this post brought to you by the letter 'c'

I just realized that so many of the foodstuffs I love begin with 'c.' Cinnamon, cilantro, coconut, chocolate, caramel, coffee, chiles, chicken, corn--and those are just the ones about which I feel very strongly!

Cashews, cloves, cheese, cherries, cumin, carrots, and on and on it goes. It's a good letter, am I right?

My most recent dessert combined two of those beloved ingredients--cinnamon and coconut. Although the original name of the recipe classifies it a bread, I consider it more cake-like than anything else, dense and sturdy yet still light. The fact that I added a hearty helping of cinnamon chips bumped up the treat-factor even more.  Bonus--it's a breeze to make, no beaters required.  (That's always a draw for me.) :)

As I peruse the list above, I see many magical combinations:
-chocolate and caramel
-chocolate and coffee
-chocolate and coconut
-chocolate and cherries
-chocolate and...you get the idea
-cilantro, chicken, chiles, corn, cumin, and cheese
-caramel and cashews

And on it goes. Good ol' letter 'c.'

Cocommon (but in no way common) Cake
(based on this recipe)

2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
Seeds scraped from a vanilla bean
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup superfine sugar
5 ounces flaked coconut (around 1 1/2 cups)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 cups cinnamon chips

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease up a loaf pan or a tube pan or whatever pan you have within your reach.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, extract, and vanilla seeds. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the sugar and coconut. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly add the egg mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in the melted butter, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the cinnamon chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven until the cake is golden and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, around 1 hour for a loaf and 75 minutes for a tube pan. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in its tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack.