Pina Colada Tart

Pineapple and coconut go hand in hand really, and has been a bit of a theme in my house of late. Maybe something to do with summer and the Pina Colada season coming up. 

Either way, these two work fabulously together. I based this recipe on a frangipane tart recipe, but instead of making the filling with ground almonds, using desiccated coconut. I think fresh coconut would work well if you have it also. I used fresh pineapple in this recipe, you could easily use tinned which would add a little bit of extra sweetness. It's fantastic served with whipped coconut cream, but you could easily use regular cream or yogurt. A drizzle of homemade pineapple curd on top adds an extra sweet kick too. 

Coconut and Pineapple Tart (Serves 8 - 12): 

• 100 grams butter, cold, diced
• 1 3/4 cups plain flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 - 3 tbsp cold water
• 125 butter, softened
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 1/4 cup desiccated - or freshly grated - coconut
• 2 tbsp Malibu coconut rum - optional
• 1 whole egg + remaining 1 egg white 
• 1/4 cup white flour
• 1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored and chopped - or half a tin of pineapple, drained
• Tin of full fat coconut cream, to serve - or yogurt or regular whipped cream
• Pineapple curd, to serve - optional

In a bowl place flour, cubed butter, and salt. Rub together using fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. To speed up the process you can do this in a food processor, which makes it very quick and easy, but is less therapeutic. Once rubbed in, add the beaten egg yolk and enough chilled water to form a firm dough. Knead lightly before covering loosely in glad wrap and chill 30 mins. 

Make a cup of tea and relax for a while. 
Grease a 30cm tart tin and preheat oven to 180 degrees. If using fresh pineapple, peel, core and cut into chunks and set aside. If using tinned pineapple, drain and set aside. 

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface. fold over rolling pin and use this to lift it over the tart tin. Press gently into tin and roll the pin over the top to trim edges. 

Next, cream the 125g of room temperature butter and caster sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then flour, coconut and Malibu. Mix to form a batter. Spread batter into the tart tin. Finally arrange pineapple chunks on top of coconut batter. Sprinkle caster sugar over the top.

Bake in a hot oven for 50 minutes. You'll see the pastry come away from the sides of the tin when it is done. If it becomes too golden while cooking, you could cover with foil while the filling and pastry continues to cook. 

Allow to cool before serving. To whip coconut cream, place a full fat can of coconut cream in the fridge to chill. Once chilled open and scoop the solid white coconut fat from the top into a bowl. Whip with an electric beater until creamy. You could always add a dash of Malibu to this too and it tastes awesome with a drizzle of my pineapple curd on top too. 

Serve with whipped coconut cream, and a drizzle of pineapple curd.