Piña Colada Muffins #MuffinMonday

A quick question for you, as I pack my bags to fly back to the US (BECAUSE MY FIRST BABY GIRL IS GRADUATING FROM UNIVERSITY!) for reasons that don't seem possible, given that I only feel about 24 myself.  Have you ever cooked or baked with coconut oil? This is my first time and I have to admit it reminds me of beaches and Hawaiian Tropic suntanning oil.  But in a good way.  Combining it with pineapple in these muffins, I am back on my honeymoon in Barbados, sipping piña coladas.  While the health-professional jury is still out, it seems that coconut oil does have some benefits.  All I can tell you is that it was a great way to add coconut flavor to my muffins, without actually adding more fat in the form of grated coconut, in addition to the usual canola or butter.  Which makes me think it might be a good addition to curries as well, instead of coconut milk.  What do you think?  Coconut oil, yay or nay?

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
1/2 cup or 115g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml coconut oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 120ml pineapple syrup (from canned pineapple)
About 3/4 cup or 140g canned pineapple, drained weight

1/8-1/4 cup or 10-20g sweetened flaked coconut for decoration (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by greasing or lining with paper muffin cups.

Drain your small can of pineapple and reserve the syrup.  Chop the pineapple up with a big knife.  Or a small knife.  I’m flexible.

Set aside a small pile of pineapple for adding to the muffin tops before baking.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.

In another bowl, whisk together milk, coconut oil, pineapple syrup, vanilla and eggs.

That's the coconut oil.  I don't know what I expected it to look like since bottle
was not see-through but the white surprised me. 

Add all the milk mixture to the flour mixture.

Gently fold just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Then fold in your small pile of pineapple bits.

Divide your batter relatively evenly between the 12 muffin cups.

Top each cup of batter with a few pieces of the reserved pineapple and sprinkle with a few coconut flakes, if using.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until muffins are golden.

Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing muffins from tin.  Cool further on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Texas Sheet Cake with Pecan Frosting

Chocolate cake topped with chocolate pecan icing! Texas sheet cake is baked and served in straight from the pan so it's easy to transport. Great for picnics or potlucks!

This week the Sunday Supper group is getting ready for summertime fun.  Picnics and family reunions in parks or at the beach!  What’s a picnic without dessert?

This cake is moist, chocolaty and altogether delicious.  I got the recipe many years ago from my friend, Sharon, who is an excellent cook as well as a delightful person with a great sense of humor.  She is also from Louisiana, so that explains a lot.  I almost always have the ingredients on hand and it's quick to put together.  You don't even have to get out your electric mixer (although sometimes I do) because it can be mixed by hand.  But the best part of all is that it is baked and frosted and served straight from the pan, so it is easily transported to a picnic or potluck or party.   If you want to make your life even easier, bake it in a disposable aluminum pan and you won’t even have anything to bring home to wash up.  Because I can assure you, there will be NO CAKE left.

Many thanks to our host for this week’s Sunday Supper, Katy from Happy Baking Days!  If you haven’t met her yet, go on over and say howdy.  She’s cute and sweet and always shares lovely recipes from her happy kitchen.  I know I have at least a few readers who cook and bake gluten-free and Katy can help you out there!

Ingredients
For the cake:
2 cups or 450g sugar
2 cups or 250g flour
1/4 cup or 20g cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter 115g, softened
1/2 cup or 120ml buttermilk
1/2 cup canola or other light vegetable oil
1 cup or 240ml water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons or 90ml milk
1/4 cup or 20g cocoa
1/2 cup or 115g butter
16 oz or about 450g confectioners or powdered sugar, sifted (about 4 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecans

Method
Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grease and flour a 13x9x2 inch or 33x23x4cm baking pan.

Toast your pecans in a skillet over a medium flame.  Shake the pan regularly until the fragrance of toasted nuts tells you they are done.  This takes just a few minutes.  Chop the pecans roughly and set aside.

Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and cinnamon, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, blend together the two eggs, softened butter, buttermilk, canola, water and vanilla.

