Buko Pie.... Coconut Pie

One of my favorite dessert or snack from home is Buko Pie (Coconut Pie).  When I was back home we usually get this when we go to Laguna province. It's been years since I've eaten this and I am so craving for it. So being the baker in me, I had to experiment and to my delight I was able to improvise and bake my favorite pie ever! :)

For the benefit of my friends and others out there who wants to try to make buko pie, especially those who are overseas, I am sharing the recipe.

 Here's what you need:
2 cups of young coconut, shredded
1/2 cup of young coconut juice
1/2 cup condensed milk
2/3 cup evaporated milk
4 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 deep dish pie shells
grated cheese

I got the young coconut from the Oriental store in our area. They do have the fresh coconut but I am too lazy to peel, open, and shred it so I opted for the frozen ones. 2 packages of the frozen shredded young coconut will do.











As for the pie shells, you can make your own from scratch if you have a very good recipe (and would care to share with me) but for easy and less work I bought the frozen pie shells from the grocery store. It comes in two shells per package.

Now how do we do this?  It's very easy!

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch to 1/2 cup of evaporated milk. Set aside.

 In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine young coconut, coconut juice, condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar, and vanilla extract.

Make sure to not burn it so you need to watch it and stir occasionally.

Bring to a boil.  Let it boil for about 2 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Pour in the cornstarch/evaporated milk.

The mixture will thicken quickly so constant stirring is a must to avoid burning.

 Remove from heat when mixture is thick and has formed together.

Pour coconut mixture into one of the pie shells.

Even the coconut mixture out to the edges. (Oopps, I overfilled this one!)

Remove the edge of the other pie shell.

Then flip it over to the one that has the filling to cover the pie.

Flatten the top crust and make sure to cover and seal the edges. 

Then put this in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle cheese on top.
I say sprinkle but as you can see I almost covered it entirely. It's up to your liking. :)

Put it back in the oven and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Once cheese is melted according to your liking remove from oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

You can serve the pie warm or chill it for a few hours before serving.   I like it chilled while my husband likes it warm. :)

 I hope you try this recipe and hope that it satisfies your craving for buko pie also.  Enjoy!