Coconut Coffeecake with Chocolate-Coconut-Pecan Streusel

 

In my first blog post after my long hiatus I mentioned that much of my personal cooking these days is centered around using things up: ingredients/partial containers left from cooking classes…private events…etc.  But as I pointed out then, anyone who lives and cooks in a small household is familiar with the need to learn to cook with the odds and ends left from previous meals.
 
As I reassemble my career in our post-pandemic world, I have begun to focus on my online cooking classes more and more.  I have been teaching cooking classes for over twenty years, but early in the pandemic it became obvious to me that the kinds of things that had worked well for in-person classes were not the same things that would work well for an online session.  So I’ve been adjusting a bit. 
 
It has occurred to me that the online format is perfect for giving people a peek into the actual workings of a small household kitchen.  I can make the things I actually cook for myself…in the portion sizes I cook them in…basically showing my cooking reality in order to encourage other people who are living the small household life that it is totally possible to cook and eat well when there is “just” one…or two…of you.  As it turns out, those of us living this life are not a small group.  I read the other day that as of 2021, 28% of American households were comprised of single adults.  35% are made up of two adults.  It is clear that small households are the majority of us.  We should be eating well at home!
 
So you might be wondering what all of this has to do with coffeecake.  Well…besides the fact that I regularly make big coffeecakes and cut them into portions for the freezer (and because it’s just me, they are mine…all mine…), this particular coconut streusel coffeecake came about because I had some ingredients leftover from a curbside dinner.  

I had made a Coconut Bavarian Parfait and had an open can of coconut milk, a partial bag of shredded coconut, and extra egg whites.  Not to mention the big container of granola-like (i.e. eminently snack-able) graham cracker-coconut crumb crust that was left in my pantry.

So I created a coffeecake that used all of these ingredients.  At the time I thought it was a one-off…a never-to-be-duplicated treat…because I was unlikely to ever make the crumb crust again just to fill a coffeecake.  But of course the cake doesn’t need a crumb crust middle.  And as I have been getting ready for my first “cooking for a small household” class, I remembered this coffeecake because one of the recipes in the class includes a can of coconut milk.  

The recipe in question is a delicious purée of spicy roasted cauliflower and chickpeas.  You can make a big batch and use up the whole can (and freeze or share the extra portions of soup).  Or—like me—you can make a small batch….in which case, you’ll have some coconut milk leftover.  You could roll that can of coconut milk into another dinner later in the week (these pork meatballs are fantastic)…or you can make a cake.  I know.  Tough decision.

You’ll notice when you look at the cake recipe that it uses all egg whites.  I almost always have a container of egg whites in my refrigerator.  I frequently make things that use just egg yolks and I save the whites.  They keep well in an airtight container for several weeks (just mark the date so you won’t keep them for six months…).  But if you don’t have egg whites, just use two large eggs instead. 

I have not included the graham cracker-coconut crumb crust filling in the recipe I’m posting.  But if you would like to add it, the recipe can be found on the post for my Coconut Bavarian Cream Tart.  Just make the crust…toasting the clumps spread out on a baking sheet instead pressed into a pie or tart pan.  Break the clumps up a bit when they are cool.  To add this to the cake, spread half of the batter in the pan, scatter 2/3 to 3/4 cup (or however much you like) of the toasted crumb crust over the batter, dollop the rest of the batter over the crumbs and smooth out.  Top with the streusel and bake.  Increase the baking powder to a tablespoon if you add a layer of crumbs—the cake batter will need a little extra oomph because of the weight of the crumbs. 

 
If you make this coffeecake, you’ll have a little over half a can of coconut milk left.  There are lots of great things you can do with that half can.  But if you happen to see this post before February 28, I hope you’ll consider joining me for my “Cooking for a small Household: a Head of Cauliflower and a Can of Chickpeas” class.  I’ll be making that delicious soup…as well as a couple of other nice dishes using cauliflower and chickpeas.
 

