Ready made graham cracker and chocolate crumb pie crusts are two things that I will often pick up when I need a quick pie crust, especially when I’m planning to make a no-bake pie of some kind or just need a quick dessert. I don’t associate the Jewish holiday of Passover with pie, so while I wasn’t surprised that neither of these types of premade pie crusts are kosher for passover, I was surprised to see that there are a number of kosher-for-passover pie crusts out there for the holiday. One in particular that caught my eye was the Manischewitz Coconut Macaroon Pie Shell, partly because I’m a big fan of coconut and partly because this is actually a type of pie crust that I’ve made before, so I had something to compare it to., and it also
The Manischewitz Coconut Macaroon Pie Shell is made with coconut, egg whites, sugar, salt and a little bit of potassium sorbate (as a preservative), so it is basically your standard coconut macaroon pressed into a pie plate. It resembles a graham cracker crust in shape and color, but it has a slightly thicker and chewier texture to it than you’ll find an a graham crust. The moist coconut that makes up the bulk of the crust is what adds this chewiness, and it also adds a nice coconut flavor to the crust. It held up better to slicing than some homemade macaroon crusts I’ve had because the coconut is very finely chopped and you don’t get big strands of shredded coconut falling apart when you go to slice your pie.
The company seems to recommend no-bake pies for this crust, so I happened to use mine to make a no-bake key lime pie . The coconut added a nice tropical flavor and held up well to the filling without getting soggy. I suspect that the crust might get a bit hard (not necessarily a bad thing, if you don’t care for coconut with a hint of chewiness to it) if you do a baked pie filling, so while I would re-bake this crust, I would not use it for something with an exceptionally long baking time. It offers a nice change from a graham cracker crust if you can find them, especially for coconut fans, and it also gives you one more dessert option at Passover, too.
Linda
April 19, 2011That sounds really good and I would think would make an awesome key lime pie. Maybe a non-baked coconut cream would be good too. I love coconut so it sounds delicious. I have a white chocolate cheesecake I make that has a coconut-macadamia nut crust that I could eat alone. I’ll have to look for this one.
Anna
April 20, 2011I just used this for Passover to make a chocolate mousse pie and it worked fairly well. My only problem is the crust is a little TOO hard to slice and when you’re working with something as delicate as chocoalte mousse, you don’t want to be hacking away at it.
Otherwise, the flavor is great and everyone went crazy over this super easy pie.
(KLP whipping cream, which it turns out Deans makes, and KLP chocolate chips. Whip cream, melt chocolate, fold together and freeze in the crust for a few hours. Defrost and let sit for 24 hours and you’re set!)