by Shari | Desserts, Recipes, Shari_T
The Great Cake Bake – Day 2
You know how sometimes you can just look at something and know it’s going to be perfect? That’s how it was when I saw this lovely cake on the Internet. It was beautifully done: simple white frosting, sprinkling of nuts and a white flower pick. It was the perfect winter wedding cake. You will find the original recipe for and see the original cake as it was decorated at roostblog.com.
Plus, given my love of coconut, you knew there had to be at least one in the lineup.
I was shocked to discover that Clay doesn’t care for coconut cake, but it turns out what he doesn’t like about it is the cake is often dry. I knew what he meant, so if I was to slide a coconut cake into the mix, it better be moist and tender.
Once I saw the recipe I knew it was the one I’d use because it is made with coconut flour. While I am not a gluten free eater, I do enjoy recipes with other flours, such as coconut or almond. We do have several people in the family who are gluten free or who follow a Paleo diet, which would make this cake an excellent choice.
So, all that’s left is to see how it’s made, and, far more importantly, how it tastes.
This recipe makes one 2-layer cake.
- Ingredients
- 3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 10 eggs
1 cup shredded coconut
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease two 8-inch cake pans. (I used 9-inch pans with perfect results.)
3. In a small bowl, combine the sifted coconut flour, salt and baking soda.
4. Combine eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, coconut oil and honey in a large bowl using a stand mixer or hand mixer. 
5. Slowly add flour mixture until a smooth batter is formed. It will thicken as you mix.
6. Stir in shredded coconut.
7. Divide the batter into the two pans and bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 
8. Remove from oven and place pans on a cooling rack. Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before inverting to a cooling rack and removing from pan. (Oooppss! I didn’t wait that long, but only a small piece stuck to the pan.)
‘
Ahhh, this cake smelled absolutely wonderful when it was baking, and I loved the beautiful color. I found it interesting how the cake cooked from the” outside in, pushing the liquids towards the center as it cooked. This is what caused the “splotch” in the center of the cake. I have no real baking experience with coconut flour, so I’m not sure if this is normal or not.
So,, how did it taste? It was very good, and the boys loved it; after all, it’s cake, what’s not to like?
I have only one complaint about it: it was oily. I have found this to be the case with things that are made with coconut oil. Once it’s gone through its filling and icing stage, that may not even be noticeable.
”
Still, I’d make it again, and it’s certainly a worthy contender.
How will this gluten free wonder fare against the other contestants.
I guess we’ll both have to wait and see.
Love,
Shari
by Shari | Desserts, Recipes, Shari_T
The Great Cake Bake – Day 1: Red Velvet
In every cook’s/baker’s life, a little disaster must fall from time to time. Mine was right in the beginning, when I found the small bowl for my ancient Oster mixer (which I love and still use regularly) had been broken. Thankfully, I rarely use it, so moving on.
When it came time to decide what type of cake we’d have for the wedding, Red Velvet Cake was an obvious choice since the primary color for the wedding is red.
Besides, is there anything more luscious than a moist, tender cake with a hint of chocolate?
Yes, there is, actually! A RED luscious, moist, tender cake with a hint of chocolate.
Please pardon my drool.
I had never made a red velvet cake from scratch before, and if I’m being totally honest, I’ve made very few from scratch. Before we began eating healthier, I’d just use a box mix and doctor it up. Everyone always raved about my chocolate cake, and I just failed to mention it wasn’t some secret recipe; just a box, with a few secret ingredients.
I would need something special, interesting, and unique, so I scoured the Internet and old cookbooks. I lucked out and found one at www.divascancook.com, where you will be able to see the original recipe. It sounded amazing, even with a cup of coffee, and amazing is what I’m looking for in a wedding cake.
The first time I made it, I found it too oily. In all fairness, I am not sure if it was the recipe or if I simply zoned out and measured it wrong. I removed 2 tablespoons from the original recipe and tried again. Voila! What came out was a perfectly delectable, moist, tender cake. However, I don’t think it was the recipe; it was likely me being too loosey-goosey with the measurements.
In the first round, I also found that despite the oily feel, the cake stuck to the pan. I used parchment paper in the bottom of the cake pans the second time, which resolved the problem.
Overall, this cake is incredible on all counts: texture, eye appeal, moisture, tenderness and, most importantly, taste. Your mouth waters as the whole house begins to fill with the smell of this cake. It even brought the guys out of their rooms to see what was baking.
Right out of the gate, we have a winner! The other recipes had better be pretty amazing to even come close to measuring up to this one.
Red Velvet Wedding Cake
from www.divascancook.com
Ingredients:
-
2 cups water
-
1 teaspoon baking soda
-
1 teaspoon baking powder
-
1 teaspoon salt
-
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (*see note below)
-
2 cups sugar
-
1 cup vegetable oil (I used 1-3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons)
-
2 eggs
-
1 cup buttermilk (**see note below)
-
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
-
1/2 cup of prepared plain hot coffee (NOT optional!)
*I used regular cocoa powder in the initial baking. When I added it to the mix, it clumped. When I did the second baking, I sifted the cocoa before adding it to the mixture, which resolved the problem. I also used a dark cocoa in the second baking, and the cake was still wonderful, although I thought it somewhat lost its reddish color and looked more like chocolate cake with a hint of red.
**When I decided to bake all these cakes, I ran out and bought a gallon of whole milk (organic, of course) and gobs of eggs. Then, I read the directions. So me. Every single one of these layer cakes calls for buttermilk! So, I put 1 Tbls. of lemon juice into the 1-cup measuring device. The whole milk was added to create 1 cup. Once you’ve added the lemon juice, let it stand 10 minutes; the milk will begin to curdle and you’ll have buttermilk. I recommend using buttermilk for the richness and flavor you don’t get with a substitute, but this will work in a pinch (or in the case of over abundance of milk).
Directions:
1. Preheat over to 325 degrees.
2. Grease and flour cake pans. I used 2 8-inch pans. Line with a greased sheet of parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside. 
4. In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil. 
5. Add the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring to the sugar/oil mixture and stir to combine. 
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients a little at a time, stirring just until mixed between additions. 
7. Stir in the coffee and white vinegar. 
8. Pour the batter evenly into the cake pans.
9. Bake 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake! The cake will continue to cook as it cools.
10. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to help loosen the sides; invert pan onto a cooling rack.
11. Let cakes cool.
Or, you can do what the boys and I do, and just eat it warm, without any icing.? It is that good.
What happens to the cake next? You’ll have to wait to see!
Love,
Shari
by Jen_F | Desserts, Jen_F, Recipes
Deb and I headed back to my house yesterday afternoon and realized we’d be back to our regular ho-hum breakfasts instead of the try ‘3’ Oatmeal dishes Shari had whipped up for us during our 3 of 4 sister get together for March.
I shot a quick email off to Shari asking “what’s for breakfast”, so she shot me back an idea for German Chocolate Oatmeal Bake, which one of us will write and review in another post. The short story… Deb and I whipped it up, tweaked it a bit and really liked it.
After breakfast, while Deb packed and got ready for Dale to come pick her up from here, I went chasing down one of those infamous rabbit holes where you’re looking for something and end up finding something else. That’s how I ended up finding the recipe below.
To give credit to the site I found it on, It was called the:
5 Ingredient Chewy Vanilla Coconut Cookies
https://foodfolio.net/recipes/29859/5-ingredient-chewy-vanilla-coconut-cookies/
I’d bought 3 lemons a few weeks ago and after looking at the ingredients, told Deb “I think this would be good with some lemon zest”. She agreed, so here is what we ended up with. (please note, there’s only one egg in the picture, but 2 in the recipe… go with 2.)
2 cup finely shredded medium shredded coconut
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup unpasteurized (raw) honey
2 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of Himalayan Sea Salt (any salt would do I?m sure)
Zest of 1 lemon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice (lemon not pictured since it was an after thought)
Now I suppose if you didn’t have a real lemon, you could use lemon extract or even lime. Either would be yummy yummy..
Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until combined.
Use either an 1/8 cup or 1/4 cup of mixture. Sort of round it in the cup, plop it out on your cookie sheet, and press together to flatten it out
Bake for 15-20minute, or until golden. Using the 1/4 cup measure, it made 10 3” cookies. Next time, I’ll probably use the 1/8 cup measuring cup.
Here’s all the ingredients in the “mix” stage.
Out of the oven right at 20 minutes later, they were a bit brown on the bottom
but ummmm ummmm good and chewy
It’s pretty rare for me to actually cook raw honey, but I did!
For a quick yummy, fairly good for you cookie, give them a try and let me know that you think.
And as the French are known for saying:
Bon appétit
Which actually means: enjoy your meal … LOL
Til the next time…
You’re never too young or too old … So ……
Live Every Moment,
Love Beyond Words,
Laugh Everyday,
~Jennifer
by Shari | Desserts, Musings, Recipes, Shari_T
Once in awhile you get an idea that actually turns out better than you plan. This recipe is one such example.
This recipe is “company dessert”.
It’s that good!
I purchased a couple of pineapples last week, which began a series of thoughts that look something like this:
Pineapple = summer = hot = no cooking indoors = grilling = ice cream.
