I almost had to call the Fire Department and the ambulance the other day when I was making rum sauce for this coconut pie! The last time I made rum sauce was about a year ago. I remembered to turn the burner off before I added the rum, but totally forgot to stir the rum into the mixture before I ignited it!! Well the flames actually went two and a half feet high! Good thing I jumped back or I would have been burnt to a crisp!

Coconut Egg Custard Pie with Jamaican Rum Sauce and Whipped Cream

3/4 cup 2% milk
1 and 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon Jamaican vanilla
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
2 cups loosely packed shredded coconut (I use Angel Flake coconut)
Garnish: whipped cream and toasted coconut

Stir Flour and Sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add milk, whipping cream, eggs and vanilla. Mix with a mixer on medium speed 2 minutes. Scrape bottom of bowl with a spatula to make sure no pockets of flour are left. Add coconut and mix one more minute.

Spray a glass pie pan with non-stick spray. Bake 350ºF for 40 to 45 minutes. The center 2-inches will still jiggle when gently shaken. The pie will set up as it cools. Cool pie completely. Serve sliced pie at room temperature with Jamaican Rum Sauce (recipe follows). Garnish with whipped cream and toasted coconut.

Jamaican Rum Sauce

1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark Jamaican rum (I use Myers rum)
1/3 cup water

This recipe requires your undivided attention for about 10 minutes! You basically have to stir the mixture the whole time or it will burn. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. At this point the mixture should be bubbling vigorously. After the sugar is no longer grainy keep stirring for one more minute to caramelize the mixture. The mixture will be thick and bubbly.

Turn off heat, move skillet to another burner. Add rum and stir into the brown sugar mixture so the flames won’t go 2 feet high! Ignite rum. (I use a stick lighter so I don’t get burnt) When you ignite the rum- back up! You never know how high the flames will go!! When the flames die down; turn the burner on medium and add 1/3 cup water. If the mixture “seizes” (goes solid… don’t worry) continue to stir and bubble for 2 to 3 minutes and it will unsieze. The mixture will eventually get thin like pancake syrup. Spoon sauce around each slice of pie then garnish with whipped cream and toasted coconut. Makes 1 pie. Enjoy, friends!

Published in The News and Neighbor on July 26, 2023.