Pour your dry ingredients into the wet ones, stirring or beating until you have a smooth, rather thin batter.

Pour into your prepared pan, and bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting.

Mix the milk and cocoa in a heavy saucepan and stir, stir, stir.  I used a whisk because the cocoa sometimes doesn’t want to mix in right away.

Add the butter and, over medium heat, stir until the butter melts.

Remove from heat and gradually stir in the sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Finally, add the pecans.

When the cake is just out of the oven, spread the frosting evenly on the HOT cake.

Enjoy!

My apologies for not taking a photo of the cake being served.  I took this along to a ladies lunch and we were too busy eating to remember pictures!

Update: I MADE IT AGAIN. See, I told you it was a favorite.  So here's the photo.  This time I used Hershey's Dark Special Cocoa (Special Dark Cocoa?) so it was even more fudgy and delicious.

Make sure you check out the links below for more great picnic party ideas!

Salads and Slaws

• Bacon Ranch Potato Salad from Juanita’s Cocina
• Caprese Spinach Salad from Small Wallet, Big Appetite
• Chicken Chopped Salad from Table for Seven
• Cold Pea Salad  from Shockingly Delicious
• Creamy Potato Salad with Roasted Pears, Cilantro and Romano Cheese from Gourmet Drizzles
• German Potato Salad from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
• Hawaiian Cole Slaw from Curious Cuisiniere
• Italian Chopped Salad from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Kale Pasta Salad from Hip Foodie Mom
• Mediterranean Pasta Salad from Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Mizeria (Polish Cucumber Salad) from From Fast Food to Fresh Food
• PA Dutch Pepper Cabbage from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Pineapple Slaw from I Run For Wine
• Spaghetti Salad from Country Girl in the Village
• Tortellini Pasta Salad from Supper for a Steal

Sandwiches and Mains

• Avocado Chicken Salad Sandwich from Momma’s Meals
• Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and Tomato Sandwich from Magnolia Days
• Grilled Bratwurst and Onion Open-Face Sandwiches from The Urban Mrs
• Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Goddess Sauce from Foxes Love Lemons
• Herbs-Garlic and Parmesan Croissants from Basic N Delicious
• Indian Spiced Chicken Drumsticks from Soni’s Food
• Japanese Picnic Bento Box from The Ninja Baker
• Mini Chicken Salad, Avocado and Cheese Subs from Big Bear’s Wife
• Moroccan Fried Chicken from MarocMama
• Pepper, Spinach and Goat’s Cheese Quiche from Happy Baking Days
• Picnic Basket Buttermilk Fried Chicken from Noshing with the Nolands
• Salmon in a Jar from Healthy. Delicious.
• Smoked Trout Deviled Eggs from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Spam Musubi fromKimchi Mom

Desserts

• Apricot Oat Nut Bars from Pies and Plots
• Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispie Treat Pops from In The Kitchen With KP
• Cocoa Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Fruit Salad from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
• Fruit Salad with Honey Port Drizzle from Family Foodie
• Loaded Butterscotch Bars from Vintage Kitchen
• Nathan’s Cookies from What Smells So Good?
• Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treat Truffles from Chocolate Moosey
• Shandy Popsicles With Raspberries from Ruffles & Truffles
• Texas Sheet Cake with Pecan Frosting from Food Lust People Love
• Triple Chocolate Punch Bowl Cake from Neighborfood

• Fresh Limeade with Chia Seeds from girlichef
• Pineapple Sangria from Growing Up Gabel
• Strawberry Basil Lemonade from The Messy Baker Blog
• Strawberry Lemonade from Gotta Get Baked
• Top 10 Wines for Picnic #SundaySupper from ENOFYLZ Wine blog
• Watermelon Agua Fresca from Daily Dish Recipes

Crumpets for #RandomRecipeChallenge

The whole point of the Random Recipe Challenge set each month by dashing Dom of +belleau kitchen is to get us out of our comfort zone and make us try something new. This month the theme is bread so I opened the EatYourBooks website and searched my own cookbooks as specified.  My random number landed on English Bread and Yeast Cookery, a book I have had for a while and have enjoyed reading, but had yet to cook or bake from.  It is by Elizabeth David, the grande dame of British cookbook authors.

