Coconut Almond Anniversary Cake

Coconuts! Almonds! Chocolate! OH MY!

A few months ago, my supervisor from work hired me to bake his wife a surprise cake on their anniversary! That is just the cutest thing ever. So obviously, I said Heck Yes I will. He managed to sneakily ask her what her favorite cake might be and she came up with this:

A coconut cake, filled with chocolate ganache, and frosted with an almond buttercream.

And the Coconut Almond Anniversary Cake was born!

I was a tad nervous making this cake because I had never made (or eaten, really) a cake like it. It was my first time making an almond frosting... Sometimes I find that almond flavoured foods taste kind of artificial and fruity? That is weird. So I used very little almond extract, and mostly almond butter to create it. Good news it was delish! 

How do I know it was delish?

I tagged along with them on their anniversary and ate their cake. NO! Just kidding. I did not.

That could be creepy, so instead, FUN TIP: I decided to save just enough cake batter and made a single cupcake, which I later filled and frosted the same way that I did for the larger cake. This way, I could do some quality control taste testing before releasing my cake out into the big world! Quality control is extensively important and probably the best part of cooking. Always do some quality control :)

The toasted coconut and almonds on top of the cake added some lovely texture. And what is a proper dessert without a little chocolate? The ganache filling made it that much more special.

So if you are celebrating your anniversary, or somebody else's, try this cake! And if you are not, then it is probably somebody's anniversary somewhere in the world... do it for them.

Coconut Cake

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Almond Butter Cream

• 1 cup (8 ounces) softened butter
• 4 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup almond butter

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamed. Add half of the icing sugar, and beat until everything is light and fluffy, add in the almond butter and extract, beat until combined. Add in the remaining half of the icing sugar and beat until everything is combined and delicious.

Chocolate Ganache

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Place your chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Warm the cream on the stove to just a simmer, just until you see bubbling around the edge of the pot. Take off the heat, and pour the cream over the chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes or so to start melting the chocolate. Gently stir until the cream and chocolate make a uniform mixture. The ganache needs to set in the fridge before so it can become spreadable, and ready to go on the cake! 

Cake Assembly!

Place one of the cake layers on a serving platter. Spread the ganache over the cake, and top with the second cake layer. Cover the sides and top of the cake completely with the Almond Buttercream. Here is the cool part! In my stocking for Christmas... I got to open this one early for this reason... I got a nifty cake decorating tool called a decorating triangle. They are pretty inexpensive to buy and give the sides of your cake a fancy finish. And I am all about the fancy finish. All you have to do is make sure the side of your cake is covered in a nice even layer of frosting, then drag one side of the triangle all the way around. Tadaa: fancy sides.

I garnished the top of my cake with toasted shredded coconut, toasted sliced almonds, and some large-flaked coconut. Large flake coconut is my new favourite ingredient! It's just so fancy looking. And as previously mentioned, I am all about the fancy. It is hard to find in regular grocery stores, but I found mine at a health food store.

I have discovered that I have more fun now wandering in health food stores than I do in clothing stores. There are so many cool foods and ingredients that you don't normally see in a regular grocery store! I love going in and walking out with something totally new to try. Such as large-flake coconut.

If you have extra buttercream leftover, use it to pipe a nice little frame around your cake to finish it off.

Happy Anniversary or Non Anniversary! (Those are important to celebrate too.)

<3 Lari

Granola Bars

It is important to have things to look forward to in life. I find that more and more, these things that I look forward to are most often related to what I am going to eat. I am hoping that it is not because the rest of my life is not exciting enough... but because eating delicious food is LIKE THE BEST THING EVER. It may seem quite simple, but I actually get really excited about granola bars. Like a lot! Like small children get excited about candy, bikes, swingsets and petting zoos. Oh wait... I also get very excited about all of these things... but granola bars are right up there!

Naturally, with my profound love for the simple yet oh so satisfying granola bar, I have always wanted to try my hand at making my own. I saw a recipe for homemade granola bars from one of my favorite food blogs: Spoon Fork Bacon and knew I had to try! 
The result: delectably crunchy-chewy granola goodness that makes me even MORE excited for snack time! How can you not get excited when the words "snack time" are mentioned?!
Call me crazy, whateva. I'm the one with the granola bars.

Granola Bars

This recipe is super adaptable and you can add in or take away ingredients to make them the way you like. In this granola bar scenario, the star players are Almonds and Cranberries.

Recipe adapted from here

*NOTE* Along with making my own little changes here and there, I halved the original recipe. This made the putting-it-in-the-pan part a tad awkward, but it still worked out. I am giving the quantities for half the recipe, as this is what I have tried. But obviously you could easily double it, and fill the pan!

• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp chia seeds (optional)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 coconut oil, sunflower oil or olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Mix Ins! (This is the (fun) part where you can choose the star of your granola show. You can put in whatever you like or have on hand, as long as it totals to be 1 cup. Here is what I did:)

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds

Okay! Let's make granola bars. Start by preheating your oven to 350 (325 for hot ovens) and line a rimmed baking tray device with parchment. Lightly grease the parchment so your granola does not stick.
In a bowl, combine the oats, wheat germ, flax and chia seeds if using.
In a small saucepan, stir to combine the syrup, oil, honey and brown sugar over medium low heat, just until everything comes together and the sugar dissolves. Add a small pinch of salt.
To the bowl with the oats, add the syrup along with your mix-ins.
Stir!
Pour out your mixture into your prepared pan, spreading it out to your desired thickness. 
Because I was making a small batch, my granola did not spread to all the edges of the pan. This is okay, just firmly pack the granola together in the best bar shape you can make :)
Pop it in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until it is toasty golden brown on the top.
Let the granola bars cool before you cut into them, as they need time to set. Once cooled, cut into bars and enjoy!

PS a crumbled up granola bar on top of fresh fruit and yogurt is an excellent, excellent idea.

<3 Lari