Chocolate Haupia Pie

Ryan and I are leaving for Seattle soon, so we had a big BBQ last weekend. We decided to make two desserts for the occasion: brownies (which Ryan will be guest-blogging about later, since it's his specialty) and chocolate haupia pie.

I love chocolate haupia pie. Along with malasadas, it's probably my favorite local dessert. I first made it up in Seattle back in June. The recipe I had called for chocolate pudding and a graham cracker crust. It was pretty good, but not great. Then, at Costco earlier this summer, Ryan and I saw a cookbook by Jean Watanabe Hee called Hawaii's Best Local Desserts. She's written a bunch of "local" cookbooks; Ryan and I now own nearly all of them.

Anyway, there was a "from scratch" chocolate haupia pie recipe in her desserts cookbook, so Ryan and I decided to try it. It turned out really well. Ryan and I tweaked it a tiny bit and now it's even better!

Chocolate Haupia Pie


1 9-inch pie crust (from scratch or frozen)
12 oz (1 1/2 cups) coconut milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk *
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate **

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
Shaved chocolate or cocoa powder for garnish

* I use skim milk; 1% or 2% will make everything thicker/richer. I think using whole milk might be overkill.
** The original recipe called for 7 oz of semi-sweet chocolate, and we found that it made the chocolate layer a little overpowering.

Prepare pie crust.

In a saucepan, whisk coconut milk, milk, and 1 cup sugar.

In a separate bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water. Bring coconut milk mixture to a boil. Reduce to simmer and whisk in cornstarch mixture until thickened. (Note: If the coconut milk mixture is still boiling when you add the cornstarch mixture, everything will thicken up VERY quickly. That's okay; just make sure you keep stirring so it doesn't get clumpy.)

Melt chocolate.
(The original recipe says to microwave the chocolate, but we used a double boiler. Either works.)

Pour half the haupia into a bowl.

Mix haupia with melted chocolate and pour into the bottom of the pie crust.

Layer white haupia on the top. Cool pie in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Whip cream with 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form.

Garnish pie with whipped cream and shaved chocolate/cocoa powder. Chill for at least another hour.

Serve!