Coconut Tart

Anson Mills’ selected coconut cream tart fills a baked pastry shell with coconut-infused pudding and finishes it with toasted meringue. A separate portion of toasted sweetened coconut is sprinkled over the piped topping.

Sweetened shredded coconut steeps overnight in half-and-half. The liquid is strained into a saucepan, with the coconut pressed to release the cream before those solids are removed.

Most of the filling sugar warms with the coconut-infused cream and sea salt. Egg yolks are whisked with the reserved sugar and cornstarch, tempered with part of the hot cream and returned to the pan to thicken.

The cooked pudding is strained, then whisked with unsalted European-style butter, vanilla and coconut extract. It fills the prepared shell and chills beneath parchment and plastic wrap until cold and set.

The meringue uses a separate sugar-and-water syrup beaten into egg whites with cream of tartar and vanilla. It is piped over the chilled tart, browned with a torch and finished with the toasted coconut.