, however, the recipe you're working with has a particularly liquidy filling, poking the bottom isn't a necessary step.
Cornstarch makes for a shiny, glossy filling. A little goes a long way because it has twice the gelling power of flour. Flour thickens nicely but leaves more of a matte finish. You'll need to use twice as much as you would with cornstarch.
The filling will naturally thicken as it cools, especially if you've used any of the above thickening agents. You can always reheat your pie when you're ready to eat it. If letting it cool doesn't give the results you were hoping for, your next option is to stick it back in the oven to bake longer.
Some say that scattering small bits of butter over a fruit filling keeps the juices from bubbling over in the same way that adding a bit of fat to simmering jam keeps it from foaming up in the preserving pan. The theory is that the fat disrupts the formation of bubbles on the surface of the viscous fruit mixture.
Troubleshooting Cream Pies
Runny custard: You may have undercooked your custard. If it fails to thicken after bringing it to a low boil, it can be fixed by stirring in a slurry of equal parts cornstarch and water. Mix the two together and whisk it into the hot custard. Bring to a boil, stirring, until thickened.
Just keep in mind that the steam from the pie will turn the pastry soggy as it heats. Insanely Good Recipes recommends wrapping the pie in paper towels to reduce excess moisture or placing the pie under the oven broiler for a few minutes after microwaving to crisp up the crust.
Set the pie—sliced or whole—on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put it in a preheated 350 degrees oven for about 15 minutes. Carefully feel the crust to ensure that it's been warmed up and toasted enough to your liking; if not, continue heating in five to 10 minute increments.
Serving pie hot from the oven isn't just a bad idea aesthetically—all that hot sugar is also dangerous. Allow your pie to cool for about an hour. The filling will set, and it will be cool enough to eat, yet still a little warm.
Aim for filling the pie pan to about ½-an-inch from the top. The filling will reduce as it cooks but shouldn't boil over. To be safe (and to avoid a huge mess), always place your pie on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
9 x 1-1/2 pie plate, 5 cups. 11 x 7 x 2 baking pan, 6 cups. 8 x 1-1/2 round cake pan, 4 cups. 8 x 2 round cake pan, 6 cups.
What does adding an egg to pie crust do?
Egg: This makes the dough more pliable and easy to roll out. Eggs also make the crust more compact. Acid and Alcohol: Both acid and alcohol tenderize pie dough, make it easier to roll out, and prevent it from shrinking in your pan.
Adding vinegar helps to tenderize the crust and also inhibits gluten development, keeping your dough soft. You need just a bit of this and don't worry…you won't taste it once the pie is baked.
The pros: Shortening has a higher melting point than lard or butter, so it's easy to incorporate into pie dough and roll out. It's also helpful when making any kind of decorative pie crust, because doughs made with shortening hold their shape the best during baking.
Most fruit pies bake at a temperature between 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Some recipes call for baking the pie in a 450 degree F oven to begin with, then turning down the oven to about 350 degrees F.
If it's a fruit pie, try putting it back in the oven for a few minutes on the very bottom rack, thus putting the underbaked bottom closer to the heat source. If it's a custard pie, don't try to re-bake it; you risk compromising your lovely filling.
After baking, leave the pie at room temperature as the cooling process normally takes 2-4 hours. Within 4 hours, place the pie in the refrigerator. Cover loosely with plastic wrap until serving.
You've probably used coconut milk or cream in Asian cooking, whether in a curry, cake or dessert. They're both made by blitzing the white meat of a coconut with water until it becomes a thick, creamy liquid.
To thicken homemade coconut whipped cream refrigerate it for 4 hours or up to overnight. The longer it chills, the thicker it gets. While coconut whipped cream is a great substitute for regular whipped cream, the texture is not exactly the same and will be a bit runnier.
Scoop out the coconut cream.
The solid coconut cream should have separated to the top, while the coconut water is on the bottom. Using a spoon, scoop out the hardened coconut cream into the pre-chilled bowl.
