Luscious Coconut Desserts

By Lori Longbotham and Lucy Schaeffer

More than sixty sweet treats that offer vitamins, minerals, fiber—and a heavenly taste of the tropics.

When you think of coconuts, what comes to mind? Paradise, of course! Toasted, sugared, creamy, or crunchy, nothing compares to the flavor of coconut. Lori Longbotham, former Gourmet editor and author of Luscious Lemon Desserts and Luscious Chocolate Desserts, now offers a taste of paradise with over sixty recipes for coconut-based cakes, tarts, cookies, custards, sauces, and candies.

From classic coconut cream pie to Coconut Pistachio Baklava to Deep Dark Chocolate, Coconut, and Ginger Brownies, these recipes are proof that sweets can be nutritious—because coconut is high in fiber, rich with vitamins and minerals, and utterly indulgent.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452100210

Book preview

Luscious Coconut Desserts

by Lori Longbotham

Photographs by Lucy Schaeffer

IF YOU ARE EVER SHIPWRECKED, HOPE FOR AN ISLAND WITH COCONUTS.

---

FOR JUDITH SUTTON, WITH GRATITUDE. I COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU.

Acknowledgments:

Many thanks to Bill LeBlond and Amy Treadwell. And to Jerry Goldman; Auntie Jean; Steve, Liz, and Sarah; Ellen McGill; Catherine Longbotham; and the Perrys.

My thanks for good cheer and solace from Deborah Mintcheff; Barbara Ottenhoff; Barbara Howe; Jean Pellegrino; Beth Galton; Carol Prager; Marie Regusis; Joanna and Leigh; Sabra Turnbull; Lisa Troland; Rosie and Sprocket; Val Cipollone; Tracey Seaman; Jim Standard; Diana Sturgis; Sarah Mahoney; Kate Reese; Kathy Blake; Miriam Brickman; Kristine Kidd; Beth Lipton; Denise Mickelsen; Rebecca Freedman; Jena Myers and her parents, Jon and Debby; and Eugenia Escobar.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

All About Coconut

BAKING BASICS

Ingredients

Equipment

Tips, Techniques, and Tricks of the Trade

CAKES

Coconut, Almond, and Lime Macaroon Cake

Layer Cake with Coconut and Mango Curd, Coconut, and Cream

Luscious Coconut Layer Cake

Toasted Coconut Lane Cake

North African–Style Coconut and Pistachio Cake

Pineapple-Coconut-Ginger Upside-Down Cake

Coconut and Chocolate Marble Pound Cake

German Chocolate (Not) Cupcakes

A PIE, A MULTITUDE OF TARTS, AND A CHEESECAKE

Classic Toasted Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut Crème Brûlée Tart

Macadamia and Coconut Tart

Bittersweet Chocolate and Coconut Tart

Mango Cheesecake Enrobed in Coconut Praline

COOKIES

Coconut Tuiles

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Coconut and Lime Meringue Macaroons

Big Coconut Macaroons

Coconut and Almond Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons with Macadamia Nuts

Elegant Coconut and Curry Butter Cookies

Deep Dark Chocolate, Coconut, and Ginger Brownies

PUDDINGS AND OTHER SPOONABLE DESSERTS

Creamy Coconut Bread Pudding

Put the Lime in the Coconut Flan

Coconut and Lemongrass Crème Caramel

Lighter-than-Air Coconut Jelly

Young Coconut Water and Coconut Milk Jelly

Samui Island Bananas

SPECIAL FAVORITES

Coconut and Pistachio Baklava

Coconut and Raspberry Cream Puff Gâteau

Bananas Foster Shortcake with Coconut Biscuits

Coconut-Fried Bananas

Matrimony

Tropical Eton Mess

Luscious Coconut and Mango Pavlova

Grilled Pineapple Satays with Coconut Dulce de Leche

Caramel-and-Coconut-Coated Baby Pineapples

FROZEN DESSERTS

Piña Colada Sorbet

Coconut and Mango Sorbet

Coconut and Lychee Sorbet

Coconut and Lemongrass Granita

Coconut and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

Toasted Snowballs with Coconut Chocolate Sauce

Ginger Beer Ice Cream Float

SAUCES, GARNISHES, AND CANDIES

Coconut Lover’s Coconut Custard Sauce

Coconut Caramel Sauce

Coconut Chocolate Sauce

Coconut Dulce de Leche

Luscious Coconut and Mango Curd

Toasted Coconut Syrup

Toasted Coconut Sugar

Chocolate Coconut Bars

Coconut Praline

Coconut-Caramel Popcorn

Marshmallow Lamingtons

Coconut Whipped Cream

Candied Coconut

Caramelized Pineapple

INDEX

COPYRIGHT

Introduction

Unique, fascinating, and an enduring romantic symbol of the tropics, the coconut palm gives shelter in a storm and on sun-beaten beaches, and it provides a constant supply of food and drink. The tree is indispensable to the daily existence of millions who live in the tropics. In Sanskrit, it is called kalpa vriksha, the tree that produces all the necessities of life. Coconuts are the staff of life and the secret of good health where they are grown and are a well-loved favorite almost everywhere else.