What there is to know about food preparation that she hasn’t written about, must not be worth knowing.  Each recipe is thoroughly researched and documented and delivered with current (at the time of publication) personal observations.  Mrs. David shares nine recipes for crumpets, those little griddle yeast breads, the oldest dating back to 1769, and her treatise on what a crumpet should and should not be.  She is quite firm and I get the feeling that she was quite a character.  My random recipe number this month brought me to the one called Crumpets 1973.  Thank God.

                                                 

Ingredients
3 2/3 cups or 455g flour
1 packet dried yeast (3/4o oz or 21g) I used Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise.
2 cups or 470ml milk, diluted with 1/4 cup or 60ml water
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons oil (I used canola.) plus extra for greasing the griddle and metal rings
For the second mixing: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 cup or 120ml warm water

Method
Mrs. David says to warm the flour in a crockery bowl in a warm oven so I popped mine in a glass bowl into the microwave.  I didn’t really expect anything that dry to get warm, but it did.  Since it’s hotter than the hinges of hell already here in Dubai, that step probably wasn’t necessary but I was curious to see if it would work.

Measure your milk, water, oil and sugar into a microwaveable vessel and then warm slowly to blood heat.  I took that to mean 98.6°F or 37°C.

Close enough.

Pour about 1/4 cup of 60ml of your warm milk mixture into a small bowl with the yeast and whisk gently.

Meanwhile, add the salt to your warmed flour and mix well.

Stir in the yeast and then add the warm milk mixture.  Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until it is smooth and elastic.  Here Mrs. David quotes from an earlier crumpet recipe and says to “attack it with ‘vivacious turbulence.’”  I suggest you do the same.

Look how foamy the yeast mixture got in just a couple of minutes! 

Cover the bowl and allow to rise for about an hour to an hour and a half at room temperature.

After an hour.

Beat it down with a wooden spoon.

Dissolve the baking soda in the warm water and add it to the batter, again stirring vigorously.  Let this rest, or as Mrs. David says, let the batter recover, for another 30 minutes.

Here where it gets tricky.  Prepare your griddle and rings by brushing them liberally with oil.  According to the instructions, my rings were supposed to be about 4 inches or 10cm across.  Mine were considerably smaller.

Also, as I filled them the first time rather full, I realized that the characteristic holes in the crumpet couldn’t form because the batter was too deep.   Also, perhaps my batter was too thick.

Too full? Or too thick?  Either way, no holes! 

Mrs. David warned that this might happen and suggested adding some extra warm water to thin the batter just a little bit.  I added another 1/4 cup or 60ml of water and only filled the rings halfway on the second attempt.  I was delighted to start seeing holes forming as they cooked.

Yay!  Holes starting to emerge!  

So:  I suggest that you heat your griddle over a low to medium flame and then only fill the rings halfway with batter to start.  If the holes are still not forming, add some more warm water to the batter.

Cook the batter until the holes have formed and the top is looking mostly cooked.  Use an oven mitt to pick up the ring and run a knife around the crumpet to loosen it, if necessary, and remove the ring.  Flip the crumpet so the holey side can brown.

Remove from griddle and, if you’d like, keep the finished ones warm in the oven until they are all done and you are ready to eat.

Continue brushing the rings with grease and filling them and cooking the crumpets until all your batter is gone.  Or until you get sick and tired of turning out crumpets and decide to stack a couple of the first hole-less batch with cheese and saucisson and make your helper a birthday cake.   Decorate with piped cream cheese.  Sing the birthday song and blow the candle out for him.  After all he has no lips.

This recipe makes a bunch of crumpets, at least a couple or three dozen, especially with small rings.

Smear them with a pat of butter and a drizzle of honey to fill the little holes.

Enjoy!

More birthday boy photos: