Coco Bello

Picture it:

You're laying in a lounge chair underneath the warm sun and you can hear the waves crash onto the beach. You feel the breeze from the water and it keeps you nice and cool so you can tan for hours and hours comfortably. You're in paradise and you think it doesn't get better than this. And then you hear, "Coco bell-ooooo!" and you jump up!
Yes! the coconut guy has arrived with his bucket of delicious and refreshing Coco Bello, the perfect snack for the beach. You grab 1 euro and run over to get your little piece of heaven. Who knew coconut could be so wonderful?

This was my experience every time we went to Sottomarina Beach in Italy. It was about an hour and twenty minutes from where we lived, which was a treat for us since we don't live close to a beach in the States. We traveled there often and I always looked forward to the Coco Bello guy and the granita vendor that rolled down the beach. I recently bought a coconut to enjoy and bring me back to those wonderful lazy days in Italy. Needless to say, it wasn't nearly as good as I remember.


Ciao,
-amanda

Hawaiian Cupcakes

I made these for a Hawaiian luau at work and I wanted them to be coconut flavored and have a flower on top that sort of resembled a Hawaiian flower. I was originally going to make frangipani flowers but I didn't have the right fondant cutters to do it so I just used what I had.

They tasted pretty good but I thought they were a little dry, my co-workers disagreed saying that they were "heavy" but not dry. I opted not to do coconut in the frosting because I wanted the frosting to look smooth.



Coconut Cupcakes
(from Simply Recipes)

• 3/4 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup of sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup of canned coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 cup of sweetened desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and cream till light and fluffy again, scraping down the sides halfway through to ensure even mixing.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds each to ensure mixing. Be sure to scrape down the sides after each egg to ensure even mixing.

Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in one bowl. In another add 1 cup of a well shaken can of coconut milk and a teaspoon of vanilla. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix, then add 1/2 of the wet ingredients. Continue alternating with the wet and dry mixtures, ending with the dry. Stop mixing once just as the ingredients become incorporated; do not overbeat.

Fold in the coconut. Scoop into cupcake papers about one half to three-quarters of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, rotating the pan after the first 15 to ensure even baking. Be sure to check with a toothpick to see if the cupcakes are done. If the toothpick comes out of the cupcake clean, then they're ready. Allow the cupcakes to cool for a minute or two in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I think these were definitely the prettiest cupcakes that I have ever made but they were very time consuming.

Until next time...

-amanda