Coconut Cake

We celebrated my son's FIRST birthday over the weekend! It is absolutely insane to think that I have a one year old now. Wow. But anyway, for his birthday I made a coconut cake that has now become my favorite. It's just so yummy and delicious and now I want some. If you're not a coconut fan, don't worry, you can still make this. Just leave the coconut flakes out. Easy as that. I actually did that to make some cupcakes and they turned out great!

When baking the cakes,make sure to keep an eye on them. Most of you know that all ovens bake differently and what what time works for one may end up burning in another.

Coconut Cake
Adapted from Ina Garten: Food Network

Ingredients
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1-2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

Using an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. If the mixture looks lumpy, don't worry.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding in the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix. (Optional) Fold in the 3/4 cup of coconut with a rubber spatula.
*I personally leave the coconut out of the batter, I only use it to cover the outside of the cake.*

Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and smooth the top with a knife. Bake in the center of the oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Let them sit in their pan for about 20-30 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. When you're ready to pop the cakes out, take a butter knife and carefully run it along the edge, tip over so it's laying face side down on the cooling rack and lightly tap the bottoms of the pans until the cake falls out onto the rack. Cool completely before frosting

Frosting
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
A tiny splash pure almond extract
1 pound powdered sugar

Using the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract on low speed. Add the powdered sugar slowly and mix until just smooth (don't whip!).

To assemble the cake:
Place 1 layer on a flat serving plate, top side down, and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top, top side up, and frost the top and sides. To decorate the cake, sprinkle remaining amount (or however much your heart desires) of coconut on the top and lightly press more coconut onto the sides. Serve at room temperature.

(I doubled the batch to make a 3 layer cake and used the leftover batter to make cupcakes)

Spinach and goat cheese pasta

I thought this would be a great meal to serve for St. Patty's Day. I know a lot of recipes for this holiday call for green food coloring, but what's so great about this, is you don't need any of that stuff at all. You get this gorgeous, natural bright green color from the spinach, so it makes it fun for your little kiddos to eat :) And minus the amount of carbs you're about to indulge in, it's pretty healthy.
This is great if you're looking for something a little different than your average marinara sauce pasta. It's creamy and tart and "light" tasting. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients
Adapted from Everyday Italian

1 lb penne pasta (or something similar)
1 clove garlic, minced/pressed
4 tbs goat cheese
2 tbs cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
6 oz baby spinach leaves (about 2 handfuls)
2 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta accordingly. Reserve 1/2-1 cup pasta water. Once your pasta is cooked, in a blender or food processor, combine garlic, goat cheese, cream cheese, salt, pepper, cayenne, 1/2 cup pasta water and a little more than half the spinach leaves. Blend until combined.
Should look like this...

Take the rest of your spinach leaves and give them a rough chop. Toss pasta, sauce, and spinach leaves in a large bowl. Garnish with fresh parmesan cheese.

Pineapple Basil juice

Pineapple and basil? In a drink? Together? Don't worry, it gets weirder, but even more delicious. Don't judge until you try it.
I remember when I first heard what was in it, I refused to drink it. But now, I seriously chug this stuff. It's so good! It's creamy, it's sweet, it's light and refreshing, and just so addicting! I could drink this everyday. I really wish I could. And bonus! It's super healthy.

Ingredients

1/2 large pineapple (or 1 small pineapple)
1 1/2 inches fresh ginger root
1 lemon
1 cup olive oil (optional)
1 bunch fresh Basil leaves
1 bunch fresh mint leaves
1 cup sugar (I use the organic evaporate cane juice)
1 cup water

The PREP: Cut your pineapple into pieces small enough to blend. Peel and if needed, slice/dice/chop whatever, your ginger root. Peel your lemon and thoroughly wash your basil and mint leaves.
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Split your mixture evenly among two, 2 liter pitchers/jugs. Add 4 cups of water to each pitcher and stir. Serve over ice or chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.

And here's the sugar (evaporated cane juice) I use. I found it at Costco in a 10lb bag.


*The drink can be "gritty" at the bottom from the pineapple and ginger, so if that bothers you, run your drink through a sieve. This step is not necessary, but just a tip for those picky, texture people :) Which would be me.

Sugar Cookies

I know this post is coming a bit late if you wanted to make these for Valentine's Day, but do we really need an excuse to bake delicious cookies? I think not. These sugar cookies texture are soft but somewhat chewy. depending on the thickness you make them. Thicker = softer, thinner = soft/chewy, and too thin = crispy. They're my husband's favorite kind of sugar cookie and mine too. They call for a just a few ingredients, take a little bit of time, but are so worth it. I make them every Valentine's Day and hope to keep up the tradition until I'm very, very, very old. Happy cookie day!

Ingredients

8 oz package of cream cheese
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl cream together cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla. Next add in the flour and baking soda and mix until combined. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and stick in your fridge for about 10 minutes. While your dough is chilling, prepare your workspace by cleaning/disinfecting a place to roll it out. Lightly flour your surface and rolling pin. Grab half the dough and roll into a giant ball. As evenly as possible, roll your dough out to your desired thickness. Use a cookie cutter and have it.

