TWD: Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart

This week’s TWD was chosen by Beryl of Cinemon Girl: toasted-coconut custard tart.  For the longest time I really didn’t like coconut at all.  I remember those candy bars with coconut (Mounds maybe?) that used to end up in my Halloween candy and I really wanted to like them, but ewww, no.  I can’t remember exactly when, but at some point in the past few years a switch flipped and suddenly I was a huge coconut fan!  It reminds me of being on vacation in the Caribbean and that makes me very happy. I still haven’t developed a love for custard though – something about the texture just doesn’t work for me (same with pudding, mousse, etc).  Fortunately, I wasn’t too concerned about whether I’d enjoy this dessert.  I’ve eaten a ton of sweets over the past few days in celebration of my birthday so more sugar and butter is probably the last thing I needed!

I scaled this recipe back, making just 1/3, which was enough to fill two 4-inch tarts.  I had some dough left over from the sugar cookies I made recently and used that to create the shells for my tarts, which explains their pale color.  Though I baked them fully, they just didn’t brown the way Dorie’s sweet tart dough would have.  Other changes I made to the recipe were to use 1% milk, skip the coriander and use rum (I used dark) in only the custard and not also in the whipped cream – I was trying to avoid having the alcohol overpower the other flavors in the dessert.  This is a quick and easy recipe and definitely one that would be nice for company since you can get the components ready ahead of time and throw it all together at the last minute. 

The verdict?  I offered my mini tarts to my mom and when she stopped by to pick them up we each had one bite so I would be able to review them here.  My mom was a fan though she didn’t jump up and down with excitement so this one probably isn’t among the top desserts I’ve shared with her.  I didn’t get a lot of coconut flavor and I’m not sure if that’s because the rum was so overpowering or because the coconut flavor was lacking.  If I were to make this again, I’d use less rum or leave it out altogether.  Actually next time maybe I’ll just fill my tart shell with homemade whipped cream, since I can’t get enough of that stuff.  Thanks to Beryl for her selection this week!  You can find the recipe on her blog or on pages 344-345 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.