The coconut is the fruit and seed of the coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, meaning, loosely, face-bearing nut, of the Palmaceae family. It is not a nut, although it is often categorized as one. It’s a fibrous drupe, meaning a fruit with a hard stone (apricots and cherries are also drupes). A young coconut is very like a fruit, but a ripe coconut seems more like a nut. The meat is dense, oily, and found inside a very hard shell.

Coconut is enjoyed in two forms: the liquid and very soft flesh from young, or green, coconuts and the meat of the mature coconut. A large young coconut may contain up to a quart of refreshing drink. This liquid is not coconut milk, which is prepared by adding hot water to shredded mature coconut meat and then straining it. The jelly-like flesh of a young coconut is a great delicacy. It’s called spoon coconut in Hawaii, because it is soft enough to be eaten with a spoon. As a coconut ripens, the coconut water is absorbed by the flesh, which hardens into coconut meat.

The coconut signifi es tropical paradise, and I suggest that you bring that heaven right into your kitchen. Luscious Coconut Desserts has all of your old favorite recipes for coconut desserts, plus many fresh and exciting new ones. The coconut is one of a kind. It is a food and refreshment package, and it may be the only food that is naturally organic, since the meat is well protected from any pesticides. Coconut is a love it madly or an I can totally do without it thing, but there are many more of us coconut lovers than those who can live without it.

Coconut can stand alone beautifully in a dessert, but it also combines very well with other flavors, especially with tropical fruits—their flavors are beautifully complementary. Think coconut paired with pineapple, mango, banana, ginger, lychee, lemongrass, or dark chocolate. Coconut is excellent with all of those big flavors that shine brightly like the midday sun on a tranquil isle.

Coconut also marries strikingly with citrus fruits like mandarins, oranges, tangerines, limes, and clementines. Berries are also a treat with coconut, and the combination of raspberries, mango, and fresh coconut is one of my favorites. Stone fruits are another good companion, particularly apricots, nectarines, and cherries, as are nuts, especially tropical nuts such as Brazil nuts, macadamias, and cashews.

A list of favorite coconut desserts is truly an inventory of sweets from around the world. No matter where they are from, almost everyone has a coconut favorite from childhood.

Coconuts may speak to us of warm silky breezes, turquoise waters, and swaying palms, but they also speak of the lost Eden of childhood, even if you grew up in Cleveland.

Here you will find a very diverse compilation of recipes and flavor combinations from the American South, India, the Middle East, France, Italy, the Caribbean, North Africa, and England. You’ll also be introduced to some unusual dishes, as well as unconventional uses for coconut, like Bananas Foster Shortcake with Coconut Biscuits, coconut biscuits topped with that classic banana dish. Another recipe you won’t find in just any cookbook is the one for Elegant Coconut and Curry Butter Cookies, which takes the natural affinity between curry powder and coconut and turns it into a sweet, crumbly cookie.

I’m excited about all my fellow coconut lovers making these recipes. I have not only used products that are easy to find and to work with but that give great results. Just a few recipes call for a fresh coco-nut—more wouldn’t be very practical, as preparing fresh coconut is a considerable amount of work. I think using fresh coconut makes the biggest difference when you’re making a cake, and so that is where I have concentrated its use in this book.

All About Coconut

The Tree

When we live in cities at a fast pace, it is almost impossible not to get disconnected from the natural world. Food is one of the few things in our daily life that can help us strengthen that bond. Maybe we need to remind ourselves that coconut comes from a tree, not from little blue bags in the supermarket.

There are two main types of coconut palm, dwarf and tall, encompassing a large number of varieties. The dwarf variety produces more nuts than the tall palm but it has a shorter lifespan. The dwarf tree generally reaches twenty-five to thirty feet. The tall coconut palm commonly grows to eighty feet, although it can reach up to one hundred. It bears fruit after six to twelve years and yields fifty to sixty coconuts annually.

The principal growing regions for coconut are within twenty-two degrees north and south of the equator. Coconut palms like temperatures that never fall below 68°F, and they love rain. The trees grow primarily in salty, sandy soil near the sea.

The coconut palm is the most widely grown of all palm trees; it is found in more than eighty countries. The top coconut producers are the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Central America, and Africa. The United States and Europe are the leaders in importing coconut products; combined, they account for about 55 percent of coconut exports.

The Fruit

A young coconut and a ripe coconut are two very different food products.

Young Coconut

Young coconuts have bright green husks and white interiors. They contain their maximum liquid of about four cups at around four months. At that point, the meat begins to form inside the shell as a thin, white, jelly-like layer. Ten years ago, young coconuts were almost impossible to find in the United States. Now they are sold in specialty produce markets and some supermarkets, and their liquid, packed in aseptic boxes, cans, or bottles, can be found in supermarkets, delis, and specialty and health food stores.

The sweet, fragrant juice of a young coconut is clear, almost opalescent, and as thin as water, with a subtle floral fragrance. It is the most cooling beverage I know; I recommend drinking it chilled. It is fat free and cholesterol free, and it’s an excellent source of potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and sodium. It is touted as an electrolyte-replacing beverage, better than any sports drink. It is said to enhance vitality, ease digestion, and even cure hangovers. Fresh young coconut water has a shelf life of about 2 weeks if refrigerated. The thin layer of young coconut flesh can be added to fruit salads or eaten right out of the shell, my favorite way.

Buy young coconuts husked and already opened. They are difficult to open at home—the woody green shell is thick and needs