Once you've cut all your shapes, carefully place on a lightly floured silpat.
Now, I don't know if it's completely necessary to flour it but why risk it? Bake in oven for 9-12 minutes (10 minutes for me). Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Let your cookies cool completely (at least 30 minutes) before frosting.





Frosting ingredients

1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter
3-5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together butter and 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Now add in the milk and vanilla and continue to mix. Slowly add in the rest of your powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. I used about 4 1/2 cups or 1LB bag of powdered sugar. If you choose to color your frosting, slowly add in food coloring until you reach you preferred color.

Now, let me talk to you about my new best friend. It's this little guy...

This stuff rocks. I don't think I'll ever go back to white sugar. This stuff sweetens the same, tastes the same, light in color so it won't give your drinks any gross color, and it's just awesome. I used it today in my baking and I couldn't tell the difference. I suggest everyone head over to your closest Costco and pick up on of these 10 pounders. You won't regret it.
And aren't these the cutest teaspoons ever?

Peppermint fridge cake

Peppermint what cake?! Fridge cake. It's one of my husband's favorite desserts. If you've never heard of it, it's probably because it's foreign to us Americans. My husband grew up in Durban, a beach town in South Africa, which is an actual country in case you didn't know. When I first met him I thought he meant like southern Africa, like how I'm from southern CA. But he corrected me quickly and then I felt quite stupid. Anyways, my husband introduced me to this concoction and it's become a favorite. But because it's so sweet we usually only make it once a year. And that once a year came early and we made it tonight :) But it wasn't for us. We made it for his work party, sad face, so I won't be enjoying this wonderful treat. But I did clean that bowl spotless.
Enjoy your American version of South African peppermint fridge cake.

Ingredients


1 box graham crackers
2 cans dulce de leche
2 pints of whipping cream
2 boxes of Andes mints (chop finely)

An 8 x 8 baking dish

In a large bowl, whip together the Dulce de leche and cream. Add the cream slowly and continue whipping until mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.



Now at this point, you're probably going to want to break off a piece of graham cracker and dip it into that billowy mixture and partake of this amazing masterpiece you've just whipped together.

In your 8 x 8 baking dish, lay down a layer of graham crackers. Next scoop out some of that heavenly, fluffy, caramely cream mixture and spread it on top of the crackers.

Now repeat those 2 steps until you reach the top of the dish. It should make about 4-5 layers of graham crackers, and 4-5 layers of whipped topping. Make sure you have the whipped caramel as the top layer.

(can't figure out why this is sideways)

Now you're going to take the chopped Andes mints and layer them on top until you can longer see any whipped caramel.


Cover with foil or saran wrap and chill in the fridge over night or for at least 6 hours. You want the crackers to soften, so it all just melts in your mouth. Cut any size piece you'd like and take it all in.

Banana oatmeal choc. chip cookies

Okay, so I lied in my previous post. I never got around to making half the things I said I was going to make. Whoops. But now that the holiday season is over and most people have New Year's resolutions, I thought I would make a "healthy" cookie. I'll admit, I suck at keeping any resolutions, so this year I didn't set any. That way I feel no guilt or failure if/when I don't keep it. It's a win win situation :) Now with this cookie, it has a different texture than your normal everyday treat. It has a spongy texture and doesn't spread when baked. It almost tastes healthy, but in a good way. I used white chocolate chips, because that's all I had. And I'll be honest, I don't think I will make these with semi-sweet. I liked the little hint of sweetness the white chocolate gave it. But, if your not a lover of the white chocolate, then by all means, go ahead and dump in your favorite kind of chip...chocolate chip that is. Anyways, hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's and I hope you enjoy your semi-guilt-free cookie.

Ingredients
Makes approx. 2 dozen

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup evaporated can juice or raw sugar (plain old white sugar would work too)
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup banana pureed/mashed (1 medium-size banana)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Then combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Next add the dry and wet ingredients together. The batter is a super thick and sticky so make sure you really incorporate all ingredients.


Scoop 1-2 inch sized cookie dough balls onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes (10 minutes was perfect for me). Transfer to a cooling rack.

Adapted from Bethenny

Cinnamon, candied almonds

Sorry, no pictures. The hubby and I cleaned our apartment for a Christmas party we held last weekend and by "cleaned" I mean, we threw everything to our extra bedroom, and now I can't find my camera cable, cord thing. So here is the recipe, just in time for a little holiday snack, treat, gift, appetizer, or midnight munchies satisfier.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
3 cups raw almonds
1/2 tbs ground cinnamon
1/4 cup water

1 long strip of wax or parchment paper

In a medium skillet, toss together sugar, cinnamon, and water. Over medium heat, add in your almonds and stir until every little piece of almond is covered in the cinnamony, sugary, goodness. Continue to stir until your sugar starts to crystallize. Now lay out your parchment or wax paper and pour those babies out on to it to cool. Once they've cooled, package them as you please :)