Coconut Custard Tart with Toasted Almond Crust

JUST under the wire.  JUST in time for Easter.  I've created a beautiful spring-inspired, crowd-pleasing sweet finale for your holiday meal:

A rich and creamy Coconut Custard Tart with a Toasted Almond Crust.

Boom.

Here's the thing:  I love  pie.  You know that I love pie.  I wrote a cookbook that contains 175 different pie recipes, something that simply cannot be done unless you have a true passion for pie.

But, sometimes, less is more.  Take pie filling, for example.  There are times when I feel like the filling-to-pie ratio is a tad overwhelming, whether it's too much cream, too much fruit or too much custard.  I love a good slice of Mississippi Mud or Banana Cream just as much as the next girl, but I can rarely finish the deep dish versions all by myself.

That's where the tart comes into play.  The tart is the neater, the more civilized, and the more filling-to-crust ratio-friendly cousin of the pie.  In my opinion, it's also the better choice for ending a big holiday feast, as it can be sliced into pretty, small wedges to accompany coffee.

I love the flavor combination of coconut and almond (I'm looking at you, Almond Joy), which inspired the toasty, nutty crust for this tart---a crust that is very forgiving and easy to work with.  I also like the idea of making a coconut custard tart for a big, labor-intensive meal as opposed to a coconut cream tart.

Why?  I'm so glad you asked.  The coconut cream tart filling is a bit more involved, usually requiring several steps and many different bowls in order to make the silky coconut-goodness that ultimately fills the tart shell.  This coconut custard filling is more streamlined, and it comes together in just a fraction of time required for its coconut cream counterpart.  It also has more texture, from both the coconut in the filling and the golden, crunchy toasted coconut curls that adorn the top.

Need I say more?

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