Naturally, all roads lead back to ice cream. Well, in this case, they lead back to frozen yogurt.
Since pineapple and coconut are a natural pairing in food, it didn’t take long before I was in the kitchen mixing up my latest concoction.
To make the coconut yogurt, you will need one large container of Greek yogurt, a sweetener (I used 2 tablespoons of honey to cut the bitter flavor in the Truvia), coconut flavoring and shredded or flaked coconut (I recommend a finely ground coconut).
First, you will need to mix your yogurt, sweetener, coconut flavoring and coconut in a bowl.
Place yogurt mixture in the refrigerator.
To make the pineapple swirl, you will need fresh pineapple, coconut oil, coconut sugar (or you may substitute brown sugar), pineapple juice, cinnamon and vanilla.
Melt the coconut oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add pineapple to oil and allow to cook until the pineapple softens and just begins to turn brown (about 5-7 minutes).
Stir in the cinnamon, coconut sugar and pineapple juice.
Bring to a boil and allow it to cook until the juice becomes a syrup.
Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Set aside and let cool about one hour.
Now it’s time to prepare the frozen yogurt. Place the mixture in your ice cream maker and prepare according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Just before the yogurt is completely frozen, drizzle the pineapple mixture into the ice cream maker.
Allow the mixture to swirl through the yogurt without actually mixing into the yogurt.
This is truly one of the best frozen desserts I have ever eaten. Daniel claimed this to be the best ice cream/yogurt dessert I’ve ever made.
Shari’s Company Worthy Coconut Frozen Yogurt with Pineapple Swirl
Yogurt base:
- 4 cups plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup sugar or sweetener equivalent
- 1/4 tsp. coconut flavoring
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut or flakes
Mix all ingredients and place in the refrigerator.
Pineapple swirl:
- 1 Tbls. coconut oil (you could substitute with butter)
- 1/2 cup fresh pineapple (cut into small pieces)
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar (you could substitute with brown sugar)
- 1/3 cup pineapple juice
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Heat the coconut oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the pineapple; cook until tender and just until the pineapple begins to turn brown. Add the sugar, cinnamon and pineapple juice; bring to a boil and continue to cook until the liquid becomes thick, like a syrup. Remove from heat; add vanilla and stir. Set aside to cool for about 1 hour.
Freeze the yogurt according to manufacturer’s directions. Just before the yogurt is completely frozen, drizzle the pineapple mixture over the frozen yogurt and allow it to swirl into the yogurt. Do not over mix.
Serve and enjoy!
If you do not have an ice cream freezer that allows you to add while freezing, you could do one of two things: add the swirl mixture to the yogurt mixture just prior to freezing, or use the pineapple syrup as a topping. Either way, you’ll still have a wonderful dessert.
I will be serving this to Deb and Jen when they are here visiting later this month. I know they will enjoy it.
Love,
Shari
by Shari | Desserts, Musings, Recipes, Shari_T
I like to think of myself as a fairly open book.
Those who know me realize I’m blunt (although I prefer to think of it as “straight-forward”), game for most new things (just not chia), always up for a good laugh, and ice cream is its own food group, and as such, should be consumed as often as possible.
Ice cream is one of those things you just can’t live without, well, not in my house anyway. When Clay is home, he and I end each day with a slight indulgence into a dreamy, creamy spoonful of the frozen cloud. While we may not agree on flavors, or ice cream vs. frozen yogurt, we do agree all life should be this good.
I’m not terribly picky anymore whether it’s pure, traditional ice cream, frozen yogurt or coconut ice cream… As long as it’s creamy, I’m good.? I’ve actually managed to convert the guys to frozen yogurt rather than ice cream to help eliminate some of the excess (and bad for you) fat.
The biggest problem with frozen yogurt is actually finding one at the store that isn’t vanilla or chocolate. How boring and uninspiring can one be with the flavors?
So, it’s not a huge surprise that I’ve been madly working in the kitchen to create some frozen treats of my own. Most of my recipes have been with Greek yogurt, but a few have been made with varying types of coconut milk.
When Deb and Jen were here, I naturally wheeled out my new coconut lime yogurt to try with them. I know Jen is watching her dairy intake, so I only made frozen yogurt one day.
To get into the spirit of things, I’ve donned my “I get cranky without my Blue Bell” apron. While I refuse to acknowledge the possible accuracy of such a statement, I will admit that I’m always happier when ice cream’s involved.? After all, who wouldn’t be in a better mood with something so wonderful?
Start with 4 cups of Greek yogurt; I chose Chobani. Always pick a good quality yogurt, such as Chobani or Fage, for best results.
