Archive for: coconut
As a fan of coconut, I like it in most types of desserts and baked goods. This includes cakes, cookies, muffins and pies. Coconut cream pie is probably the most common type of coconut pie you’ll find. It is made with a pudding-like filling that is packed with shredded coconut and poured into a prebaked pie shell, very similar to a chocolate cream pie. Coconut Custard Pie is a little different than a cream pie and just might be a better way to enjoy coconut.
Coconut Custard Pie has an eggy custard base that is not pre-cooked, but baked right in the pie shell. Rather than having a pudding-like texture, it has a more delicate texture to it, like that of a creme brulee or other baked custard. Of course, this particular pie is also packed with coconut, so some of that delicate texture usually associated with baked custards is lost with the generous amount of shredded coconut that is also in the filling because that adds a lot of texture to the pie.
I use sweetened shredded coconut, but you can also use unsweetened without making any changes to the recipe. Some coconut pie recipes call for using only toasted coconut. You can use only toasted coconut in this recipe if you prefer that toasty flavor. I prefer to use untoasted coconut because I like the contrast it creates as the pie bakes: the top becomes crispy and toasted, while the coconut inside the filling remains slightly chewier. Either way, you end up with a pie that has terrific coconut flavor, a creamy and eggy base and a buttery, flaky pie crust.
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Biscotti are one of my favorite cookies to make for a couple of reasons. They’re not too difficult to make, they keep extremely well and they always taste better than store bought. I also like being able to put my own flavor twists on biscotti, as the options when you buy them in a store are often quite limited. That isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate a good almond biscotti (probably the most popular base flavor) as much as the next person, just that I like a little variety.
These Coconut Cranberry Biscotti are one of my favorite variations. The cookies use shredded coconut in place of almonds or other nuts that are traditionally included in biscotti, and they are studded with dried cranberries that add a pop of color and sweet-tart flavor. The biscotti have a subtle coconut flavor to them, but it is not overwhelming. They’re not too sweet, so I typically use sweetened shredded coconut in my batches, though unsweetened coconut will work just as well if you tend to have that on hand.
The dough for these cookies is baked in large logs, which are cooled slightly before being sliced and baked a second time. You will need a very sharp knife – either a bread knife or a large chef’s knife – to get a clean cut on your cookies, as the cranberries can get “caught” on a dull blade. Still, the finished cookies will taste good in the end, they’ll just look a little prettier if you sharpen your knives first! The cookies, once baked, will keep very well in an airtight container for at least a week or two. Mine don’t last much longer than that – and I doubt yours will either.
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I suspect that blueberry muffins might be the most popular type of muffin out there, since they are so ubiquitous at coffee shops and bakeries. They’re popular for a reason: blueberries are delicious, attractive to look at and add a lot of moisture to muffins. A good blueberry muffin recipe also makes a great base for other flavors, like these Blueberry Coconut Muffins, where I added shredded coconut in along with my blueberries to give the muffins a chance to stand out from the crowd of other blueberry muffins.
The batter is simple and sweet, with a hint of vanilla extract to give it some flavor. It is easy to mix up in just a few minutes, and it is thick enough to prevent the blueberries from sinking into the bottom of the pan after you divide the batter into your muffin tin. The coconut sprinkled on top of the muffins toasts during baking, adding a subtle crunch and enhancing the coconut’s overall flavor. The muffins are moist and tender, with a fluffy interior that gets a slight chewiness from all the coconut in the batter. They are best when they’re fresh, but they will keep well for a few days if you can’t eat them all at once.
I used frozen blueberries in these muffins. Frozen berries have a few advantages over fresh blueberries, such as the fact that they are available year round and they are very easy to fold into a muffin batter without having to worry about the berries breaking up. Even when blueberries are in season, I will still often use frozen berries in my baking. Both fresh and frozen berries will work equally well in this recipe. Similarly, both sweetened and unsweetened coconut will work equally well. Sweetened coconut is more common and will add a bit of extra sweetness to the finished muffins, but unsweetened will still lend a great coconut flavor.
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Coconut milk is an ingredient that is often called for in baking recipes that showcase coconut, used in place of regular milk or other liquids to further emphasize the coconut flavor of a recipe. Most grocery stores stock it, and they also stock a similar looking product called cream of coconut. Coconut milk is a creamy liquid with the consistency of milk made by cooking coconut and water together and straining out the coconut meat. Cream of coconut is to coconut milk what condensed milk is to regular milk: cream of coconut is a very thick, almost paste-like cream that is essentially cream of coconut with most of the water removed from it. It is made by chilling coconut milk and skimming off the thick, rich layer of cream that forms on top of it. Coconut cream has a buttery mouth feel and a good coconut flavor, but it is not particularly sweet.
Although basic cream of coconut is not a sweetened product, many types of cream of coconut sold in stores come presweetened. These are typically used for making mixed drinks and ice creams, where you want an intense flavor and sweetness. Cans are not always clearly labeled that they have been sweetened (making them more like sweetened condensed milk than evaporated milk), so it is important to check the labels when picking some up. Cream of coconut, sweetened or unsweetened, is not often called for in baked goods or recipes because coconut milk is more widely available and easier to incorporate, but know that cream of coconut should not be substituted directly for coconut milk in recipes, especially when dealing with baked goods.
One of my favorite quick breads is the coconut bread from bills, a restaurant in Sydney Australia. The bread has a dense and tender crumb, is very moist and has a great coconut flavor. I also like to use it as a jumping off point for other coconut bread recipes because I am a big fan of coconut in general. That bread is served as breakfast, and comes out toasted and topped with butter. This variation on that basic coconut bread is more of a dessert quick bread – although you could still certainly serve it alongside coffee for breakfast or brunch – because it has a ribbon of chocolate running though it that makes it a little sweeter than the original.
The coconut bread uses a generous amount of shredded coconut, which gives it a texture that is almost half way between a coconut macaroon and a pound cake. You can use either unsweetened or sweetened coconut in this recipe, although I generally use sweetened for a little extra sweetness in the finished bread. To boost the coconut flavor even more you can use coconut milk rather than plain milk in the batter. The bread is sweet and tender, with a great blend of chocolate, vanilla and coconut flavors in it. Like the plain version, it can be toasted, but I think that this one is best when simply sliced and served as-is.
The chocolate ribbon is made by adding melted chocolate to a small portion of the batter. Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate is the best choice for the marble layer, because milk chocolate will be a little bit too sweet and a very dark chocolate will have a flavor that is too dominant over the light coconut flavor of the rest of the bread. If you want to increase the chocolate factor even more, you can stir in some chocolate chips to either or both parts of the batter.
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