 

Coconut Coffeecake with Chocolate-Coconut-Pecan Streusel

 
80 g. (scant 3/4 c.) pecans, lightly toasted and coarsely broken
115 g/4 oz. (2/3 c.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
50 g (1/2 c.) sweetened shredded coconut
25 g. (2 T.) sugar
25 g. (2 T.) melted butter
 
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (200 g.)
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 t. baking powder
10 T. plus 2 t. (150 g.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. sugar (200 g.)
100 g. egg whites (see notes)
1 1/2 t. vanilla
2/3 c. coconut milk (160 g.)
75 g. (3/4 c.) sweetened shredded coconut
 

Butter a 9x9-inch baking pan.  Line the bottom with parchment.  Butter the parchment.  Flour the pan.  Tap out the excess and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 350°.
 
To make the streusel, place the pecans, chocolate chips, coconut and sugar in a bowl and stir until everything is evenly distributed.  Drizzle the melted butter over all and fold with a rubber spatula until the butter is well distributed.  Set aside.
 
Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.  Beat the butter and sugar until smooth.  Increase the speed and cream until fluffy.  Beat in the egg whites in two or three additions.  Beat in the vanilla.  Fold in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the coconut milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  Add the coconut with the final addition of the dry ingredients. 
 

Spread the batter in the prepared pan.  Scatter the streusel evenly over all.  

Bake in a 350° oven until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean—40 to 45 minutes.  Serve warm.  Serves 9 to 12.

 
Note:  If you don’t have any egg whites on hand, you may replace the 100 grams of egg whites with 2 large eggs.

Printable Version
 

Piña Colada Cupcakes

It has been a while since my last post (more than a month!).  I’m guessing that no one is surprised by this.  I think life has been pretty crazy for everyone this year.  The main reason I mention it is that I want to assure people who have been reading my blog for a long time that I’m still here…and I’m not planning on going anywhere.  I just haven’t been able to get to my blog as much as I had wanted to this year. 

As is the case with so many in my profession, a lot of my normal avenues of work have disappeared.  One would think that this would give me more time for the blog.  But in order to stay afloat I have found myself pivoting…and reinventing…and creating work where ever and however I can.  All of this takes up a lot of mental energy that I might normally devote to my blog.

As unfortunate as all of this has been, good things have been coming out of it.  Many of you know that one of the first things I did in the early days of the pandemic was to start teaching online classes through an olive oil/kitchen store called Olive Tree.  I have continued with these classes and will be doing more through the fall and holidays.  They are low-key, fun and interactive.  If you like online classes, you should check them out.

In July I started preparing curbside pick up dinners through Olive Tree.  We have aimed for simple, seasonal and accessible menus. It has been a pleasure to cook for people again and these meals will also continue for the foreseeable future.

Today I am sharing the recipe for the dessert I served as part of my September dinner.  The dinner fell on the last weekend of summer and I wanted it to have a beach vacation kind of feel to it.  I thought the dessert was perfect for the occasion:  Piña Colada Cupcakes (it’s hard to get more beach vacation than a Piña Colada!)

I was going to use the recipe that we use occasionally in my friend Nancy’s bakeshop to make miniature cupcakes.  It is a nice reliable recipe that hits all the right Piña Colada notes:  pineapple…coconut…Malibu rum…and a rich and creamy finish courtesy of fluffy cream cheese frosting.  But when I made them in my giant cupcake liners they didn’t turn out right.  They were kind of damp and heavy.  For whatever reason, cake recipes that work in one pan size sometimes don’t work in another (this can be due to a needed adjustment in the quantity of leavener to account for the different pan size…although, in this case, I think it might have been my oven…which I am still getting used to…).  However, it doesn’t happen often enough to prepare me for the pan of cake pucks that I pulled out of the oven.  To make matters worse, the dinner was only about a week and a half away…and the menu had been published.  I had to come up with something pretty quickly. 

