I made white cake cupcakes before with a vanilla frosting topped with Olaf characters for decoration. That time I chose " The Best White Cake Recipe " from Add A Pinch (addapinch.com).  I love this recipe because it is so moist.

Orapin loves my coconut cake. This time I want to create something new, so I'm trying to combine this best white cake recipe with coconut flavor.

A lot of coconut has to be used in this recipe:

- Buttermilk made from coconut milk
   The same way as homemade buttermilk.
   * 1 cup coconut milk
      2 tablespoon vinegar or fresh squeezed lemon
- Coconut oil
   When you use coconut oil substitute with butter, you can substitute the same equal amount with butter. For example, if the recipe requires 3/4 cup of butter, you can sub with 3/4 cup of coconut oil.
   If you want to think about fat and water that are involved:
   *  Butter is 80% of milk fat and 20% of water. You can substitute coconut oil with 3/4 cup of butter required in the recipe. So 3/4 cup equal 6 tablespoon.  You can use 5 tablespoons coconut oil plus 1 tablespoon liquid as water or milk. In this recipe I choose milk .
- Coconut extract to add some more flavor into it.

The outcome is moist and delicate texture with a compound coconut flavor.   This coconut cake is a delight- like having real coconut in your mouth.  

Not enough coconut ….. Let's go crazy with it …. Go Coconut!!!!

I add coconut pastry cream filling plus fresh raspberries and blueberries with coconut cream cheese buttercream, topped with white chocolate ganache and shredded coconut. This cake " sounds better than heaven with a Caribbean vacation" Chef Janet Burnette commented about this cake.

Wherever there are baby showers and birthday parties,  cake and cupcakes are involved. It depends on how many adults or kids are in the party if you are going to either have cake or cupcakes prepared. I am a big fan of both… seems I go for cupcakes more often because I can control the amount of what I am eating :) … One or one more sometimes wouldn't be a problem if I have my favorite cupcake.

Cupcakes are easy to clean and good quantity control for a party that has kids around. No problem with not enough cake!!  When you know exactly how many kids and adults are gonna be there, you might have a few more if someone wants to go for another cupcake.

I got invited to two parties this weekend- one is a baby shower for my friend Orapin Furman and another one is birthday party for one of my friend (Nok's son-  Quince) . I am planing to bake a cake for the baby shower and bring cupcakes to Quince's birthday party.  

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
5   tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk plus 1 tablespoon
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
Delightful coconut cream cheese buttercream
White Chocolate Ganahce
Coconut pastry cream filling
Coconut syrup
Fresh raspberries
Fresh blueberries

Steps

Preheat oven 350 degree

Coat three 9 inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray or with butter and flour.

In the medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
For wet ingredients: In the small bowl with coconut milk and vinegar use fork whisk together well. Set on a side. In the measuring cup, whisk together milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract and coconut mixture. Set aside.   (set aside, not set on aside)

In the mixing bowl with the paddle attachment on medium speed: mix cream butter, coconut oil and shortening until light and fluffy. Slowly add sugar- two tablespoon at a time, until it is incorporated. Add room temperature eggs one at a time, making sure to scrape on the side after each egg is incorporated.

With the low speed gently add dry ingredients to the mixture and  switch with wet ingredients, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Gently scrape down the mixture, making sure all ingredients are mixed well.

Evenly pour the mixture in each pan. Gather each pan to the big baking sheet with the wet towel wrapped around the pan (see note). Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow cake pans cool for at least 15 minute on the wire rack. (allow not around)

Notes

- Wrap the wet towel around the pan to prevent the cake popping in the middle of the batter- it makes the cake come out evenly and easy to frost.

- If you don't use the wet towel, you can bake approximately for 25-30 minutes.

- For cupcakes, bake approximately 18 minutes.

Assemble the cake:
Cut three cakes in even layers. Dap the butter-cream on the cake stand ( 2 tablespoons ), put the first layer on top of the butter-cream. Brush first layer with coconut syrup, spread 1 cup of coconut pastry cream filling on top. Gradually layer raspberries on to coconut pastry cream filling. Cover with the second layer of cake. Repeat this with remaining 3 layers, switching raspberries and blueberries in between each layer.

Once your cake is assembled, crump coat your cake before you cover with coconut cream cheese butter-cream.

Decorate from your own style !!!!

Here is the brunch and dinner inspiration :


- Seared Pork tenderloin with cocoa-Chili Mexican spice rub taco : chipotle chili , ancho chili , jalapeño give a little kick to the Taco.

- Roasted Barbecue Ribs with smoky spicy Coffee Dry Rub (Oven)

- Bourbon barbecue sauce

- Mini red curry cornbread loaves : this silky corn bread with a red curry flavor. Red curry adding depth of flavor to the cornbread.  


Talk about drink.
I have beer a long with my ribs.  let 's make it unique because my dad love whiskey and bourbon. Growing up seen my dad had a glass of whisky and watched spot every night. Would be great to come up with a mixed drink recipes that have my dad's story in it :) …

-  Not my daddy coffee: dark stout is infused with rich coffee flavor and aroma with some a some hint of bourbon.

-  My Daddy classic : this simply drink with bourbon and soda, make it so special to put my dad name on it.


Hope you are all Enjoy time with your DAD ...... Happy Father's Day ……

Happy Father's day which mean we have to write greeting card, cooking brunch/dinner, taking and some presents to show application for being cool.

