Rich and Creamy Coconut Jelly Squares

Oh, I can taste the tropics just on the horizon. In a week from today, I'll be enjoying the lush green forests and dramatic coasts of Kauai.

And hopefully, I'll be enjoying some coconut based deliciousness along the way! This recipe is made using agar agar, meaning it's suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

It also uses creamed coconut - which you should not confuse with coconut cream! Creamed coconut is the unsweetened, dried flesh of the coconut ground into a paste and then formed into solid blocks (coconut cream, on the other hand, is a liquid.) It adds an intense coconut flavour to dishes and means you don't have to use any coconut extract to amp up that delicious flavour.


Coconut Jelly Squares

Ingredients

1½ cups full fat coconut milk
3/4 cups water, divided
¼ cup creamed coconut (not to be confused with coconut cream)
3/4 cup sugar
4 heaping tsp agar agar powder

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together coconut milk, ½ cup water, creamed coconut, sugar and heat until just simmering.

2. In a separate, small saucepan, bring remaining ¼ cup water to a boil. Sprinkle with agar agar powder and let boil for 3-4 minutes, until agar agar is dissolved. Pour mixture into coconut mixture, stir well to combine and simmer for 3-4 more minutes.

3. Rinse a 5"x9" loaf pan with water. Pour coconut mixture into loaf pan and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until set. Cut into 1" squares and serve with toasted coconut or your favourite tropical sorbet.

Coconut Cream Tart with Chocolate Macadamia Nut Crust

Oh my lord. When I was poking over Sweet and Crumbly earlier last week, we got to talking about restaurants on Kauai. Geni had just come back, and I'll be heading out in 5 weeks time.

She posted a picture of some seriously delicious looking Haupia Pie, and I got to wondering about doing some kind of riff off the chocolate-coconut-macadamia nut pie, except making it vegan.

It was a challenge I was SUPER excited about tackling.

I whipped up a simple coconut custard and poured it into a macadamia-coconut version of the hazelnut crust I did a few weeks ago. My intention was to make this a frozen tart, but after tt set up in the freezer for a couple of hours, the night was coming to an end. So, it was whipped out early and was quickly inhaled by three of us during the end of  Bachelorette.

YUM.

Coconut Cream Tart with Chocolate Macadamia Nut Crust

Ingredients

for filling

1 cup almond or soy milk
1 cup coconut milk
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp coconut extract
1 ripe banana
1 oz grated chocolate
¼ cup flaked coconut

for crust

½ cup macadamia nuts 
¼ cup flaked unsweetened coconut
¼ cup oats
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. For filling: In a measuring cup, whisk together almond and coconut milks. Set aside. In a saucepan set over medium heat, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add in coconut milk mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Stir in vanilla and coconut extracts. Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Press the plastic directly onto the custard, so it does not form a skin. Set in fridge to chill. Mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.

2. For crust: Heat oven to 350º. Spread macadamia nuts, coconut and oats on a baking sheet. Toast for 5 or so minutes, or until just beginning to colour. Place nuts, coconut and oats in a food processor and pulse 2-3 times, just to break up the mixture. Add in the remaining crust ingredients and pulse until mixture is crumbly. Pat into a greased, parchment lined 6" springform pan. Be sure to form a rim up the wall of the pan to keep the custard in. Set aside in freezer to chill for 30 minutes.

3. To assemble: Remove crust from freezer. Slice banana thinly and place directly on top of crust. Pour custard over bananas. Sprinkle with grated chocolate and flaked coconut. Place back in freezer for 1-2 hours, until just beginning to freeze. Serve with additional grated chocolate if desired.

Cilantro-Cashew-Coconut Pesto

I don't think I should be calling this pesto at all, but to simply call it sauce seems to do it a disservice. I came up with this recipe as the companion to another of my Fresh inspired noodles bowls. It's bright and herbal, with lots of room for adaptation.

I wanted something slightly Thai inspired, but without the heat. This is creamy, smooth and would be so great as a counterpart to a spicy summer roll or dolloped on top of a curry for contrast. YUM.

Cilantro-Cashew-Coconut Pesto

Ingredients

2/3 cup dry roasted, unsalted cashews
½ cup light coconut milk
juice of one lime
1 large handul cilantro
1 large handful basil leaves
1 tbsp tamari (or Thai fish sauce, if you're not concerned about keeping it vegetarian)
¼ cup water

(suggested add ins: 1 garlic clove, a spoonful of green curry paste, minced lemongrass, minced serrano pepper if you want some heat)

Directions

1. Pulse all ingredients except water in a food processor until think. Add water, 1 tbsp at a time until mixture reaches desired consistency.

Now, that was easy, wasn't it? Serve with noodles, if you like.

The pesto on soba noodles. Yum!

Caribbean Dutch Baby Pancakes

This morning, I reached for the apple I knew was in the fridge, only to discover that it was not there at all. But, you see, I needed that apple for the Dutch Baby Pancakes I was going to make for breakfast this morning.

I looked through the vegetable drawer, hoping that the apple had escaped and was hiding under the limp kale, but the only fruit I came across was a very happy mandarin orange.

It was far too delicious to put in the pancake. I have lunch plans for that orange.

I considered making the pancake without fruit, but that just felt pointless. The caramelized fruit is my favourite part of the whole Dutch Baby experience.

And then, sitting proudly on the top shelf of my fridge, the leftover pineapple spoke to me.

"Why not choose me and some coconut milk?" it said.

"Excellent." I responded and wondered why my fruit was speaking to me. Last time I'd checked, I wasn't living in a Jim Henson production.

Some allspice and cinnamon add a nice warmth to the whole recipe.

Caribbean Dutch Baby Pancakes (maybe that should be Dutch Caribbean...)

(based on this recipe)

Ingredients

1 knob butter (about a tbsp)
¼ fresh pineapple, peeled and cored
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp water
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice

3 eggs
3/4 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup flour
¼ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º.

2. Slice the pineapple into ¼ - ½" thick rounds. Cut each round into quarters.

3. Heat a cast iron (or oven proof) skillet over medium heat, add butter. Once butter is melted, place the pineapple slices in the pan and let brown.

4. Once pineapple has browned on both sides, add brown sugar, water, cinnamon and allspice. Let the sugar mixture bubble away and reduce a little bit.

5. While the sugar mixture is reducing, whisk together remaining ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Remove skillet from heat and pour batter over top of the fruit. Place skillet in oven and let cook until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with icing sugar if desired!