Tropical Pain au Chocolat

First, make the pastry cream:

In a small saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until bubbles form on the edges.

While the milk is heating, in a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg yolks.

Slowly add the dry mixture into the egg yolks, whisking until a thick paste forms.

Once the milk has heated, slowly whisk the milk into the egg paste.

Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and cook over low-medium heat, whisking constantly until it thickens. This should take about 1 minute.

Once thick, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Cover the surface of the cream with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold.

Once the pastry cream is cold, make the pain au chocolat:

Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Use a knife to cut the thawed puff pastry into three even-sized rectangles. Transfer the rectangles onto the prepared baking sheet.

Spread 1/3 of the pastry cream onto the bottom half of each rectangle.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the chopped chocolate and 1/3 cup of the coconut on top of the pastry cream on each rectangle.

Fold the top half of each pastry rectangle over the bottom half and press down lightly.

Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes, until the puff pastry is fluffy and golden brown.

Remove from oven, let the pastries cool slightly and enjoy!

Makes 3 pastries.

Pastry cream recipe adapted from Flour Bakery Cookbook.