I looked around a bit on line for a likely recipe, but none of those that I saw had all the flavor components of the original recipe that I liked so much (most didn’t include Malibu).  I was also not really in the mood to try a bunch of recipes from unknown and untried sources.  In the end I decided to take one of my tried and true sour cream cake formulas and alter it to include the flavors I wanted.  I chose a sour cream cake base because sour cream has almost as high of a fat content as coconut milk and I thought that by subbing coconut milk for some of the sour cream…and then reducing the fat by using Malibu and pineapple juice to make up the rest of the “liquid”…that I would have a recipe that performed in basically the same manner as the sour cream cake. 

And in just one try, it did.  My insty Piña Colada Cupcake recipe had everything I had originally planned on—the flavors of a Piña Colada in a rich, moist, fine-grained miniature cake.  Crowned with a generous swirl of Malibu spiked cream cheese frosting and a shower of toasted coconut, they were the perfect conclusion to a South of the Border menu. 

So if you are still not ready for summer to end…  Or you didn’t get to take your summer vacation this year….  You should whip up a batch of these cupcakes.  You’ll have a miniature summer vacation on a plate.  And since these cupcakes freeze beautifully (with or without the frosting), you can make a batch to enjoy some now…and load the rest into the freezer…providing a stash of tropical dessert vacations to be enjoyed during the cold and dark months ahead.

Piña Colada Cupcakes

200 g. (1 3/4 c.) all-purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
121 g. (1/2 c.) coconut milk
28 g. (2 T.) Malibu rum
56 g. (1/4 c.) pineapple juice (from can of crushed pineapple)
90 g. (1/2 c.) very well drained crushed pineapple (see note)
75 g. (3/4 c.) sweetened coconut
114 g. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
200 g. (1 c.) sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 t. vanilla
Cream Cheese Frosting
Toasted Coconut 

Line a 12 cup standard muffin tin with 10 tulip style muffin liners, leaving the center 2 muffin cups empty. (In my limited experience with the tulip liners, if you try to bake 12 large cupcakes in a standard muffin pan, the ones in the center will not bake at the same rate as the ones on the edge).  Set aside.  Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl.  Whisk to blend.  In a measuring cup, combine the coconut milk, Malibu and pineapple juice.   In another bowl, combine the crushed pineapple and coconut, fluffing until the coconut and pineapple are uniformly combined. 

Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy (about 5 minutes using a stand mixer).  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla. 

Fold in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the liquids in two additions.  Add the pineapple and coconut when the final mixture of dry ingredients is almost fully incorporated, 

continuing to mix just until the batter is homogenous.

Using a large ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the muffin liners.  (Each cupcake should weigh 95 grams.)

Transfer to the preheated oven and bake until golden and springy and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean—about 22 to 25 minutes.

Cool the cupcakes completely before topping with 50 grams of cream cheese frosting each.  Garnish with a little toasted coconut.  Makes 10 large cupcakes.

Notes:

• Drain the crushed pineapple well: Place the contents of the can of pineapple in a sieve and us a rubber spatula or ladle to squeeze out most of the juice. A 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple in juice (not heavy syrup) will yield 8 oz. of well-drained/squeezed pineapple (about 1 1/4 c.) and 12 oz. of juice (1 1/2 c.).
• I used “Tulip” style muffin liners in the 4 oz. size for these cupcakes. At this size the recipe produces 10 cupcakes. I assume you could make them in standard size muffin liners, but you will obviously need to use less batter per muffin (60 to 65 g)…which will make 15 to 16 cupcakes.
• Use full fat coconut milk. I don’t know how the recipe would perform with the low fat version. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 oz./1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 lb. (3 cups) powdered sugar
1/2 T. Malibu
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature and cut into 8 cubes

Place the butter, powdered sugar and Malibu in a mixing bowl.  Using the paddle attachment, mix on the lowest setting until the powdered sugar is mostly absorbed.  Increase the speed to high and beat for 2 or 3 minutes, or until very light and fluffy.  Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Beat again on high, adding the cream cheese with the machine running.  Beat just until the cream cheese has been smoothly absorbed. (Overbeating cream cheese frosting can cause it to become too soft.)  Makes enough frosting to generously frost 12 large cupcakes.

