Coconut Custard Pie (St. Kitts Tourment d’amour)

Tourment d’amour is a traditional pastry originally from Saint Kitts and Nevis but adopted by all the Caribbean islands. It is composed of four layers: a layer of shortcrust pastry, covered with a layer of coconut jam, topped with a vanilla custard and finally covered with genoise (soft sponge cake). History tells us that in the early twentieth century, fishermen’s wives prepared this cake with lots of love while they were waiting for their husband. When they were coming back from fishing, they were welcomed with this sweet treat. Composed of fortifying ingredients, the wives believed this cake to be a sweet delight that was supposed to give more courage to the men as they came back home and recover after a tiring day. Tourment d'Amour (Agony of Love) is a delicious traditional dry round cake filled with coconuts from Guadeloupe which is also known in St Kitts.

Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
⅓ cup almond meal
½ cup icing sugar
8 Tbsp. butter, softened and diced
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp. cold water
1 pinch kosher salt

Coconut Jam:
1 coconut
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 vanilla pod
1 lime, freshly juiced
1 lime, freshly zested
¼ tsp. pure almond extract
¼ tsp. fresh nutmeg, grated
2 cups water

Pastry Cream:
2 cups whole milk
½ cup sugar
1 vanilla pod
5 egg yolks
½ cup cornstarch (or flour)
2 Tbsp. rum (optional)

Top Dough (to cover):
4 eggs
1 cup flour
⅔ cup sugar

For the Dough:
Mix the flour and butter with the wire whip of the stand-in mixer.

When the butter is completely absorbed by the flour and you reached a sandy consistency, add the icing sugar. Attach the flat beater accessory. Add the egg yolk and cold water, and finally the salt.

Mix until it forms a compact and smooth dough.

Place the dough on a work surface and knead quickly with the palm of the hand.

Be careful not to overwork the dough so it does not become brittle.

Form a ball and let it rest in the refrigerator for two hours (or overnight if possible).

For the Coconut Jam:
Split the coconut. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the thin brown skin and finely grate.

Heat the milk. Split the vanilla pod lengthwise, scrape with a knife to remove the seeds. Add the seeds and pod to the milk. Infuse for 15 minutes.

Place all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and cook for 1 hour, stirring regularly: 15 minutes at medium-high heat and the remaining 45 minutes at low heat.

Remove the vanilla pod in the end.

For the Pastry Cream:
For a homogeneous end result of the pastry cream, the recipe was carried out with an electric hand mixer for all stages.

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape with a knife to remove the seeds. Add the seeds and pod to the milk.

In a large non-stick saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla over low heat.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until they become white, add cornstarch (or flour). Beat well to avoid lumps. Add the rum. Add half of the hot milk.

Whisk and pour into the pan of milk that should still be on low heat. Beat until thick (about 4 minutes).

Remove cream from heat and let cool while stirring occasionally to prevent it from drying out on top. Remove the vanilla pod.

For the Top dough (to cover):
Beat eggs and sugar at high power until frothy and very firm.

Lower power to medium-low and gradually add the flour.

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Roll the dough and place on a tart baking dish. Spread the coconut jam on top. Pour the custard and spread evenly. Then finish with the last dough to cover.

Bake for 30 minutes.