June 14, 2010

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.

71 comments:

  1. This cake looks so good! Cinnamon chocolate chips and coconut, heavenly!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Mm that look so good! I love a good food porn closeup! :D And I should confess that I thought that you were going to make something that combined ALL of those ingredients. I know you'd make it work though!

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  3. It's so funny reading your post because when I had started my culinary journey I was also looking at the letter C because my name also started with C...I got curious and started the exercise. Conclusion, I became quite overwhelmed and put my story on the back burner for now. It will one day surface ;o)

    Your cake's ingredients are very interesting indeed. I see how you really love your cinnamon ;o)
    Flavourful wishes, Claudia

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  4. I never realized how delicious so many things starting with C are....

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  5. I think I can actually see the cinnamon chips and the coconut flakes - am sure both would make the cake so flavourful.

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  6. I am completely won over Grace, say no more. What's not to love about the letter C, especially since it is also for Cookie :)

    Gotta love a recipe that doesn't need beaters too, yummo.

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  7. The whole beaters thing is also a draw for me. I love my mixer, but when I see "whisk", I am so all over that recipe!

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  8. the list of "c" combo's is making me hungry! That cake looks fantastic!

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  9. Is it weird that during one of my random day dreaming moments I envisioned being made to choose to only cook with food and spices beginning with one letter?? And surprise surprise after looking through my cupboards I decided that C would be my letter - the fact that chocolate, cinnamon, cardamom and coconut all began with C pretty much made my choice easy.
    Bravo on another yummy C filled cake - (cake also begins with C, the greatness never ends)

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  10. How did you ever think of the letter 'c' as being so interesting? Amazing.

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  11. coconut and cinnamon are a perfect combo...I've never thought of combining them before! Great job :)

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  12. I "C" this cake......and I'd LOVE a piece! It looks amazing....coconut and cinnamon...you sure can't go wrong with that combination.
    Thanks so much, Grace-I can't wait to try this! :)

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  13. C is a Crackerjack letter and that cake is Champion!!!

    I must add, candy, chimichurri and coleslaw to the list. I just can't help it:)

    Thanks for sharing, Grace. I too thought your creation would be filled with all the foodstuff Cees. I know you could pull it off:)

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  14. That sounds gorgeous! Such great flavours, how could anyone fail to love this and you are right about the letter C, it stands for a lot of my favourite foods too - chocolate, cheese, cherries, carrots, cheesecake, to mention a few :)

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  15. It is clearly also brought by the word 'YUM!'. Coconut and cinnamon, what's not to like?

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  16. I never thought to combine these 2 delicious ingredients, your cake looks perfect!

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  17. alright, i think we need a blog event where we cook our way through the alphabet...has someone done this.

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  18. I love your idea of "C" food. As I'm a French food addict, I would add also Camembert, Champagne, Chantilly (whipped cream), and Charcuterie. And this cakes looks yummy!

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  19. Looks fantastic! I wonder what makes a bread vs a cake with something like this? Baking semantics can be odd...

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  20. Oooh! That looks so moist and so inviting!
    oxoxo
    Denalee

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  21. i have to agree with you on the Cs! i love chocolate, cheese, cinnamon, cilantro...and cash! muahahaaHA

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  22. That's how I feel about the letter B. :) C's a close second.
    ~ingrid

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  23. I love it when something can be mixed without a mixer, and the more 'c' words in a recipe the better! Cashews and caramel is one of my favorite combos.

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  24. Mmmm... chocolate, coconut, caramel, and cinnamon altogether would drive me insane. Your cocommon cake looks divine!

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  25. I'm thinking I would definitely have to throw in some Chocolate Chips and this would be about perfect!

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  26. Ah yes. The letter C. Mainly for cinnamon if I know you at all! I like it too and REALLY like the crunchy crust on this bread/cake. Looks gooey too. I bet you scraped the gooey crunch out of the bundt pan with a spoon! :) I do. It's the best part.
    (Did I ever tell you about mail-ordering some cinnamon chips last year (couldn't find them here at that point) and they all arrived in one melted mass? That old Fla. humidity and sitting in the UPS truck all day didn't help. I refrigerated it, carefully chopped it up and used it for one of your recipes!)

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  27. I agree, "c" is a good letter for food! I don't think I've ever had them together, but cinnamon and coconut sound like a delicious combo! Gorgeous cake!

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  28. Wow, love these "C"...great combination...and cake look so tasty and rich :-)

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  29. Wacky! I had never noticed that 'C' motif before. But you're so right. Cinnamon, chocolate, caramel, coconut, cheese... You know, I was just thinking the other day how much I am in love with coconut. I'm definitely bookmarking this cake!

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  30. Cinnamon...coconut....you are speaking my language! This looks fabulous.

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  31. I was with you until cilantro. Eee-yuck. Yep, I'm one of those. But I'm for SURE with you on this cake. Cocommon. LOVE that.

