Despite being away from blogging for nearly a year, I was never away from the kitchen coz kitchen is my place of solace. I simply can’t stay away from it. There are days, when after I have cooked the meals, there is this irrepressible itch to make something apart from the routine. A sense of creating something new drives me and excites me and it eventually leads to the train of thoughts as to ‘what next?’
For me, it sometimes begins with a hunt inside the refrigerator. The thought – ‘Is there something that I can find here which I may be able to transform into something different from the usual?’ One ingredient, leads to another and it gradually starts shaping up into something interesting, something that I never tried before. At times it provides a cue that may come handy some time later.
One day, it so happened that I was wanting to bake a cake but for certain reasons not the usual stuff that I often baked – with chocolate (so predictable) / with banana (daughter was bored with it)/ with apple (hubby didn’t want the cinnamon flavor in apple cake and to me cinnamon is the soul mate of the apple! / with orange (weren't in season). I tried to think of something different but couldn't really succeed in thinking of anything. It was as if there was a void in my mind…some sort of saturation triggered by the mundane stuff of life.
And then, there it was! The coconut! Sitting pretty there (well it did seem pretty at that point of time) waiting to be turned into
Coconut Chutney to accompany the Upma, for the breakfast next day. Coconut it would be then. I had baked a Lemon Loaf earlier and I used the same recipe for this loaf. The result was just as I expected it to be. A soft, moist and flavourful coconut loaf that had tropical written all over it. The freshness of coconut made it seem perfect for the hot humid weather.So hurry, note this recipe and enjoy this yummy slice of tropic as a snack or along with your morning cuppa tea/ coffee J
½ cup regular unsweetened yogurt (dahi)1 cup (scant) sugar
½ cup oil2 eggs1 tsp coconut essence½ cup shredded fresh coconut (outer brownish skin removed)1½ cup all purpose flour - APF (maida)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
For Drizzle,
1 tbsp coconut milk½ cup confectioners sugar (icing sugar)
1 tbsp Nutella
In a mixing bowl, sift together the APF, baking soda and baking powder. Keep aside
In another mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and sugar for half a minute.Add 2 eggs and coconut essence and whisk again.
Add oil and whisk further till everything is well assimilated.
Add wet ingredients (the buttermilk mixture) to the dry ingredients (the APF mix)
Gently fold in the ingredients together and while half way through the mixing process add the coconut.
Mix till just incorporated.
Pour the batter in a 8' X 3.5' loaf tin and bake at 160 degrees C till done. (Mine took a few minutes over 60)
Once the cake is done, let it be in the baking tin for 5 minutes. Remove from the tin and let cool completely on the wire rack.
For the drizzle, beat together the coconut milk and confectioners sugar for a minute or till it reaches smooth consistency. Drizzle over the cooled loaf.
For some indulgence drizzle nutella over the loaf as well. Enjoy!!
Note: Resist the temptation to make the batter look smooth. You just need to incorporate the ingredients together. (else you may end up with a heavy textured loaf with tunnels)
Note: Add chocolate chips to the batter to give this loaf a different twist.
Note: I added scant 1 cup sugar since the drizzle and nutella compensated for the sweetness.
Post linked to Nancy's monthly YBR
