Coconut Cream + Oatmeal Parfait with Raspberries + Papaya

Breakfast is my reason for waking up in the morning (to be clear, not my only reason, but an important one). Sometimes the only way I can make myself stop snacking the night before is to tell myself "You will eat again - in a mere 8-10 hours. And it will probably be something delicious, so stop before you're too guilty to consume anything but a green smoothie (also delicious)." I'll study Pinterest for creative inspiration, and then dream deeply about how I can somehow turn breakfast into a morning dessert. 

Like many of you, I'm big on presentation. And what's more beautiful than colorful layers of delicious ingredients? Here I layered fresh raspberries and papaya with chewy oats, silky coconut cream, and crunchy almonds and cacao nibs. I started mixing yogurt with my oatmeal awhile ago, and it's been a real game changer. I would dump the ingredients together and give it a good mix, often throwing some frozen fruit inside to keep everything on the same page temperature wise. But while it tasted amazing, it really never looked that beautiful. I don't know why it took me so long to do the layering thing, but isn't that usually the way? Parfaits have since become one of my favorite breakfast options. 

My favorite yogurt brand Whole Soy & Co., has been having some relocating issues (don't worry, they will be back!), so after a quick panic attack, I got to thinking. I tried the life changing coconut cream-from-a-can-of-coconut milk when it hit the blogosphere about a year ago, and knew I'd have great success using it as a yogurt substitute. I wasn't wrong. There's something truly magical about sticking a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, and waking up to a can of coconut whipped cream (click that link above for step-by-step instructions). It's right up there with the wonders of churning homemade ice-cream. I could seriously eat an entire bowl of this stuff. Which is exactly what I did over the next couple days. 

Coconut Cream + Oatmeal Parfait with Raspberries + Papaya

Feel free to substitute yogurt for the coconut cream

Serves 1

Coconut cream (I sweeten mine with maple syrup or honey)

1/4 cup oats

2 tablespoons raisins

1/2 cup raspberries, mashed up a bit

1/2 cup papaya, also mashed

1 tablespoon cacao nibs

1 tablespoon toasted, slivered almonds

1 tablespoon shredded coconut, unsweetened 

Cook your oats according to package instructions, stirring in the raisins during the last couple minutes of cooking. Set aside. Mix together the cacao nibs, slivered almonds, and shredded coconut in a small bowl. Set aside. 

Grab a mason jar, or whatever your favorite breakfast bowl may be, and start layering. 

Put 1/2 of the oatmeal raisin mixture in the bottom of the jar. Next add 1/2 of the mashed raspberries followed by 1/2 of the papaya. Top with a few tablespoons of coconut cream (the more the better), and sprinkle with 1/2 of the cacao, almond, coconut mix. Repeat the previous steps starting with the oatmeal and ending with the cacao, almond, coconut mix. Dig in.  

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake

Did You Know? Pomegranates have existed for 50 to 70 million years. The plants themselves live 100 to 150 years in the wild, and 300 years or more in cultivated gardens. They bear fruit in their second or third year, and can produce 440 to 660 pounds of fruit annually.

With a huge case of POM Wonderful and some tubs of Oikos, I needed a recipe to put these ingredients to use, preferably all at once. I'd had a recipe for grapefruit yogurt cake bookmarked for some time, and with a few substitutions, I knew I could have something really great. The original recipe had mentioned that the grapefuit syrup did not thicken up as hoped, so I made sure to let the pomegranate juice reduce down for a few extra minutes; it ended up being my favorite part.

As for the cake itself, it has a wonderful crumb, and is super-moist. Flavorwise, it's definitely more lemon than pomegranate, but I expected that. The original recipe had praised the grapefruit-zested sugar that was incorporated, but with no rind to zest from a pomegranate, I opted for a lemon instead, and threw in a tablespoon of pomegranate juice for good measure.

Pomegranate Yogurt Cake
Adapted from Joy the Baker

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup pomegranate juice, plus one tablespoon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a bundt pan, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt to blend.

On a clean surface, or in a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and zest. With the back of a spoon or a flexible bench knife, rub the lemon zest into the sugar. The essential oils will release into the sugar creating a wonderfully fragrant lemon-sugar.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and lemon-sugar until the eggs are thick and pale yellow. Add the yogurt, oil, one tablespoon of pomegranate juice, and vanilla extract. Stir well to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted near the center. Place the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, and cool completely on the wire rack.

