You deserve a ∏ (Pi) today. So how about a Chocolate Haupia Pie?
Today is March 14: 3.14. If you remember your Geometry, 3.14 is a very significant number. ∏, or “Pi” is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Science and Math geeks like to celebrate the number on March 14. And since it sounds like the word “pie”, Science and Math geeks who bake will make pies on that day as well!
Last year, we threw a big, Hawaiian-themed party at our house. Our Ultimate Hawaiian Backyard Lu’au featured many popular Hawaiian dishes as well as desserts. Our friend Melissa, who is a great baker, prepared this Chocolate Haupia pie for us. (“Haupia”, by the way, is a Hawaiian-style, coconut milk-based pudding.) It was the best!
Thankfully, Melissa and her husband Pat had photographed the pie-making process in their kitchen, and had emailed us their pics. We hadn’t posted the recipe before, so I figured Pi Day would be the perfect time to do it.
The Chocolate Haupia Pie recipe comes in two parts: a crust containing macadamia nuts, and the haupia filling.
Haupia Pie Crust Recipe
from the “Hilo Haupia Squares” recipe by Sam Choy
Ingredients
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (roasted, unsalted)
1 cup cold butter
2 cups flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
Method
1. Heat oven to 350*F.
2. Pulse nuts in food processor till coarsely chopped.
3. Cut butter into pat-sized pieces.
4. Add butter, flour, and sugar to processor.
5. Pulse till butter is fully incorporated; it will just look like a dry, crumbly mixture.
6. Dump it into a 9×13 baking dish, and press with your hands to cover the bottom and about an inch or so up the sides of the pan.
7. Bake 15 minutes, till golden brown.
While the crust is baking, you can start making the haupia pudding for the filling.
Haupia Pie Filling Recipe
adapted from “Maika’i Favorites” by way of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Ingredients
10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2, 10-ounce cans of coconut milk (we like the Mae Ploy brand)
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/8 cup cornstarch
1-1/2 cups water
Method
1. Whisk coconut milk, milk, and sugar together in a small saucepan. In a separate bowl, whisk the cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Bring the coconut milk mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Slowly pour in the cornstarch slurry, whisking until thickened.
2. Microwave the chocolate pieces in a glass bowl on high for 1 minute. Stir to melt completely.
3. Separate half the haupia mixture into another bowl. Add the melted chocolate into the bowl of haupia.
4. Mix the chocolate and haupia together until well incorporated.
5. Pour the chocolate haupia mixture into the baked pie crust and spread it evenly over the bottom.
6. Pour the remaining haupia onto the top of the chocolate layer.
7. Chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour to set. Garnish with shaved chocolate and whipped cream.
I do hope you get to try out this chocolate haupia pie recipe. It’s really very easy to make, and the results are well worth it.
Aloha, Nate
OMG! That looks sooooo good, and easy to make. Will definitely give it a try. Thank you, thank you, for sharing. Always love fast and easy desserts. Have a great day.
Sorry I am off topic for chocolate pie, but the seeds arrived today! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll plant them tomorrow and put them in a sunny window in my office where I can tend them carefully.
I have to admit that I don't know anything about Hawaiian cuisine. The pie must taste good.
I'm into Pie day, thanks for the reminder! I have to post something on pies then.
I love chocolate and coconut so that pie must be heaven! One question…is the coconut milk sweetened or unsweetened? Thanks, can't wait to try this!
This looks really, really, really good! Is the coconut milk sweetened or unsweetened? Lisa and I await your answer. I think I would like to try this using Mexican Ibarra chocolate and home made coconut milk.
@all – thanks for your comments!
@Sharlene – you're welcome!
@Kalyn – all right! I look forward to seeing you post about them later this Summer 😉
@Victor – I hope you do try this recipe out!
@Lisa and @Kathleen – no, the coconut milk is not sweetened. Let us know how your pies turned out!
Mmmm! This looks delicious! Thanks for joining the Pi Day Pie linky on my blog.
