Daily Diversion #446: Emily Dickinson’s Coconut Cake

My momma’s birthday is today! We celebrated it last night with a tasty meal at home. I try to make those I love a special dessert for their special day. Our resources and mobility are limited these days, obviously. Because of this, I needed to make something with ingredients I had at home. I decided that it was finally time to make Emily Dickinson’s coconut cake. It’s been on my radar for at least 12 years. No joke. 

Emily’s handwritten recipe

I used this post as my guide. Like that blogger, I mixed the cake by hand. 

Since this was for my mom’s birthday, I embellished the cake a bit by adding a blueberry glaze* before topping it with walnuts and confectioners’ sugar. 

Birthday cake

The cake itself is moist, flavorful, and not overly sweet. Perfect with a cup of tea. 

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*For the glaze, I added approximately 3/4 cup blueberries and 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar to a blender and mixed it until it was smooth. 

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“Hold dear to your parents for it is a scary and confusing world without them.”–Emily Dickinson

Happy birthday, mom! I love you.

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I hope you are all well during these difficult, uncertain times. Have a great weekend.

Daily Diversion #445: Dutch Oven Bread

Here’s the recipe I use, if you’re interested. I love it because, in addition to being delicious, this recipe strikes what I consider to be a perfect balance: It’s involved enough to make you feel accomplished but easy enough to not dominate your entire day. Bonus: If you love toast, then this is definitely the right bread for you!

Dutch Oven Bread.

Daily Diversion #367: Scone and Tea

The last few days have been pretty stressful, so on Saturday I popped in to the fabulous bakery that’s just around the corner from my day job. I saved this scrumptious scone for this morning’s breakfast. Between it, a cup of my fave tea, and a good book…I’m feeling a tad better. 

Orange-Cranberry Scone from Laughlin's

Orange-Cranberry Scone from Laughlin’s

Daily Diversion #358: Russian Apple Cake

If autumn and apples are the perfect couple (and they totally are), then Sharlotka (Russian Apple Cake) is, perhaps, the most delicious expression of that union.

Sharlotka

Sharlotka

I baked one yesterday, to accompany the newly cold weather ’round these parts. Even better: the cake is served warm. The leftovers are fantastic, too. (I’m currently eating a slice and drinking a cup of hot Russian tea.)

This Sharlotka is fluffy, light, a bit tart (thanks to Granny Smith apples), and not too sweet; the top is crusty and golden.

Slice of Sharlotka

Slice of Sharlotka

I use Chef Matt Danko’s recipe (which is actually his dad’s). It’s even tastier than it looks!