In a small saucepan, combine the powdered sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice and bring to a boil Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring, for 10-15 minutes, or until the glaze is slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

To finish, pierce the cake all over the top with a skewer and pour the warm pomegranate syrup slowly over the cake.

Store at room temperature, wrapped well, for 2 days.

Lemon Poppy Seed Teacakes

Did You Know? For hundreds of years, Greeks have prized strained yogurt for its richness and creaminess, and because it makes a great cooking ingredient that’s less likely to curdle when heated. Today, we know that straining also makes Greek yogurt richer in protein than regular yogurt, and lower in lactose.

Sorry I've been missing the past few days, but with school winding down, I've been slammed with presentation after presentation. I'm almost through the worst week, and I could not be more ready for Summer. My Dad emailed me a possible vacation house for the Vineyard this August, I've been working out the basics for our annual Saco River trip, and we're even discussing a San Francisco excursion towards the end of the Summer. So as you can imagine, the thought of doing one more paper in the midst of all these Summer getaways could make anyone go crazy. That being said I needed a little break from my computer. I spent this past weekend baking and churning, and could not have been more relaxed, even with the dreadful week that awaited me.

Being a marketing major, it's pretty tough to pass up some free product when it could help out a company I love. Today's teacakes are made possible by Stonyfield Farm and their new Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt. I'd never had Greek yogurt before, so I was excited to try it out. I'd heard wonderful things about this style of yogurt all over the blogging world, so I was pretty sure I too would fall victim to the creaminess of this tangy treat. I started the recipe testing with a basic vanilla frozen yogurt (coming soon) to get the full effect of this prized yogurt. I will never go back to the freezer case.

Anyways, back to the cakes at hand - lemon poppy seed teacakes. I knew I wanted some sort of lemon poppy seed concoction, and I'm a sucker for cupcakes, but I also didn't want a sugar overload. These teacakes are just that, a perfect cake to dip into an afternoon cup of tea. Not overly sweet, studded with that unbeatable lemon poppy seed combo, and super-moist from the ultra-thick Greek yogurt. I glazed them with a variation of the lemon juice and sugar mixture that Ina uses on her lemon yogurt cake, and it gave them a wonderful sheen and a tart topping. If you're interested in something on the sweeter side, just add another 1/4 cup of the granulated stuff. But be sure to use Greek-style yogurt, if not for the health benefits alone. Oikos has 0% fat, and twice the protein of regular yogurt. Pretty awesome for something so rich looking.

Lemon Poppy Seed Teacakes

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup Greek yogurt
3/4-1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
3 large eggs
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (may substitute vegetable oil)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/4 cup lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with paper cups, and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds in a medium-sized bowl.

In another, larger bowl, mix the lemon zest, yogurt, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until just combined.

Using an ice cream scoop, measure the batter into your prepared cupcake tin. I filled my cups pretty much to the top so I didn't have to pull out another pan, but if you follow the 3/4 rule, you might have to use two cupcake tins.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes.

Heat the remaining one tablespoon of sugar and the 1/4 cup lemon juice in a microwave safe dish until the sugar dissolves. When the cupcakes come out of the oven, brush the tops with this lemon juice mixture. I pricked the tops with a toothpick a few times as well. These taste best the day they're the made.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Did You Know? It was not until 1941, that congress declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

I said I would share a few tips or suggestions for all those Thanksgiving leftovers, so here's some recipes that my family loves...

-Turkey and Cranberry Quesadillas
-Butternut Squash Soup, thin out my squash recipe with some broth
-Turkey Soup (and don't forget any extra gravy or stuffing-according to my mom)
-Cranberry Yogurt: yogurt w/ cranberry sauce mixed in and topped with toasted walnuts (pictured above)
-Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal: cooked oats, roasted pumpkin puree, toasted pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice (pictured below)...

-Toss leftover veggies (brussels sprouts, carrots, string beans) and stuffing with some rice or pasta and bake with a little parmesan cheese on top
-Potato or Squash Pancakes
-Add a few eggs to a mixture of stuffing, squash, finely chopped veggies, cranberry sauce, etc., and make your own Thanksgiving Veggie Burger

Be creative, almost anything goes with these versatile flavors!