I love the taste of ube-macapuno, the Filipino sweet potato with young sweet green coconut. Problem is, it’s hard to find ube here. I became obsessed with ube and it purple colour right after trying a Goldilock’s ube cooler; a drink which is sort of a sweet smoothie but not as thick. Ube is purple yam (sweet potato for us Southerners), similar in texture to an orange sweet potato, more fibrous, but mellower;  It goes well with well with coconut – or at least coconut is not far behind when ube shows up. There’s a few places to get ube here in Houston, but I already had some purple sweet potatoes that I had picked up earlier in the day. The purple sweet potatoes that we use here are known as Okinawan sweet potatoes; they are actually from Hawaii (originally from Okinawa Japan). You can use the purple variety much in the same way that you use orange.  The purple’s taste is less like carrot and slightly tarter.

Okinawa Purple Sweet Yam

• Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Bake the yams for 45 minutes or until tender.
• Remove the yams from the oven, then allow to cool for about 15 minutes. While the yams are cooling off, bring the oven down to 350F.
• Remove the skins from the yam then add the filling to a bowl (I prefer to use a Kitchen-aid mixer).
• Add the coconut milk, sugar, and condensed milk. Combine ingredients on low speed for 1 minute.
• Add the mixture to the pie or tart shells. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, let cool, then top with toasted non-sweet shredded coconut.

Cashew Carrot Torte

I decided to try my hand at Brennan’s Cashew Carrot torte, which is described as a grown-up carrot cake. In my Brennan’s cookbook I found the ingredients to be fairly accurate, however the book has been short on instructions and technique. Reading through the cake recipe I realized that if you have not made a cake before you not be able to figure it out from this recipe. First up, I keep saying cake although this recipe is for a torte. In America, we rarely make the difference between the two. Bakers know that a torte will be 1 layer and richer than a cake; sometimes it will contain multiple layers separated by a thin layer of preserves or jelly, and often not topped with an icing. It is usually intended as a snack or for afternoon tea. A cake will have multiple layers and be buttery. It is usually topped with an icing or ganache and is intended for dessert or parties. This recipe is fairly time intensive so I had to make 2 cakes – well, in all truth I was giving one of the cakes to my daughters school so I needed make a tasting cake before the teachers got a hold of it. Since it came out well, I shared it with my co-workers and got a the thumbs up.

10 medium eggs
3.5 cups vegetable oil
6 cups grated carrots. Use a the middle grate on a box grater. Peel the carrots using a peeler before grating.
4 table spoons ginger. Use a the middle grate on a box grater.
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest. Note: I’ve also tried the recipe with 3 tbsp dried orange zest for more orange taste; can be found at Middle-Eastern markets
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
4.5 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3.5 cups chopped cashews. I used 2 cups cashews, 1 cup pecans, and, 1/2 cup walnuts
4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking powder.
2 teaspoons kosher salt
rum sauce (see below)

I used a stand mixer for this cake. Once all the ingredients are in a bowl it will be difficult to stir. I toasted the nuts for 7 minutes on 350F, cooled, then placed them on the chop mode in a small food processor for a few seconds. After making cake several times, I believe the best texture for the nuts is a rough chop, however follow your preference. In a mixing bowl, add eggs (no need to beat ahead), oil, carrots, ginger, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla and almond extract. Fold in, until evenly distributed. Move the mixing bowl to the stand mixer and set to “Stir” for 1 minute.

Add the sugar, cinnamon, and nuts to the mixing bowl. Set the stand mixer on Stir for 3 minutes. The eggs will begin to emulsify with the oil.
In a separate dry bowl sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then add to the mixing bowl and set to 3 for 2 minutes.
Pour the batter into the 2 prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes. After 45 minutes, rotate the pans 1/2 turn. Check the cake after 1 hour and 15 minutes. You should be able to insert a toothpick into the center and it will come out clean.

This recipe can be divided in half for 1 cake. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare two 10″ pans. Apply a thin coat of butter, then dust with flour.

For the rum sauce
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup dark 2 cup dark rum

Add the dark rum and lime juice to a saucepan. Cook on medium for 1 minute. Then add sugars and stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. then remove from heat and set aside to cool. Poke many small holes in the top of the cake with a fork (for the sauce to enter). Once the sauce cools it will thicken. You can reheat it in a microwave to thin it out right before serving.

We were looking for a fun and tasty Saturday baking adventure for our 3 year old. It had to be something quick since snack time was upon us. Muffins are easy and force you to be quick since once the dry ingredients are wet you need to get everything in the oven within 30 minutes. I am a fan of anything with coconut (as is the namesake of my site). I had recently done a coconut cake with chocolate ganache for my mothers birthday, so these flavors were on my mine already. Here is a recipe from The Ultimate Muffin book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough that I think you will enjoy.

Equipment:
Nonstick spray or paper muffin tins
2 mixing bowls – medium and large
wooden spoon

Ingredients
1½ cups unsweetened coconut flakes.
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
^_2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
^_1/2 teaspoon baking soda
^_1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
^_1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
5 ^_1/2 ounces coconut milk. Full cream will make for a more tender muffin.
^_1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line the muffin tins with paper liners. In a food processor grind 1 tablespoon brown sugar with 1/4 cup of the coconut flakes until coarsely ground. Add to a mixing bowl along with 4 tablespoons of the melted butter. Set Aside
2. Whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, chocolate chips and salt until well combined. Stir in the remaining coconut flakes. Set Aside.
3. In the large bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Then add the coconut milk, whole milk, lemon zest, and the remaining melted butter. Stir in the prepared flour mixture with a wooden spoon.
4. Add a chocolate chip or 2 to the bottom and top of the mixture. Fill the muffin tins three-quarters full. Bake for 25 minutes. The let cool 10 minutes.
5. Store muffins at room temperature for 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

There’s not a person in the south who hasn’t had pecan pie. Pecan pie is an integral part of the culture of southern US and Texas . Pecan pies are made throughout in the south. They are especially made and served at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Growing up, everyone knew my mother for her pecan pies, as well as for her cakes. They were deliciously sweet with a velvety texture inside. During the height of the pecan season, the pecans on top were sweet and juicy on their own. I had to be careful not to eat too many of them so that the pie would have enough to go on top.

It is possible that pecan pie originated with the Acadian settlers who were migrated from French Canada to south-west Louisiana . In French Canada, there is a very similar pie called “tarte de sucre” or sugar pie. It is like pecan pie made with maple syrup, rather than sugar and corn syrup, and without pecans on top.

Pecan pie remains one of those foods that in usually better if homemade. Being from Texas , I would never, ever eat a store bought pecan pie. One sure sign of a quality pecan pie is the pecans on top. Great pecan pies should have a mixture of of whole and cut up pecan pieces. Generally frozen commercial pies and mass produced ones have only whole pieces on top.

Recipe for Pecan Pie

This is for a 9″ deep dish pie

3 eggs
1 cup cane sugar
1 cup light Karo corn syrup. Use cane syrup if cannot find corn syrup.
2 tbsp butter melted and cooled.
1 tsp. quality vanilla extract
2 cups pecans (mixture of whole and cut up pieces.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F
Blend all ingredients, except for pecans.
After all ingredients , blend in pecans.

Place mixture into a uncooked 9″ deep dish pie shell.
Bake on flat sheet or cookie sheet for 50 to 55 minutes until a knife can
be stuck into the mix and come out clean.

Let cool before serving.

Enjoy!

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