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  32. Is that like, coco-mmon (spoken in a Jamaican accent)?

    A delicious one indeed. And leave it to you to find that your trusty ingredients all begin with the letter 'c'. As my Mom would say, "You're a corker."

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  33. i love when you use coconut. and i am totally up for trying this, all that funktified stuff in there sounds perfect to me.

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  34. Yes - I agree - C is a wonderful letter!!!

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  35. Mmm love any coconut cake! The cinnamon chips make it look irresistible.

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  36. You are so right - there are tons of tasty foods starting with 'c'. I am loving this cake, but then I do love anything with coconut.

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  37. I'm wanting a piece of this cake so bad Grace- and here I'm trying to lose weight and you tempt me!
    I'm loving this though, so I'm bookmarking it. I"m so weak.:)

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  38. C is a GOOD food letter! So many tantalizing combinations in there...but I think you picked the best one. This cake looks amazing!

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  39. Hilarious! I love foods with the letter "c" too. Maybe that is why I just posted pancakes with coconut & corn flour. This cake looks great, yes we should go with cake over bread! xxoo

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  40. Gotta love letter "c" :) This cake sounds terrific with coconut and cinnamon!

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  41. Funny and I am suddenly realizing I never made the connection between foods and the alphabet; maybe because the foods I like have foreign names and foreign alphabets!
    anyway, I love that photo; talk about mesmerizing.

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  42. Hurray for the letter C and all the great food you make using them!

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  43. Nice. My husband would go cuckoo for this cake.

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  44. I c that this cake is not common at all. Mmm cinnamon chips! Love those things.

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  45. cinnamon and coconut, what a great c combo...I love this c cake..

    sweetlife

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  46. And don't forget cardamon!

    You're right, a lot of great foods start with the letter C.

    As for cardamon, whenever I smell it, it evokes memories of my grandparents, who came to America from Norway in the '50s. Cardamon is a much-loved spice in Scandinavian baking, and for some reason the smell of it seems to linger and entice the senses with memories.

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  47. Don't forget another C you love, moi! The cake sounds delicious, I adore coconut :)

    Oh and I'll add to the list of delicious C's - chevre!

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  48. Hi, I'll take two slices, please. One with milk poured all over it.

    And by the by, one of these days I may pick up cinnamon chips. You're really making them sound attractive.

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  49. Just when I'm convinced that I don't like sweets, you force me to reconsider.

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  50. Oooh, this looks so tasty and tempting! I am a huge coconut fan!

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  51. OMG, you are so right. Now that I think of it, almost ALL of my favorite foods also start with C (except pizza I suppose). I have a few more to add to your list: cookies, cake, candy, and cream. That does it - C is the best letter in the alphabet. Love this cake too. Sounds delicious.

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  52. LOL I've never thought of it that way! Awesome combo!

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  53. What's not to love, great ingredients, quick to make, no mixer, I'm in.
    Mimi

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  54. Looks absolutely luscious. What a fantastic idea to add cinnamon chips! Lots of my favorite foods start with c too -- coconut for sure and cinnamon is definitely on the list. This cake is definitely up my alley!

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  55. I would like to add, calories and carbohydrates.
    I love the name for your cake too. Yum.

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  56. Sorry I have been absent lately, Grace! This cake looks so moist and delicious. I would love to try it sometime. I love cinnamon chips. Did you know they're hard to find?

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  57. Chocolate can perk up just about anything - I would even eat celery if it was dipped in choc!
    Cake looks divine.

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  58. Hmmm, I'd never thought before what a delicious letter "C" can be. This looks heavenly!

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  59. Call it cake or call it bread. I call it DELICIOUS! ;)

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  60. Great warm color and texture. YUM!

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  61. LOL I just adore the first line... ME TOO! :)

    Great job as always!

    Amanda

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  62. I love all of your "C" loves and agree with everyone of them with coffee, chocolate, and cilantro topping my list. I just bought some Vietnamese cinnamon and thought of you - I am excited to give it a try soon. Your cake looks delicious. ( : Oh, and I bought an ice cream maker and mini tart pans with the gift certificate! It turned out to be for $100, not $50 - nice surprise!

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  63. wow..i never realized how common C is! this sounds delish! I'm really irritated cuz I can not find cinnamon chips :(

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  64. Ya, I know I already commented but I have to tell you...I came here to see if you're linked to facebook (think that you're not at this point) and I just read where you say "follow me (but not literally because that's creepy) and I CRACKED UP!!!

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  65. I really should have eaten breakfast before visiting your blog! This looks delicious! Cinnamon chips?! I'm there.

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  66. Oh, I always loved that about Sesame Street. Network shows were always brought to you by junk foods in clever packaging, but Sesame Street had the ability to be sponsored by something really important, you know ... those letters and numbers.

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  67. Mmmmmm! I love coconut and who doesn't love chocolate and cake so I give this cake a definite go!

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