Coconut Woman Is Calling Out (Sugar High Friday #31)

This month’s Sugar High Friday theme is Tasting the Many Shades of White: Neutral Territory. Thank you Seven Spoons for sponsoring! The creation is a mix of recipes which I'll point you at in a moment. It's Coconut Pudding Cake with Blood-Orange Fireweed Honey Frosting. The garnish is golden raspberries.

Ah the glory of white- even when you're mixing it up in the bowl! When I first saw this photo, I thought the rays of deity were shining down into my cake mix. Alas, no. Just the whisk.

I am intertwining this month’s Sugar High Friday with the long lost last verse of Harry Belafonte's Coconut Woman, recorded in 1957 as one of the songs on his Island in the Sun album.

Click here to hear a snippet of the song and/or buy it. Nothing like a little calypso for kitchen

dancing.

Get your coconut water, four for five
Man it's good for your daughter, four for five
Get your coconut candy, four for five
Make you feel very dandy, four for five
Co-ca co-ca co-co co co co co co
Coconuuuuuuuuuuuuut
Coconut, coconut, coconut, coconut, coconut
Ding-a-linga, ding-a-linga-ling, ding-a-linga ling

I was bored with the hum drum icing called for in this pudding cake recipe so I paired it with the honey tangerine icing of La Mia Cucina's Dark Chocolate Cupcake Recipe. But it's too late in the season for tangerines, so that frosting pizazz I was after got substituted with a blood orange. In short- holy blood orange magnificence! If you take the blood orange route, do adapt La Mia Cucina's creation to a mere 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar and 1/8 cup of honey.

As for the fireweed honey, it makes it interesting, and exotic, and dramatically more appealing. The golden raspberries were calling out to me because of their lovely compliment to various shades of white.

My husband gave the toasted coconut on top a thumbs up for texture and crunchiness, but a thumbs down on flavor. It's virtually impossible not to over-toast the coconut (though do go with unsweetened). Actually, somewhere in the recipe it instructs you on how to correctly toast the coconut. Hey, it wasn't his turn to watch me- I continue to be a kitchen vagabond! And who dances while they bake, too?

Forgot to mention one thing- this recipe uses rice flour so this is also a nice treat for your gluten free friends!