You're not chilling your cream. Using room temperature cream is the cardinal sin of whipped creamery and the number one reason for whipped cream not thickening. If it reaches above 10°C, the fat inside the cream will not emulsify, meaning it can't hold the air particles which allow it to maintain fluffy peaks.
Why won't my cream thicken up?
One of the most usual mistakes people make when their cream won't whip is that the cream is not cold enough. To get to the proper fluffy texture, the cream has to be chilled. There is not an exact temperature it has to be at, but it has to be cold.
To begin, you will want to use about one tablespoon of cornstarch per each bowl cup of coconut milk you are going to be working with. You will want to take the tablespoon(s) of cornstarch and add equal parts of the starch and cold water into a bowl.
Whipped cream breaks down after sitting around for too long. This process is sped up by warm temperature too, so it's important to keep whipped cream in the refrigerator as much as possible. Fortunately, if whipped cream has turned into a more liquid substance, it is still salvageable.
What is cream of coconut? Cream of coconut is sweetened coconut cream that has the consistency of a thick syrup. It's almost like sweetened condensed milk. It's used to sweeten tropical drinks like a classic piña colada or it's also used in dessert.
Add Cornstarch
If flavor is less important to you then adding cornstarch is a method worth using to thicken your coconut cream.
Freshly baked coconut cream pie will keep for about 3 to 4 days in the fridge; refrigerate covered loosely with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
Whole eggs, as opposed to just egg yolks, will also give you a firmer texture. If you are really concerned, you could add a teaspoon of flour to the ingredients to help firm up the custard's texture. Personally, if it tastes good, I'd accept the small amount of "weeping" and eat the custard.
Do coconut cream pies need to be refrigerated? Yes! This is a milk based pie so it must be stored in the refrigerator. Be sure to cover the pie.
Cornstarch – a key ingredient, used to thicken the filling. Egg yolks – these also help thicken up the filling so they'll stand in nice sturdy slices. Cream cheese – once you have coconut cream pie with this you'll never look back. It adds a delicious flavor.
Coconut Cream Pie Success Tips
Thoroughly chill the pie filling before serving. Otherwise the pie will completely fall apart… and no one appreciates warm coconut pudding.
Should I make pie the night before?
Our Test Kitchen doesn't recommend assembling an apple pie before baking it at a later time. If made ahead without baking, the pastry crust can become too wet and end up soggy after baking.
If a pie contains eggs or dairy products, it should be stored in the refrigerator and not left out at room temperature for more than two hours. Pies that do not contain dairy products, such as fruit pies can be stored, loosely covered at room temperature for up to two days.
When the edges are firm, but the center jiggles gently when you shake the pan, your pie is done.
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3 Answers
- Reduce the cooking time. ...
- Use smaller baking dishes. ...
- Use a shallower baking dish. ...
- Remove from oven before it's completely done. ...
- Modify the matrix.
Not using the correct amount of cornstarch may result in a egg custard that is not thick enough. Mixing the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch too far in advance may cause the custard to become watery when cooked. The amount of milk is too much and the custard can not thicken. Not cooking the custard long enough.
Custard and cream pies, and any pies containing eggs and dairy. Cover with plastic wrap as soon as they're cool and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
The official USDA recommendation is that perishable products (which opened coconut milk certainly is) should be discarded if they sit out on the counter for more than two hours.
Make Sure Pies are Safe After Cooking
Cool them at room temperature for only 30 minutes after you take them out of the oven. Put them in the refrigerator to complete cooling and to keep them cold.
Why Your Coconut Milk Won't Solidify. One word: emulsifiers. Emulsifiers are chemical additives which cause the fatty and watery layers to stop separating from one another, and if they're in your coconut milk, you'll probably never get that thick creamy layer at the top of the can no matter what you do.
Mix in cornstarch or all-purpose flour.
You can use cornstarch or all-purpose flour as a thickening agent. Dissolve some cornstarch or cornflour in a bowl with cold water to make a slurry. Then add the slurry to the coconut milk and boil until it reaches your desired consistency.
What is the best ingredient to use in thickening the filling of cream pies?
All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.