I feel like I'm on a tropical island just oogling that beautiful pie. All I need is a drink with an umbrella in it now. 😉
I tried this last night. I didn't have macadamias, so I just made a regular graham cracker crust (although I had some dried coconut and threw that in as well). I think I under-cornstarched it, though, b/c when I poured the un-chocolated haupia onto the chocolate layer, it all just mixed together. So now I have a chocolate-haupia marble pie. But it's still really tasty. Thanks for the recipe! (I came here via ScienceBlogs, BTW.)
@Rachel – thanks for hosting!
@FoodGal – if you like pina colada, go for it!
@Kate – welcome to our blog! I'm not quite sure what happened to cause the layers to mix. Theoretically the chocolate should have made the bottom layer denser than the top. There are many variables, though. Sounds like an opportunity for experimentation 😉
Kathleen and Lisa– just use unsweetened. Look how much sugar you're adding anyway! Annie, thanks for posting my recipe! Makes me want to make it again, but I think I'll wait till BBQ season.
Nate- you missed a good chance for a dumb joke. Pi R squared… and here, for pi day, is a square pie! Ok rectangle, but still…
@Melissa – could you give us some insight into Kate's problem with the haupia not being thick enough?
Re: dumb joke – I'm aware of the square corners but since Pi is so closely related to circles, I didn't wanna go there.
Happy Pi day!
oooh I want some!!
I had the same trouble with the to layers mixing, I think next time I will either let the first layer set in the fridge a while, or let both layers cool completely on the counter before attempting to layer. Either way, the filling tastes great, and I was so happy to have found this recipe. Thanks. Amanda Rego
I made this last night and it came out amazing!! Everyone LOVED it! I remembered some comments about the layers mixing and I let the chocolate mix and haupia mix cool a little before pouring them into the pan. That worked out great. The mixes thickened up nicely and didn't mix when I poured them into the pan. Thanks!!!
This is my first time posting, but I read your website all the time. I LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it several times for my husband’s family, who are from Hawaii, and they rave about it. I let the crust and haupia cool a bit before I pour in the chocolate haupia mix into the crust and don’t have a problem with the layers mixing. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Thank you, Christine, for your enthusiastic comment! We are so glad that you like our recipe. Please spread the aloha and share the link with your friends and family 🙂
Auwe! You’re killing me!!! Good thing I have coconut milk on hand!
Mokihana –
sounds like you’re good to go! Let us know how it turns out for you 🙂
Eh, guess wat? I’m gonna make this for a potluck next week. My friends will think they have died and gone to heaven!
Hey! My haupia mixture does not thicken. Idk why. It’s still very liquid 🙁
Does 2, 10-ounce coconut milk means 20 ounce of coconut milk in total?
Charisse,
yes, the recipe is calling for 20 oz of coconut milk in total.
As for the thickening issue, perhaps you need to add a little more cornstarch slurry, or maybe the simmering process wasn’t hot enough to start the thickening, or maybe you stirred it too much and over-stirring prevented the liquid from setting.
aloha, i can’t wait to try this. just noticed that in this recipe, http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/coconut-haupia-and-chocolate-pie/Detail.aspx, which got good reviews, they used less liquid and more cornstarch. so when i try your recipe, i am going to try your recipe but with 1/2 c. cornstarch b/c the other recipe reviewers complained their recipe didn’t have enough coconut flavor (and yours uses more coconut milk), but also did not have the swirling problem. sounds like it just needs to be a tad thicker.
nope, EPIC FAIL. the haupia totally swirled into the chocolate. maybe i didn’t cook long enough? i just noticed in your picture that your haupia looks wayyyy thicker than mine was.
ok, i think i discovered the problem…on other sites it says DON’T use lite coconut milk, which i did. next time i will try regular and see if it’s better. this time, when it still hadn’t thickened properly after 20 mins. of cooking over slow heat, i upped the heat to medium, stirred constantly and added more slurry. it did thicken a bit more but also had a more gummy consistency. i also sat the chocolate saucepan in an ice bath to cool it a bit before putting it in and did the same with the haupia while i did the dishes. i should’ve probably kept stirring the haupia b/c that ended up with little lumps in it. next time!
Hey guys, all this time (2-3 years?) later I am finally going to make this again, for my parents’ housewarming… and I had to come to your site to get MY recipe! I have a backyard full of gorgeous tomatoes and am thinking of you– you ever coming back? xo
This Was Yummy Thx Vert Much