My dad live in Thailand……. a thousand miles away from me …. But distance never stop me to show how much I love him.

I live a cross the world from my family and friends. Every mile from the journey,I have been correcting experience and wise. Every word he teach me to become the person who I am. Big Thanks for my dad.  I get a chance to say it twice a year because In Thailand we celebrate Father's day on Dec 5 in every year.

The idea for Father's day menu Start with my friend Pack Cruz brought me some stout beer that her husband( Jason )  brewed it with bourbon and coffee. I have to tell you this guy well known as a great paintball master. Later on, I just found out that he is the Master of brewing beer . Trust me I am not just saying that because they giving me a few bottles of beer every time they visiting.  I have to say it good because his beer are great .

 Did I mention , Stout beer is my big thing !.

Bourbon and coffee!!!! when I heard this two ingredient, I told Pack … let's put this for my Father's day  menu idea on my blog. Then I am thinking about Rib with coffee rub and bourbon barbecue sauce.

Roasted barbecue ribs with coffee dry rub were born !!!!

This dark stout is infused with rich coffee flavor and aroma with some a some hint of bourbon….. Good beer but no name …

Sound like it is easy to name something. But not for me …. I need some help.. friends , my mom , my dad, my brother or my trainer.

One hour of training at the gym : result are  fit and firm and my new stout beer name….. " Not my daddy coffee " …. Thanks Lauren ( my trainer )

or a Run Recovery jump from addiction 5K. We were there to support her and a lot of people who have had the experience and want to jump out of addiction. If you have friends or family who need help please check  http://soberokie.com  for suggestions to guide you in the right direction.

What A Hectic Weekend...... I couldn’t wait to come back to my blog and write 
everything down to share with you guys.  I had so much fun this past weekend.
This is what my past Sa
turday looked like :

We ( Misa ,Leeann​ Charlene and I ) started our day with a cup of coffee at 6 am in the morning. We drove off from Chicago to Ottawa

- At noon we went sky diving; this is what I was looking most forward to. I got to check it off my bucklist.! It is good to face your fears. I like it a lot and I  can say nothing compares to sky-dive. I am a person who loves roller coastesr and scary stuff. But none of this has you  sign a contract. I questioned myself about what I signed up for because there were  hundreds words about death and injury. 

Anyway, nothingpulled me back, and I did it , landing to the ground safely. Thank you for the tandem instructor, Jake, who saved my life. Well he needs to because he was attatched with me.
Also thank you for Lindsey Renee​ for inviting us for  fun in the sky.

- Hiked at Straved Rock , State Park. A couple friends joined us for Hiked ( Joanna Anna and Ma Rta ) 

- Enjoyed the sunset and photographed DC-3 ( N408D ) : lady luck, which they use for a drop. It was pushed into a tree some years ago by high wind and damaged.


- Finally I had a chance to rest and enjoy beer when we wentamping in the Skydive Chicago Area.

I am sure, I I wouldn’t have had any more time or space to add more activities for Saturday. Thank you to all my dear friends for setting up this fun and crazy trip.

These little cute puffs can be filled with original pastry cream with creamy vanilla incorporated with buttery choux pastry make this a perfect treat for all. A little twice for this pastry can add all kinds of flavor, based on what you like. I love Matcha green tea and espresso. A little more flavor goes a long way- with my morning coffee that would be a lovely breakfast. You can also use seasoned fruit that your local market offers you different times of the year. Like strawberries, use 2 tablespoons of blended strawberry instead of Matcha green tea powder or espresso.

Ingrediants
Choux Pastry
1 cup water
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs
Pastry cream, 1-3 tablespoons optional : espresso powder, Matcha green tea powder or blended fresh strawberries.

Éclairs are one of my favorites from childhood. Vanilla pastry cream from this classic dessert makes me feel like I am a young little girl again. In Thailand we make these Éclairs like  little round cute  cookies that can be a treat or a snack during the day.  Don't fool yourself from what it looks like- these are little cute small balls. Then when I realized 10 of them were all gone. So I might prefer the big long ones that look like what we have here. It fills you up and your mind would say one is good ( not 10 ).

I chose to make Éclairs to bring to the temple on May 31, 2015. As Buddhists we know this day is Vesakha day, also known as Buddha day or Buddha's Birthday. It is to celebrete the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha. For more details, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak.

-  Preheat the oven 400 degree. In a medium saucepan, bring the water, salt, sugar and better to boil ( start bubble). Remove the pan from the heat. Add flour and stir with silicone spatula, until it combine or you are not see the white stuff on the dough. Put the pan back to the stove, over the medium low stir the dough until the dough start to cook. You will see the white stuff start sticking on the side or on the bottom of the pan, in about 2 mins. Transfer the dough in to the electronic mixing bowl, beat at low speed until slightly cooled, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl with remaining ingredients, wish together 4 eggs with folk until it smooth. When the dough cool down. Add egg, suppurate in 3 addition in about 2 minutes.

-  Transfer the dough to a pastry bag. Pipe fitted with a 1 cm round tip( Wilton number 195 ), pipe mounds about 1 inch in diameter onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the over down to 350 and bake the shell for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer shells to a rack and let it cool.

-  Transfer  Pastry cream to a pastry bag. Pipe fitted with round tip ( Wilton number 7 ), pipe the pastry cream right in to the shell, until it is fill up.

Serve with coffee or tea