Coconut Cupcakes

I love me some coconut. Many people are not of the same opinion. Especially younger people (someone explain to me why the incredibly delicious almond joy candy bar is considered "old people candy"?) I think it's the texture that throws them off. Shredded coconut just sort of...feels like something that isn't exactly food. But I enjoy that sort of thing. Food that seems more like a non food. Like these things.

I've been wanting to bake with coconut oil for a while now. It's quite versatile, and can also be used to pop popcorn, saute things, and it's good for your skin and hair ^_^. But it's so darn expensive. I finally splurged, so I knew I had to make something super good with it. I think I succeeded. These cupcakes have an awesome, delicate crumb and a very subtle coconut flavor. Even my coconut hating siblings liked them! It's the frosting that packs more of the coconut flavor punch. The recipe can easily be adapted for a killer yellow cupcake with vanilla frosting.

Coconut Cupcakes
(makes 17-20)
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes



1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup coconut oil (I imagine butter would be fine as well)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream oil and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add extracts and eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Reduce speed to low. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour mixture. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 1/2 full.

Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. 

Coconut Frosting 

6 Tbsp butter
2 tablespoon coconut milk 

3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp coconut extract 

shredded coconut for garnish

Cream butter and powdered sugar, and salt. Add milk and extract and beat until desired consistency is reached. Top with shredded coconut.

My love for peaches is like a bad simile...

Good Lord I love peaches. Almost no food makes me happier than a fresh peach. It's just so rare that you come across something so vibrant and delicious in its pure and natural form. 

For the past couple summers, we've been getting these 25 pound boxes of amazing, tree ripened peaches. They are never fail fantastic, and I can't really eat other peaches anymore. You see, if peaches are not ripened on a tree, they will likely become mealy, and mealy peaches are just terrible. So...I look forward to these all year.

That is my hand. Some people say I have man hands. Nicer people say I have piano fingers. 

Of course I don't want to waste the precious fruit. But sometimes you just have more than you can eat before they are in tip top shape anymore. That's the time to make peach crisp. There's really no need to do anything fancy. The best desserts let simple ingredients speak for themselves.

Yeah, that is whipped cream from a can. It's hard to be as classy as I am all the time. 

Peach Crisp

adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 12 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced (You can use less. It'll be smaller.)
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla. Or nothing. Like I said, let the fruit speak for itself)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter 

   

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and grease a 8x11ish inch (Or an 8x8 if you're using fewer peaches) square baking dish.

1. Place the peaches in the bottom of the baking dish, and sprinkle them with almond extract.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles crumbs.
3. Sprinkle the flour mixture in an even layer over the top of the peaches, and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, until the peaches are bubbling and the topping is browned.

But then I felt like we didn't have enough dessert...

Cause my cupcakes turned out to be more like muffins. So I thought to myself, 'Self, there isn't enough dessert here.' I glance around halfheartedly and noticing a loaf of Italian bread that was just sitting around taking up space. 

It sorta looked like this.

Hm. I've never made bread pudding. That might be fun. So bread pudding it was. It's pretty much like baked french toast. Great way to use up leftover bread and eggs. Lots and lots of eggs. This bread pudding pudding was of the chocolate persuasion, and it smelled amazing. Seriously. 

Kahlua is nice. But I can't exactly haul a bottle of it around at college.

Here's the thing about bread pudding. It's really hideous. Especially this one. Brown mush, appealing! I honestly avoided bread pudding for the majority of my life because it looks really unappealing. I wish I hadn't. Don't judge a food by its appearance...I seem to be trending towards creating ugly desserts lately haven't I? 

It's good, I swear!

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Recipe from Paula Deen 

• 1 (1-pound) loaf French or Italian bread, cubed
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup coffee flavored liqueur
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract (You probably only need one. Almond extract is powerful. But it's your call)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten (!!! Six! I know!) 
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated (use chocolate chips. Who wants to waste time grating chocolate?) 
• Whipped cream (optional)
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and place the bread in the dish. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, and liqueur. Using another bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder and mix well. Add the sugar mixture to the milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla and almond extract, and cinnamon to the beaten eggs. Combine the egg mixture to the milk mixture and mix well.
  Stir the grated chocolate into the mixture. Pour the mixture over the cubed bread in the pan. Let the mixture stand, stirring occasionally for approximately 20 minutes or until bread absorbs most of the milk mixture. Bake pudding for 1 hour or until set. Check pudding by inserting a knife through the middle and it should come out clean.
  Serve the pudding warm, or refrigerate and serve chilled with whipped cream if desired.