A tropical twist on a traditional Italian dessert. This version is a great alternative if you like tiramisu, but are not a fan of coffee, or if you like pina colada and want something other than a drink.
Ingredients
1cansweetened condensed coconut milk or coconut cream
1(8 oz)tub frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawedi.e. cool whip lite
2(20oz)cans crushed pineapple in juice
30-48ladyfingers
1cupMalibu® pineapple rumor sub in extra pineapple juice to be alcohol-free
½cupshredded coconut toasted
Instructions
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl), mix the sweetened condensed coconut milk and cream cheese until no lumps remain.
Add in the milk, vanilla pudding, and coconut extract and whisk until combined. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the mixture (to keep the pudding from forming a skin) and chill for 30 minutes or until it is firm.
While the pudding is setting, place the crushed pineapple in a strainer over a bowl. Collect 2 cups of juice and set the remaining pineapple aside. Add the 1 cup of pineapple rum to the 2 cups of juice and mix. You will use this on the ladyfingers and for the pineapple puree.
Place the drained pineapple and 1 cup of the juice/rum mixture into a blender or food processer and puree until smooth.
Remove the pudding from the fridge and gently fold in the entire tub of thawed whipped topping.
Building the layers
Line a 13 x 9-inch pan with ladyfingers. You can also use a large trifle bowl and make several layers, or small mason jars for individual servings.
Drizzle 1 cup of pineapple/rum juice over the ladyfingers. Place ½ of the pudding mixture onto the ladyfingers and use an offset spatula to spread the pudding evenly over the ladyfingers.
Gently spoon most of the pineapple puree on top of the cream and spread it out evenly covering the cream layer completely. The excess is a chef treat.
Place another layer of ladyfingers on top of the pineapple puree and drizzle with the remaining 1 cup of pineapple/rum juice.
Spread out the remaining pudding mixture over the ladyfingers. Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top of the pudding. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours (overnight is good).
Notes
I have used both a 330g can of sweetened condensed coconut milk and a 425 g can of coconut cream.The recipe tasted great with either and no changes were necessary even though the volume of the coconut is a little different. I also tried unsweetened coconut milk and unsweetened coconut cream, neither of them tasted as good so I do not recommend those.