Coconut cake with berries and cream

Summer birthdays can pose a bit of a problem (says the one born in November). Not a problem when it comes to celebrating of course, but when it comes to cake. Summer temperatures, or the overbearing, shirt-soaking heat we've had this summer, can wreak havoc on iced birthday cakes. So what to do? Give up and skip dessert altogether? Don't be ridiculous! The answer is an easy, tasty cake you can serve cold.

This one fits the bill nicely. It's a coconut cake full of moist coconutty goodness. It's a variation on a tres leche cake, substituting in coconut milk for the evaporated milk. The end result is delicious and unlike anything I've had before. I made it for my brother's birthday at the cottage this year (as he's a fan of coconut). It was a hit with all the toddlers, middle-agers and seniors who present at the party.

Let's get started....

Mix up your cake batter, which is essentially a sponge cake. The difference is the coconut. The original recipe calls for 1/3 cup of unsweeted coconut, which wasn't enough, in my opinion. The second time I made this cake, I used sweetened coconut, and upped the quantity to 3/4 cup.

While the cake bakes, you get your 'milks' ready.

This is how the cake looks when it comes out of the oven.

Poke several holes in the cake before you pour over your milks, so the liquid can soak in. It might take a while, but eventually it'll seep in. Yum!

And here's the finished product. You can top with more whip cream if you like, but it's not necessary. Don't skip on the berries though -- raspberries and peaches are especially nice.

Coconut cake with berries and cream
From Martha Stewart Living

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for pans
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup flaked unsweetened coconut, toasted and finely ground
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups heavy cream, divided
• 1 can (13.75 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups mixed fresh berries (about 12 ounces), for serving

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch glass baking pan. Whisk together egg whites, baking soda, and salt in a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment on medium speed, until soft peaks form, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add egg yolks to egg-white mixture, and whisk until completely combined. Gradually add sugar, and whisk until combined. Fold in butter and coconut with a rubber spatula.
3. Sift 1/4 cup flour onto mixture; fold to combine. Repeat with remaining flour, folding in 1/4 cup at a time. Pour batter into pan; bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, whisk together 1 cup heavy cream, the coconut milk, and condensed milk. As soon as cake is removed from oven, pour cream mixture over cake. Let cake cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover cake with plastic wrap, and refrigerator at least 5 hours and up to 8 hours.
5. Just before serving, whisk remaining cup heavy cream until soft peaks form, and spread over cake. Serve with mixed berries.

Berry studded baked oatmeal

Oooh, this one's a goodie.

I start most mornings -- at least when the weather is cool -- with a bowl of oatmeal (or eatmeal, as my father calls it). My standard is steel cut oats, with some sliced banana on top, and a bit of brown sugar. It's good, but sometimes standard oatmeal just doesn't it -- especially on a dark, rainy morning, the kind of which we've experienced lately.

This oatmeal dish is so inviting and yummy that it makes you want to get out of bed -- on the aforementioned cold and rainy morning, or even a bright and sunny one -- just so you can eat it in a big bowl, alongside a steaming mug of coffee. It's an easy thing to make on a weekend, and you'll have lots of leftovers to get you through the week.

So let's get started.....

Mix up the milk, eggs and vanilla. It's kinda like you're making a breakfast bread pudding! (Note the glass milk bottle for old timey goodness.)

Get your dish ready with your sliced bananas and frozen fruit. These form a tasty layer for the oatmeal.

More fruit goes on top, along with some walnuts for some crunch.

Then you're forced to wait about 45 minutes until you can dig in. People, it smells SO good while it's baking, and it's so worth the wait.

This crappy picture is testament to the fact that I was so eager to dig in, I couldn't even be bothered to frame a good photo. Make this and your morning will be better. I guarantee it.

Berry Studded Baked Oatmeal
From Shutterbean and Super Natural Every Day Cookbook
Recipe serves 6

(recipe adapted slightly from the Super Natural Every Day Cookbook)

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup cane sugar or maple syrup (plus more for serving)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups whole milk, plus more for serving
2 large eggs (original recipe calls for 1)
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted & cooled slightly
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups mixed berries (I used 1 cup frozen blueberries & 1/2 cup frozen raspberries)
Preheat oven to 375 F. Generously butter the inside of an 8 inch baking dish. (I used a 9x13 dish)

In a bowl, mix together the oats, half of the walnuts, the sugar, baking powder & cinnamon.

In another bowl mix the milk, eggs, half of the butter and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.

Arrange the bananas in a single layer at the bottom of your baking dish. Sprinkle 2/3 of the berry mixture on top. Pour the oat mixture on top and then slowly drizzle the milk mixture on top of that. Give the baking dish a few thwacks (love that word!) on the kitchen counter to make sure the milk moves all around the oats. Scatter the remaining berries and walnuts on top.

Bake in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is nicely golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven and let cool. Drizzle the remaining butter on top and serve. Drizzle maple syrup on top and top with a little bit of milk. Enjoy!

*I used slightly less than 1/3 cup of maple syrup and it was the perfect sweetness: not too cloying, but also not requiring further sugar when you eat it

**The frozen fruit was a President's Choice mix of cherries, blackberries and blueberries. I think it's an organics power mix or omega mix or something new agey and healthy.

*I didn't bother to toast the walnuts beforehand, or add the remaining melted butter before serving. Because I'm a rebel.

Raspberry cake redo!

Let me just say that it really, really bugs me when a recipe doesn't turn out right. I never thought of myself as a perfectionist, but maybe I am when it comes to cooking. Ever since I baked the cake for the first time on the weekend, I've been thinking about what I did wrong. Was it the too-small pan? Did I mess up the ingredients? Was the oven not at the right temperature?

Seriously, even when I was supposed to be concentrating on pigs, I was thinking about this damn recipe!

So I bought another pint of raspberries tonight and made the cake again to take into work, and... success!

This time I baked it in a 9-inch ceramic pie plate, which I wasn't entirely sure would work. But it seems to have done the trick. And the berries somehow stayed suspended in the cake -- bonus!

The batter seemed thicker somehow tonight, so I'm thinking I maybe added too much buttermilk the last time around? Need to pay more attention to what I'm doing!

Tonight's cake. Ta da!

And might I just add, that I made this cake for the first time on the weekend, then blogged about it. And then Martha Stewart's daughter made the cake and wrote about it on her blog. I think she's copying me.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

It's berry overlap season! We're still getting great strawberries around here (though some of them are quite soft, due to all the rain we've had), but now the first raspberries are appearing as well.

I bought some on the weekend and made this little cake.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt1/2 stick (56 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (146 grams) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)1 large (57 grams) egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Original recipe adapted from Gourmet, and found on Smitten Kitchen.

Here it is, all ready to go into the oven. I had high hopes at this stage.

And here's the finished product. I couldn't get a good picture, but essentially, all the berries sunk to the bottom. Still tasted good, but you wouldn't know it had raspberries in it unless you cut into it. A bit disappointing.

I think next time I might try dusting the fruit with flour? Not sure if that will help or not.

The other issue is that my cake took a lot longer to cook than the 25 minutes in the recipe. It could be my antiquated '70s-style oven, but it could also be the fact that I only have a seven inch spring form pan, and not the nine inch one called for. Time to go pan shopping, methinks!

Still, in spite of the delay and sunken fruit, this cake is really, really easy and insanely delicious. I think you could easily swamp out the raspberries for any other fruit you might have handy. Really good with a cup of peppermint tea (hint: if you have mint growing in your herb pot, snip off a few stalks and put them in your teapot, cover with water, and voila! Peppermint tea, easy peasy style).