Coconut Milk Cake

As soon as I made the coconut filling for Coconut chocolates the other day, a big question mark appeared in my eyes. And now what? All that coconut milk I'm left with can only last three days in the fridge. If I don't find something to do with it soon, I'll have to throw it away. And that would be such a waste.
Making more chocolates would be a bad idea. Not because they were bad, but for exactly opposite reason. Dangerously good would be a more appropriate description.
That same evening, reading through my Bloglovin feed, a perfect recipe came to my rescue. That was exactly what I was looking for. A simple, soft, moist cake that I could have with my coffee in the morning beforing running off to take kids to school, but also in the afternoon with a cup of tea (or Chai, maybe).
Oh, and let me tell you... I'm so glad I made it. The day yesterday started in a most stressful way. With my younger daughter having one of her theatrical scenes when she wakes up strange, no,  actually, she refuses to wake up, and makes the already difficult, busy routine even more difficult. We got to school late, I had to run in the rain fearing as always I'd crash at some point.
But going back home to find the cake on my table, and prepare a quick cup of hot chocolate milk, sit down and relax for a moment trying to come up with a strategy to avoid scenes like that, was priceless.
The cake is really unusual, although the few ingredients necessary to make it are nothing special. I'm sure you have all or most ingredients at home even now. My little addition had the form of Candied orange and honey cream, but that's simply because I didn't have any organic oranges/lemons or (even better) limes and I thought one of those would simply be necessary and perfect with coconut flavour. And because I've become addicted to this cream and have been adding it everywhere, cookies, cakes, creams, whatever I'm making.
Why is the cake unusual then? Well check the preparation. Personally, I've never made a cake batter in this way. I found it totally different. But the result is excellent. Apparently, the recipe originates from Samoa Islands.
As I said already, the cake is soft and moist, it has delicate coconut flavour, but it's very simple and I'm sure that, like myself, you won't stop at just one piece.

Coconut Milk Cake
(recipe slightly adapted from the blog La tana del coniglio)

* 160 g coconut milk
* 2 eggs
* 200 g flour
* 180 g sugar
* a pinch of salt
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 100 g butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 20 g candied orange honey cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Line a 20x20 cm square pan or a 22 cm round springform with baking paper.
Put the eggs, 50 g of coconut milk, the vanilla extract and the candied orange honey cream in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and foamy.
Whisk together the flour, the sugar and the baking powder in another bowl.
Add the softened butter and the remaining 110 g of coconut milk. Beat with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for about 3 minutes or until smooth, thick and pale.
Add the beaten eggs to the butter and flour mixture in three additions.
Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan, level the surface with a spoon or a spatula and bake for about 30-40 minutes. Check with a toothpick/wooden skewer inserted in the middle if the cake is done - the toothpick should come out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan (if using a square pan simply lift the baking paper ends to remove the cake from the pan).
When the cake's cooled down, cut it into squares and dust with powdered sugar.
* I prepared the candied orange honey cream by pureeing 135 g of candied sliced oranges with 135 g of honey and the seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean. You can substitute it in this recipe adding 10 g of honey and the grated orange or lemon zest, or omit completely, as in original recipe, and add 200 g sugar only.

Torta al latte di cocco
(la ricetta tratta e leggermente adattata dal blog La tana del coniglio)

* 160 g di latte di cocco
* 2 uova
* 200 g di farina
* 180 g di zucchero
* un pizzico di sale
* 2 1/2 cucchiaini di lievito per dolci
* 100 g di burro
* 1 cucchiaino di estratto di vaniglia
* 20 g di crema di arance candite e miele

Preriscaldate il forno a 180°C.
Foderate una teglia quadrata (20x20 cm) o una tonda (da 22 cm) con la carta da forno.
Mettete le uova, 50 g di latte di cocco, l'estratto di vaniglia e la crema di arance candite in una ciotola e sbattete con uno sbattitore elettrico fino a ottenere un composto liscio e spumoso.
In un'altra ciotola prima mescolate insieme con una frusta a mano la farina, lo zucchero e il lievito per i dolci. Poi aggiungete il burro ammorbidito e il restante latte di cocco (110 g). Sbattete il tutto con uno sbattitore elettrico oppure in una planetaria con la frusta K per circa 3 minuti, fino a ottenere un composto denso, liscio e chiaro.
Unite le uova in tre volte lavorando l'impasto per un minuto dopo ogni aggiunta.
Versate l'impasto nella teglia, livellate con un cucchiaio o una spatola e infornate nel forno già caldo per circa 30-40 minuti.
Controllate la cottura inserendo uno stuzzicadenti o uno spiedino di legno al centro della torta - deve uscire asciutto.
Lasciate raffreddare la torta nella teglia per 10 minuti e poi sformatela e lasciatela raffreddare completamente.
Tagliate la torta a tranci/quadretti e spolverizzatela con lo zucchero a velo.
* Ho preparato la crema di arance candite e miele frullando 135 g di fettine di arancia candita con 135 g di miele e i semi di 1/2 bacca di vaniglia. In questa ricetta potete anche sostituirla con 10 g di miele e la scorza finemente grattugiata di un'arancia o limone, oppure omettere come nella ricetta originale aumentando lo zucchero a 200 g.

Kolač s kokosovim mlijekom
(recept preuzet uz manje izmjene s bloga La tana del coniglio)

* 160 g kokosovog mlijeka
* 2 jaja
* 200 g brašna
* 180 g šećera
* prstohvat soli
* 2 1/2 žličice praška za pecivo
* 100 g maslaca
* 1 žličica ekstrakta vanilije
* 20 g kreme od kandirane naranče i meda

Uključite pećnicu na 180°C.
Pripremite četvrtasti (20x20 cm) ili okrugli (22 cm) pleh tako što ćete ga obložiti papirom za pečenje.
Stavite u zdjelu jaja, 50 g kokosovog mlijeka, ekstrakt vanilije i kremu od kandirane naranče i meda. Mutite mikserom dok smjesa ne postane glatka i lagano se zapjeni.
U drugoj zdjeli pomiješajte brašno, šećer i prašak za pecivo. Lagano ih promiješajte ručnom pjenjačom.
Dodajte omekšali maslac i preostalih 110 g kokosovog mlijeka. Mutite električnim mikserom ili u stolnom mikseru s lopaticom oko 3 minute, odnosno dok smjesa ne postane ujednačena, glatka i svijetla.
Dodajte jaja u tri dodavanja muteći 1 minutu nakon svakog dodavanja.
Istresite smjesu za kolač u pripremljen pleh i poravnajte površinu žlicom ili špatulom.
Pecite kolač oko 30-40 minuta u zagrijanoj pećnici.
Provjerite je li kolač pečen tako što ćete ubosti čačkalicu ili drveni štapić u sredinu kolača - mora izaći suh.
Ostavite kolač da se ohladi u kalupu 10 minuta, a zatim ga izvadite iz kalupa i ostavite da se potpuno ohladi.
Narežite kolač na kocke i pospite ga šećerom u prahu.
* Kremu od kandirane naranče s medom pripremila sam tako što sam smiksala u kremu štapnim mikserom 135 g kriški kandirane naranče sa 135 g meda i sjemenkama 1/2 štapića vanilije. U ovom receptu možete je zamijeniti s 10 g meda i sitno naribanom koricom naranče ili limuna, ili, kao u originalnom receptu izostaviti u potpunosti i povećati šećer na 200 g.