bake Archives - Simply Sells Kitchen

Coconut Cream Cake

Sandra Sells — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 04:42:37 +0000

Anyone that has been to a church potluck hopefully has encountered amazing dessert tables. I love a big gathering that shows off everyone’s culinary efforts. Even though you may encounter some disturbing ones, it’s still a really fun experience. On a personal note, my preference is to try foods from homes that I am familiar with. I have come across quite a few mamas and grandmas that get it right and know how to feed a crowd. They can create desserts and meals that are delicious masterpieces. I want to share with you a coconut cream cake recipe that is a play on our Simply Sells’ tres leches cake that we have shared already. This new recipe shows that with a few ingredient swap-outs this cake is a totally different taste experience. This coconut cream cake was actually a dessert that one of Kodi’s friends used to make in college. The cake seems to have a sense of maturity – if a cake could be mature. In my world, its lightly toasted coconut garnish makes the cake seem very adult. We should share with our kids, but maybe we will keep it our little secret for a while longer. This coconut cream cake’s made-from-scratch-base is the same as our tres leches cake but the flavor is totally new. And, like the tres leches cake, the effort really is minimal. After you make the cake base and let it cool, poke the cake all over with a fork, and then pour the crema de coco (coconut cream) and sweetened condensed milk on top. Top it with homemade whipping cream, and then prepare the coconut garnishment. Place unsweetened coconut flakes on a sheet pan and put it in the oven. Toast the flakes until they turn light golden brown, and be sure to immediately remove the pan from the oven as coconut can burn easily if left in too long. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the toasted coconut. You can even decorate the top with some toasted almonds or fresh fruit. We like to use strawberries, but it can be anything you desire! The moisture in this coconut cream cake fills your mouth with beautiful sweetness, and the toasted coconut is the cherry on top. This cake can really stand on its own at any occasion – party or potluck – but keep in mind that it may need refrigeration. I hope you try this delicious cake at your next gathering (small or large) and indulge in this sweet treat. Enjoy!

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Happy “Challah” Day

Sandra Sells — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 20:40:56 +0000

Bread… We love bread! I could say that again and again! We especially love fresh homemade bread – sourdough, challah, whole wheat, focaccia, pan de queso, baguettes, brioche – there are so many choices! All I can say is the taste of fresh baked bread must be one of the most delicious things we can experience. No matter what, just the idea of warm fresh bread right out of the oven brings excitement to my heart. For quite a few years now our family has made homemade fresh bread as one of the center pieces at all our holiday meals. Some of our relatives have a family tradition of making what they call all-bran rolls – a tradition we gladly indulge. All they have to say is, “The rolls are ready” and everyone comes running. They’re seriously that good! A couple years ago my brother decided to make a copycat recipe of Texas Roadhouse restaurant rolls and honey butter from scratch. They were a huge hit. They were so warm, yeasty, and delicious with just a touch of sweetness from the honey butter. I think they were pretty accurate to the restaurant experience. As long as I can remember and especially since we’ve been married, Kodi has made the most amazing loaf of fresh challah bread every Thanksgiving holiday. Why challah bread? Honestly, I’m still not too sure how it became our tradition but it has. Challah is a bread traditionally eaten at different Jewish holidays and braided a variety of ways. We’re not Jewish; we just enjoy the comfort of a good loaf of bread! Challah traditionally contains no dairy products, however, recipes were altered as they were passed down generation-to-generation and adopted in several eastern European cuisines. Our Simply Sells challah bread recipe is an egg version that Kodi decided to make one day. We both tried it and thought it would be amazing at Thanksgiving dinner with warm turkey, gravy, and green beans. Honestly, making a turkey sandwich with Thanksgiving leftovers and all the fixings in between the freshly sliced Challah is divine! Challah has a grand look. A double batched, triple braided loaf with poppy seeds adorning the top as it comes out of the oven can make you drool. Not only does the appearance make you want to hang around the kitchen the smell is incredible! It takes a lot of patience to make the bread, and then wait for it to come out of the oven but it’s worth it. The challah is almost an appetizer for us because it’s the first thing we want to try. It always seems to get swarmed over and devoured in no time, even before the Thanksgiving meal. Pats of butter melting on the warm bread is so delicious with hints of both sweet and salty. The bread’s texture is perfectly fluffy and moist. Try it out. You won’t be disappointed. Simply Sells challah recipe will make a great addition to your everyday family table and a wonderful addition to your holiday meal plans. Go ahead and double-batch the dough; the crowd will be more than pleased! Yum, I can smell it cooking now, as we are just days away from our Thanksgiving day celebration.

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Almond Flour Cheddar Biscuits

Sandra Sells — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 18:54:03 +0000

Biscuits traditionally have deep roots in southern kitchens across the USA; however, they first came to America from England before evolving into what we’ve come to know and enjoy today. In American Revolution and Civil War times “beaten biscuits” (a much less fluffy version) had their place. For those in New England there were “sea biscuits”, a variety that were extra whipped and portable to keep for long journeys or lunches. I can speak from deep experience and as Kodi’s wife that there is a special place in his heart for biscuits – the dense, flakey, and buttery kind. A few years ago, Kodi and I took a trip to Nashville, a region that we really love and have been to many times. During this particular instance we went driving and decided to dine at a restaurant called the Loveless Cafe. You could tell the cafe was a special place in Tennessee and was definitely a tourist site. It specializes in delicious southern cooking and the most indulgent comfort food – buttermilk fried chicken, country ham on biscuits, okra, pie, preserves, they have it all! We ended up purchasing their cookbook from the gift shop that day. That was a very naughty idea – haha! We spent lots of time skimming through the book, finding ourselves dreaming of how we could overindulge in an entire red velvet cake. It is highly inspiring as everything looks very delicious. In an effort to have his cake and eat it too, Kodi decided to experiment a little bit with a basic buttermilk biscuit recipe and switch out some of the ingredients to lessen the carb load. He came up with a biscuit recipe that was not lacking in flavor and, thanks to almond flour, is really enjoyable. We choose the Kirkland brand unblanched almond flour from our local Costco, but any other brand should do just fine. The recipe is especially great for those who are looking to reduce carbs and not eat gluten in their diet. However, regardless of what your diet is these biscuits are legit! The inspiration was part Loveless Cafe and part cheddar bay biscuits from good old Red Lobster. Using different flours can cause a different result in the final product so we did add a bit of xanthan gum to help keep the gluten texture and flavor like wheat flour. You do not get the sponginess of all-purpose flour but the full buttery, flakey biscuit experience is definitely present. We then took it to another level and made them with sour cream instead of buttermilk and added shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Hallelujah, we have a winner! We enjoy them right out of the oven with cold butter right on top that slowly melts as you bite right in or cutting them in half and enjoying them with eggs. Substituting savory ingredients with fresh butter and jam is always an excellent choice! These biscuits are very versatile, just like the everyday biscuits you’ve come to know and love. Try these almondy biscuits and let us know what you think.

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