Just the two of us…and we are hungry for a little Coconut Cake (think your favorite Lemon Bread). To the rescue–Small Batch Coconut Cake, this cake is diminutive in size but big on flavor, another Little Jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.
BREAD OR CAKE?
OK, what is the difference between a bread and a cake? I have always been confused. Yes, there is a difference, simply put it has to do with the leavening agents used. This post on Food 52 breaks it all down. Confusingly, classic Lemon Bread is really more like a cake baked in a loaf pan. So this recipe can be either cake or bread, which ever you like.
SMALL BATCH BAKING
All that confusion aside, simple sweet loaf cakes are my favorite. Mini loaves are easy to share with friends, take to parties, and of course are just enough for the two of us. Lemon Bread is the classic that bears repeating so, enter Small Batch Coconut Cake, a tropical take on the favorite.
COCONUT CAKE
Simple pantry ingredients make this cake. A sweet glaze is poured into the hot cake that creates a tender, flavorful cake. This recipe makes a perfect size cake for small households.
Enjoy another Little Jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.
Happy Sunday! I bring you an incredible chocolate cake recipe that hits all the marks in today’s food scene: no dairy, no butter, a perfectly vegan cake; oh did I mention the recipe is from Italy in 1929? Amazing cooks, making something from nothing in hardship days-Ada Boni’s Talisman Cake, a true little jewel.
ITALIAN REGIONAL COOKING
This cake popped up on my IG feed a while back-it looked like a mistake, another flawed recipe from the internet. After research I found out that this cake, Ada Boni’s Talisman Cake, is from a 1929 cookbook that was touted at the time as a book to give new brides as a wedding gift. This peaked my interest and down the rabbit whole I went to understand the history of this recipe. Not to my knowledge, I had a copy of Italian Regional Cookbook I picked up for couple bucks at a local thrift shop, also by Ada Boni!. My cookbook collection is out of control.
CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
Back to the cupcakes (cake) recipe. This cake recipe does read like mistake. I was skeptical, but after multiple bakings, each timecomes out fantastic, whether made as a cake or cupcakes. So, dense, so much chocolate, hard to believe recipe. The best thing is the simplicity. Dry ingredients in a bowl, add the wet and orange rind and bake, that’s all, really.
A couple of things, do not over bake or add more than called for orange zest or cinnamon, I went a little overboard one time, not good.I frosted the cupcakes with a rich coconut milk vanilla-bean labne (thick yogurt) whip. I love the tang and it keeps things dairy-free.Frost with your favorite vanilla frosting, or go crazy and do chocolate, you can’t lose either way.
HISTORIAL RECIPES
I can’t say enough how much cooking knowledge I have gained from reading from cook’s of the past from all over the world. My cookbook collection is a treasure. Food is universal, something that connects us all.
In creating Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen over 10 years ago, my was goal to bring you the” little jewels” a curated collection of recipes from different time periods and cultures. Now with 500 recipes on the website to search, you will find an abundant collection of eclectic recipes, something for everyone and every meal.
Stay tuned for a new chapter and format for the next ten years. Thank you for being a part of Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen.
Merci, Merci again to 805 Living Magazine! Grateful to again be featured in The Home Issue. The central coast is now my new home with fresh grown produce right down the street. My Spice Poached Bananas are included in this month’s issue. On newsstands and online.
THE 805 COMMUNITY
Big thanks to the publishing team at 805 Living for including me in this Spring issue. After working as a home design consultant in Santa Barbara for 6 months, I came to know many of the great food options along the Central coast. The food community is growing.
COASTAL LIVING
The beautiful coastline creates so many opportunities for fresh seafood and a wide variety of produce grown in the many agricultural communities. The sea has influenced many of my new recipes, such as the incredible Hope Ranch Mussels with Fresh Ginger & Thai Basil and classic California Fish Tacos using our local California Rockfish.
SPICED POACHED BANANAS
This featured recipe is a take on classic Bananas Foster from New Orleans. The original recipe was inspired by a recipe from the famous chef Lee Bailey, who was way ahead of all things on food & home styling. I had the chance to take a cooking class with him and have one of his cookbooks signed – very nice memory.
ON THE HORIZON
Wow! This post marks No. 500 on the blog. Stay tuned by signing up for the recipe newsletter, there are new things coming to Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen.
I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day, what can make me feel this way? Ojai Pixie tangerines of course.
Ojai Pixie Bars, a sunny little jewel for the season. When winter’s dark days begin to end, that’s when the sunshine appears. This is also when the one-of-a-kind Ojai Pixie Tangerines appear.
I have been raving about these little jewels on the blog, it’s time to try them for your self. Continue reading Ojai Pixie Bars
While going through my cookbook collection I remembered a recipe for a “sheet” cake by Nigel Slater that I had wanted to try. Off work for a day I made Nigel’s Victoria Cake, with of course some minor revisions. A simple, straightforward cake easy to prepare–Victoria Tray Cake, a little jewel from the kitchen.
COOK VS CHEF
The past 10 years of my blog, Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen, I have honed my skills in food photography and cookbook design, working solo to create a brand of food style and books I am proud to call my own. I am not a chef, however I am a skilled, experienced cook, specializing in home cooking as a private chef for clients and my own family. I adore Nigel Slater’s Cookbooks and his writing.So honest and talented he has influenced many recipe ideas into my work as a private chef, and also cooking in my home for family and friends.
CLASSIC CAKE
The Victoria Tray Cake comes from this book, which I highly recommend. This is the kind of cookbook you pick up from time to time and read more from his seasonal kitchen diary, loaded with recipes.What a marvelous idea to begin a kitchen journal. I have my little jewel collection file with hundreds of my favorite recipes, many of which I have shared with you on the blog. At this time, 490 recipes are all free on my website so grab them while you can.
I love simple baking as my skills lean towards cooking, which for me is a much more flexible kitchen experience. This cake therefore is very simple. A sheet cake that is prepared with on hand pantry ingredients and utilizes frozen fruit, perfect. Great for snacking, packing for lunches or alongside a cup of afternoon tea.
Victoria Tray Cake-another little jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.
