Coconut Blueberry Cake

This delicious cake has become one of our favorites! So easy to make too! We top it with lemon sauce (recipe included).

Notes: I use fresh blueberries and unsweetened coconut. You can use sweetened flaked coconut, but I like it best with unsweetened. I also use one fresh lemon for the sauce, the juice and zest equal what the recipe calls for.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup flaked coconut, plus more for sprinkling on top

Lemon Sauce:

1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat eggs in separate bowl. Add milk, vanilla and vegetable oil to the eggs. Fold egg mixture into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in blueberries. Fold in coconut.

Put batter into a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Sprinkle extra coconut all over top. Bake 22-24 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

Note: I use a convection oven at 350 degrees, baking for 24 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and lemon peel. Gradually add water until blended. Bring to a boil, cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon juice. Cut cake into squares and drizzle with lemon sauce. Lemon sauce can be gently reheated in the microwave for leftover servings.

Basic Quiche

Almost anything can be added to this basic quiche recipe to make it truly your own. I will list the ingredients and method and then notes on how I make my favorite version.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 ounces Jarlsberg cheese, shredded
2 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (I use a convection oven.)

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and half-and-half. Add salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Place shredded cheese in the pie shell. Pour egg mixture over cheese.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until crust is golden and filling is set. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:
I use a deep dish pie pan (because I add extra goodies) and lightly spray it with cooking oil.

I use all Jarlsberg cheese and usually between 6-8 ounces. I have used Jarlsberg with a mozzarella/Monterey Jack blend as well.

I like this Quiche with vegetables. In a saute pan with a little olive oil, I mix chopped onion with chopped sweet peppers (green, red, yellow) and maybe some sliced mushrooms, and also a 6-ounce bag of baby spinach. Add the spinach last after the vegetables have softened and cover the pan until it wilts.

Layer the cheese in the bottom of the pie dish. Then layer the vegetables on top of the cheese and then pour the egg mixture over. Bake as indicated above.