August 18, 2019

Bake and learn...

We are having some of my favorite people over for dinner tonight.  So, of course, yesterday morning found me mulling over what dessert to make - because we all know that's why they are coming...not for whatever scraps The Husband will manage to pull together.... ;-)

Eventually, I had it narrowed down to either a coconut cake (one of the children consistently asks if I have made this every time they come over, so it's safe to say it's his favorite) or a peach cobbler.

The coconut cake I have made before, obviously.  The peach cobbler?  Never.  I have not attempted a cobbler in any shape or form before at all.

Then, me being me, I decided that both desserts would not be too over the top because I can send some of each home with our friends and some home with Man-Child, should he decide to grace us with his presence today.  And whatever is left over The Husband and I can take to work to be devoured.  Plus, I've been trying to break out of my comfort zones when it comes to baking, thus the cobbler.

This time around, I decided to make the coconut cake as a sheet cake rather than a layered one.  I prefer the layered type but it can get messy.  I figured the sheet cake would contain the mess.

Here's the modified recipe I use for the coconut cake (original recipe found here).

Ingredients (Printable recipe here)

White cake (either homemade or boxed is fine)
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk*
1 14 oz can of cream of coconut*
1 16 oz package whipped topping, thawed*
1 8 oz package of flaked coconut

Prepare and bake white cake according to recipe/boxed mix directions.  Remove cake from the oven.  While still hot, use a long fork to poke holes all over the top.

Mix cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk; pour over the still hot cake.  Let cake cool completely, frost with whipped topping and garnish with the flaked coconut.

*If you decide to go with a sheet cake instead of layers, you can probably half all of these ingredients.  Of course, this did not occur to me until I had used a majority of the cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk mixture.  So I fully expect this cake to be tooth-achingly sweet.  Something, I am sure, that won't bother the children!



For the peach cobbler, I went with a recipe that I'd found in the paper years and years ago - based on how yellowed the page was...it was simple and straightforward.  So, of course, I completely botched the first batch up!  This is also why I should really focus on one recipe at a time, particularly when making something new; oh well, live and learn.  Or in this case, bake and learn.

Fruit Cobbler (Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
3/4 cup of milk
2 cups of fruit - fresh, canned or frozen (sweetened to taste)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter in a medium or large Pyrex baking dish.

Stir sugar and flour together in a bowl.  Stir in milk.  Pour over melted butter.  Do not stir.  Pour the fruit on top.  Bake for one hour.

Seems almost too easy, doesn't it?  First tip - when given the option of a medium or large Pyrex dish; opt for the medium.  Trust me.  Second tip - wear your reading glasses and pay actual attention to the fact that it says pour over melted butter.  How do I have the knowledge to offer this second tip?  Because in hindsight, I only put a 1/4 cup of milk into the flour and sugar mixture as I ended up spooning the mixture over the butter.  But I pressed on.  And utterly failed.

The baking dish was too large so the result was an ultra thin, semi-burned mixture.  So while it tasted okay, it was completely unacceptable.  The entire dish was tossed into the trash and the baking dish is still soaking in hopes that I can salvage it.

Of course, I was undeterred and tried again.  I have a feeling that this time I've nailed it.


The plan is to warm it and serve it with vanilla ice cream - yum!

This morning found me up extra early and what happens when I have too much time on my hands?  Well, I created this post and currently there are two loaves of no-knead bread rising, if that tells you anything...

6 comments:

  1. I had to stop reading all this, Gigi, since I could feel the pounds piling up on me! And I was just reading the words. :-)

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  2. Since I work in a school from Sept-June, during the summer I need to find another way to earn an income. This year a full time babysitting opportunity fell in my lap.
    One crazy morning I spoke the words hey girls do you want to make cupcakes? And of baking adventures for the summer took off. Of course never from scratch except for the failed pretzels but what an experience in the kitchen with the girls. To them being allowed to crack the egg or frost the cake was amazing. In fact they constantly say to me “ we are doing this all by ourselves you don’t even really have to help us”
    With summer ending for us quickly I doubt we will get to “from scratch” but I am so proud of my little bakers.

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  3. I love coconut cake. And coconut pie. :) This looks delicious!
    I've never made a cobbler either, it sounds daunting. I'm better at making salads.

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  4. Ooooh I love coconut cake! Looks delicious.

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  5. If at first you don't succeed.....

    I hope the second one was perfect!

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  6. So ambitious. And so delicious. I hated coconut growing up - as did all of my siblings. When it was someone's b-day once at a restaurant, the waiter surprised us and brought out a cake and we all celebrated until we realized it was a coconut cake. Ha! My taste buds have matured since then, and I even like the coconut that I put in my protein balls. Hope the 2nd cobbler turned out awesome. I love having company that I enjoy, and baking up desserts for them.

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