Printable Version

Coconut Bavarian Cream Tart (or Pie)

I mentioned in a post I wrote last November that I wasn't a very big fan of coconut when I was a kid. As it turns out, it wasn't the taste I didn't like...it was all about the texture. I think the first time I began to realize I was missing out on something was when I had a sip of a virgin piña colada on a post high school trip. I couldn't believe the taste. Since then, I have learned to enjoy the texture of coconut...within reason, of course. I am still revolted by those chocolate coated wads of moist, sweetened coconut that masquerade as other chocolate coated candies...truffles, caramels, nougat, praline, etc. To this day if I get the coconut-filled chocolate in the box, it goes straight into the trash after the first nibble.

The recipe that I'm posting today is my idea of the perfect coconut dessert: a fluffy Bavarian Cream Tart. Because the pastry cream base is made partially of coconut milk, the flavor of the coconut is prominent. And unlike many cream or custard style coconut pies, the shredded coconut isn't folded into the pie filling (which—in my opinion—ruins a nice creamy filling). Instead, the coconut is toasted until it is golden and crisp. It is then sprinkled in a thick layer over the surface of the tart where it provides an understated and pleasant textural contrast as well as more coconut flavor.

Although I have called my tart a Bavarian Cream Tart, in reality it is a bit of a hybrid. For those who are unfamiliar with it, a Bavarian Cream is made by folding whipped cream into a base that has been stabilized with gelatin. Classically, the base is comprised of flavored crème anglaise, a fruit purée or a combination of the two. I wrote at length about Bavarian Cream a couple of years ago when I posted a recipe for a Strawberry-Rhubarb Bavarian. In that post I discussed the fact that many Bavarian Creams have an unpleasant, rubber ball-like texture due to the large quantity of gelatin required to help them hold their shape when they are turned out of a mold or sliced. I was able to use less gelatin in the Strawberry-Rhubarb Bavarian by serving it in the dish it was made in rather than turning it out. But since a pie or tart has to hold up well enough to be sliced, it was necessary to find another way to make it possible to reduce the quantity of gelatin in my tart.

In the end I was inspired by a recipe in Richard Sax's Cookbook Classic Home Desserts. His recipe for Coconut Cream Pie is a cross between a traditional cream pie (a crust filled with flavored pastry cream) and a traditional Bavarian Cream Pie (a crust filled with Bavarian cream). Instead of crème anglaise, Sax used a thinner than usual, gelatin-stabilized pastry cream as the base of his Bavarian filling. Because pastry cream is thicker than crème anglaise, the Bavarian needs less gelatin to achieve a good set. Beyond that, the more substantial pastry cream produces a filling with a bit more heft than the typical, somewhat foamy, Bavarian Cream and at the same time is lighter than an all pastry cream pie (which are sometimes a bit stodgy). The resulting pie has the best qualities of a Bavarian cream pie and a traditional cream pie.  Creamy...  tremble-y....  fluffy....   Perfect.

Coconut Bavarian Cream Tart

1 1/2 c. shredded, sweetened coconut (4 1/2 oz.)

5 oz. graham crackers (1 1/4 c. crumbs/10 full cracker sheets)
2 T. sugar
5 T. butter, melted

1/4 c. cold milk
1 1/2 t. powdered gelatin (2/3 of a quarter ounce packet)
3/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. sugar, divided
3 T. cornstarch (27 grams/1 oz.)
4 egg yolks
1 small can (5.46 oz./2/3 c.) unsweetened coconut milk—not low-fat!
1 1/3 c. whole milk
1 t. vanilla extract

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast in a 350° oven, stirring frequently, until light golden brown—7 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Place the graham crackers and sugar in the food processor and process until finely ground. Add 1/2 cup of the cooled toasted coconut (reserving the remaining cup for the top of the pie) and pulse in. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the butter until thoroughly combined.

Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a lightly oiled (or sprayed) 9-inch removable bottom tart pan (or a 9-inch pie plate). Chill until ready to use. (If you prefer, you may bake the crust in a 350° oven for 8 to 10 minutes. This will produce a harder/crunchier crust. Cool and chill.)

Place 1/4 c. milk in a large bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over. Set aside until the gelatin has softened—no discernible dry granules should remain. It will take about 5 minutes for the gelatin to bloom, or soften.

Whip the cream until it is thickened and mounding softly. It will probably look too soft. Chill until ready to use.

Combine half of the sugar with the cornstarch. Place the egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk briefly. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and whisk until thick and smooth. 

Place the coconut milk and the remaining 1 1/3 c. of whole milk in a medium saucepan along with the remaining sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. When the milk comes to a boil, whisk some of the hot milk into the egg mixture to temper and thin. Return the milk to the heat and bring back to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and add the tempered egg yolks to the boiling milk, whisking constantly. The pastry cream will thicken almost immediately. Continue to cook and whisk until large bubbles regularly break the surface in the center of the pan—this will take about a minute. Remove from the heat and scrape into the bowl with the bloomed gelatin. Stir until well combined and the gelatin is completely melted (which should occur upon contact with the hot pastry cream). Whisk in the vanilla.

After stirring over an ice bath...

The very softly whipped cream...ready to whisk in...

In the graham cracker & toasted coconut crust....ready to be topped with more toasted coconut...

Place the bowl of custard in an ice bath (a larger bowl filled with ice and water) and stir with a rubber spatula until completely chilled and beginning to thicken. Remove the bowl from the ice. Scrape the already softly whipped cream onto the pastry cream base and whisk in (using a folding, rather than a circular motion). Finish folding with one or two strokes of a rubber spatula. Scrape the mixture into the chilled crust. Scatter the remaining cup of toasted coconut over all. Chill until set (at least 4 hours, preferably longer). This dessert is best eaten within 24 hours.

Printable Recipe



German Chocolate Cake for my Dad's Birthday

Every year when we were growing up my mother made a special cake for each of us on our birthday. My Dad's cake of choice was always German Chocolate Cake...not a fancy bakery version, but the one on the back of the "German's Sweet Chocolate" package. As a kid I hated this cake and was always a little miffed that on an occasion when I could reasonably expect a big slice of cake, it was a cake I didn't want to eat. It took a while for me to make peace with coconut, but these days, I would be more than willing to have a slice. I'm not sure my Dad ever knew I finally learned to enjoy his cake...he didn't live long enough even to celebrate his 56th birthday. Today would have been his 75th. I have not made this cake in a while, but this year, in recognition of his special day, I decided to make one.


My mother's well-used copy of the recipe



I am pleased that I have this place—my blog—to honor him with his cake, because even though it has been many years since his passing, I miss him still.  I don't think it matters how old you are when you lose a parent...or how much time passes from the moment they cease to inhabit this world....the place they occupied in your life remains empty.

I should probably try and describe my Dad for you, but I don't think I will—at least not in the ordinary way one describes a person. Although he was a person who was highly esteemed—both personally and professionally—any description I could give here would still be inadequate. What is important to me is that he was my Dad—something no one else can be.

When I was a kid there was a skit on Sesame Street about a little boy who had been separated from his mother. In the skit the child is crying inconsolably as the detectives on the case try to get him to give a good description of her so they can find her. All he can tell them is that his mother is the most beautiful woman in the world. So they dutifully bring a parade of the most beautiful women in the world for him to see. All the while the child continues to shake his head sadly. I don't remember how it happens, but his mother finally appears on the scene. When she does, it is clear she is not the most beautiful woman in the world. Those who had been trying to find her for the child are stunned...but he is elated.

So, if someone were to ask me to describe my Dad in a few brief words, I would be tempted to say that he was the smartest, strongest man in the world. It is doubtful that a team of detectives could find him given such a description.....but I would know him anywhere.

Happy Birthday, Dad.