Vongerichten's Toasted Coconut Tart

ingredients

TART SHELL
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water
FILLING
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and bean reserved for another use
1 1/4 cups milk
3 cups finely shredded fresh coconut (6 1/2 ounces)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
Freshly ground white pepper
Kiwi, Banana and Passion Fruit Salad and vanilla ice cream, for serving
6 large, ripe passion fruit, halved (see Note)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
One 3-pound pineapple—peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 ripe kiwis, peeled and quartered lengthwise
3 medium bananas, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
15 pitted prunes, halved

1
Make the tart shell: In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the butter until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle with the ice water and stir lightly to form a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for about 1 hour, until thoroughly chilled.
2
Meanwhile, make the filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk the egg yolks with the flour and vanilla seeds until smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk. Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Scrape the custard into a medium bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard and let cool.
3
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to a 15-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 12-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, gently pressing it into the bottom and up the sides. Cut off any excess dough. Freeze the tart shell for about 20 minutes, until firm.
4
Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the tart shell with foil and fill it with dried beans or pie weights. Bake the tart shell for about 20 minutes, until golden. Remove the foil and beans and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until the shell is golden brown and crisp. Transfer the tart shell to a rack and let cool completely.

1
Set a fine sieve over a small saucepan. Working over the sieve, scoop the seedy pulp from 5 of the passion fruits. Press on the solids to extract as much juice as possible. Add the sugar to the juice in the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, about 2 minutes. Transfer the passion fruit syrup to a medium bowl and stir in the lemon juice. Let cool. Scoop out the seedy pulp from the remaining passion fruit into the syrup and stir.
2
In a bowl, toss the pineapple with the kiwis, bananas and prunes. Add the passion fruit syrup, toss well and serve right away.
3
Make Ahead
4
The passion fruit syrup can be refrigerated overnight.
5
Notes
6
Passion fruit’s skin wrinkles when the fruit is ripe; the more wrinkles it has, the riper and sweeter it is.