Add the zest of one lime (regular or Key lime is fine)…. The zest looks great against the stark white yogurt and adds flavor to the recipe.
Go ahead and add the juice of the lime to really give the yogurt that lime flavor.
Now, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of coconut flavoring, 1/2 cup of coconut (shredded or flaked), a pinch of salt, and the equivalent of 1 cup of sugar (I used a combination of Stevia and Agave).
Pour the mixture into your ice cream freezer and wait about 20 minutes.
I cannot even describe how luscious this combination of flavors is when it hits your mouth!
Deb mentioned that she didn’t think Jen liked yogurt because of the yogurt taste, but she loved this coconut lime combination. I can honestly say you will not know you are eating Greek yogurt because the coconut and lime are all you notice.
For those who are like me and too ADHD to scroll through the pictures for a recipe:
Coconut Lime Frozen Yogurt
- 4 C Greek yogurt
- Zest of one lime
- Juice of one lime
- 1 C Sugar (or equivalent)
- 1/4 tsp coconut extract
- 1/2 C coconut (shreds or flakes)
- Pinch of salt
Give this recipe a try, you won’t be sorry.
And, you won’t be cranky either.
Eat well, live large and enjoy the roller coaster ride of life!
Love,
Shari
by Shari | Desserts, Musings, Recipes, Shari_T
Today, March 12, 2013, Ryan reached another milestone into adulthood: it was his first day of his very first job! Ryan is the clerk at a bankruptcy law firm where I used to work, in what seems like another lifetime ago, and where his father is still employed. While being a clerk is not grand and glorious work, it’s a relatively cushy job for an 18-year-old who hasn’t even finished high school (don’t even start me on that one). It’s good to have parents with connections. 
For now, it is just 12-15 hours per week, while he tries to finish high school online. He and Daniel have been finishing high school online ever since I fell ill in 2010. We hope that as time goes by, he will be able to 1) finish school, and 2) turn this into a more permanent and full-time position while he decides what to do with his life.
I’m not sure he was excited about the job, but he was extremely happy with all the nicer new clothes. This is his favorite of the new outfits. When we came home from shopping Friday and he tried it on, he asked if he could just wear it the remainder of the day because it was so comfortable. Sure, why not? He’s really growing up: first a new, more mature hairdo, and now new, more mature clothing. It’s good to see progress!
To celebrate his new job, we had one of his favorite meals: turkey, cornbread dressing and giblet gravy. Not exactly on our healthier eating plan, but I did use coconut oil everywhere possible. Besides, I am trying to remember to live by the 80-20 rule: eat right 80% of the time, and don’t worry about the other 20%. We don’t live in a vacuum.
By the way, did you know that you can taste coconut oil in giblet gravy? LOL! Okay, so that wasn’t one of my better trade outs; back to butter next time for the roux for the gravy. Live and learn, live and learn.
And, as an extra special treat, we made homemade frozen yogurt!
So, even though I promised something other than another coconut recipe, I just can’t resist sharing this recipe I tried from making frozen yogurt, and none other than coconut frozen yogurt. I cannot give any one person, website, etc., a shout out on this one because it is everywhere on the internet. The recipe was so simple that I just remembered it, and don’t know exactly where I saw it first.
In making this coconut ice cream, I did notice that everyone was talking about using regular yogurt, then straining it for 6 or more hours to remove the liquid; or, as an alternative to use Greek yogurt. Now, to use the regular yogurt, you actually have to buy twice as much and lose the liquid.
One woman said she bought the regular yogurt because it was cheaper, but if I have to buy twice as much anyway, why would I do that? I can get 2 containers of regular yogurt (more hassle to prepare for freezing) for the same price as 1 Greek yogurt…hmmm…let me think…NOT!
My recipe assumes you will be using Greek yogurt.
3 Cups Plain Greek Yogurt (I used 0% fat Chobani)
3/4 Cups sugar or your choice of sweetener (I used Truvia blend)
1/2 Teaspoon Coconut Flavoring
1/4 Cup Coconut shreds or flakes
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place in the refrigerator for one hour so the sugar will dissolve and blend into the mixture.
After an hour, place in your ice cream freezer and follow the manufacturers directions for freezing.
My freezer took 20 minutes to make a nice soft serve yogurt, and at 30 minutes it was quite stiff.
Doesn’t it look awesome? Well, it was! Sorry you weren’t here to share it.
I actually doubled the recipe so we could freeze the leftovers. I’m curious to see how hard it freezes in the freezer overnight.
So, perhaps next time I’ll actually share something that isn’t made with or from coconuts. But, don’t count on it.
Until next time, live loud, live strong!
Love,
Shari
