Coconut POG Chiffon Cake recipe (or Lilikoi-Orange Chiffon Cake with Coconut)

Here is a recipe for the month of June.

Do you know what POG is? If you are from Hawaii you do! It's an 'onolicious' blend/mixture of Passion Fruit, Orange and Guava juices. I have some Passion Fruit juice concentrate (Passion Fruit is called Lilikoi in Hawaiian) that I get from the island of Kauai. This cake recipe was born from a craving for Lilikoi and a way to use the Lilikoi juice I have in a cake.

If you have a chance, you should definitely stop by Aunty Lilikoi's on Kauai, but if you can't go there, they will ship their products to you. They have great honeys and mustards made with Lilikoi too (an award winning mustard). If you want the Lilikoi juice concentrate shipped to you, you will have to phone them (last time I checked, they didn't have that up on the website).

Their web address is www.auntylilikoi.com.

I also wanted to incorporate some Guava into this cake as well. So I found that by using Guava paste slices in this recipe, the end result is like having Guava jelly inside the cake. Guava paste is not easy to find, even in Hawaii. It's a actually eaten mostly in Brazil, Puerto Rico and Cuba (maybe in some other South American countries like Mexico as well). You can usually find it at a Latino/Cuban foods store (or try buying some on Ebay like I do, it stays fresh for 'eons' being that it is like a fruit leather, though I am keeping some extra packages in the freezer since I won't use them for a while).

It's not easy to slice the Guava paste thinly (it's very sticky) and I would imagine that not alot of people who are familiar with Guava paste would think to use it in a cake like this but after a few trials and errors, I think it works out to give a nice 'extra' to this Lilikoi chiffon cake. Normally I don't like recipes that have hard to find ingredients but I think this is worth it.

You could leave out the Guava paste from this recipe if you like, it's not imperative to the cake being a success, but then you'd need to change the name of the cake to Lilikoi-Orange Chiffon Cake with Coconut or some other such title.

So, here is the recipe and some pictures from the last time I baked one. I hope you will enjoy! It's one of my favorite cakes to bake now!

Please note that the photos here are of a cake baked with this following recipe cut in half, so a cake made with with the full recipe will turn out to be thicker/taller than seen in these pictures.

Don't forget you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

Coconut P.O.G. Chiffon Cake
(Coconut, Passion, Orange, Guava)

Ingredients
2 ¼ c. Sifted Cake Flour
1 ½ c. Sugar (preferably Fine/Castor Sugar)
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
½ c. Vegetable Oil
5 Egg Yolks
1 teaspoon Finely Grated Orange or Lemon Peel (zest)
¾ c. Orange Juice and Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) Juice from concentrate (mixed together, in fairly equal amounts)
1 c. Egg Whites (usually this is exactly what will be left over after separating the 5 yolks above)
½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1 c. Shredded Coconut (fine)
Guava Paste (sliced into thin pieces) *optional
1/3 c. Shredded Coconut *also optional

Lilikoi Glaze
1/4 c. Powdered Sugar
Mix in Likikoi juice to desired consistency (approximately 2-3 teaspoons)

Preparation
In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and then add the oil, egg yolks, orange (or lemon) peel and the orange and lilikoi juices. Blend all together well and beat until smooth.

In a larger separate bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until very stiff peaks form. Pour first mixture in a thin stream, gently and evenly over the egg whites. Sprinkle the fine shredded coconut on top and then fold all until just blended.

Gently pour or spoon 2/3 of the batter evenly into an ungreased 10 inch tube cake pan. Bake for 3 minutes only to just slightly harden the surface (if you do not harden the surface like this before adding the Guava paste slices, because they are heavy they will sink to the bottom of the pan during baking). Do not bake longer than the 3 minutes.

Tube cake pan with 2/3 of the batter poured in

Remove the cake pan from oven and gently arrange the guava paste slices on top the slightly hardened batter, evenly, or just here and there depending on how much you want to be inside your cake. I personally like alot. Do not press the slices down into the batter (again, the point is to try and keep the guava paste from sinking down to the bottom of the batter while baking). Also, as you place the guava paste slices around, keep them from touching the sides of the cake pan (the guava paste will melt and spread out a little bit during baking and the cake batter will need to contain the guava paste on the edges, otherwise you will have sticky holes of oozing guava on the sides/edges of your cake when it is finished).

Guava paste package and slices

Pour remaining batter evenly over all (gently spread it around to be even if necessary) and return the cake pan to the oven.

Bake at 325 F (160 C) for approximately 55 minutes (check for doneness by inserting a clean butter knife (when it comes out clean, without wet cake batter on it, the cake is done).

Allow to cool completely. Once cooled, loosen sides away from cake pan gently and invert cake onto a platter or cake pedestal and remove from pan.

Finished cake after cooling

Drizzle with Lilikoi glaze (as much or as little as you like) and then immediately sprinkle with some shredded Coconut, then serve.

Cake will keep in refrigerator for several days or can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Slices of the cake arranged on a plate, after glazing and sprinkling with shredded Coconut.
Oishii!

Tsuke-men in Matsudo 「松戸市の美味しいつけ麺」

Char-siu at Tonikaku　「兎に角」のチャーシューつけ麺

Have you ever tried Tsuke-men? It's Ramen with the noodles separated from the soup (dashi). You drag noodles, alittle bit at a time, into the soup bowl as you eat. The soup is less diluted than the soup in regular Ramen (more intense flavor) so you don't drink or sip the soup (until the end when, if you like, you can ask for some hot water to thin it out). The first time I ever tried it, I couldn't get over the strangeness of the noodles being in a separate bowl. Now though, I prefer Tsuke-men to Ramen. One reason is, the noodles seems to be a bit heavier than the ones used in Ramen (usually, depends on the place). Since my husband loves Ramen and researches alot of Ramen/Tsuke-men restaurants, we go about once a week out to one of our favorite places or to try a new place. I have become a bit of a connoisseur.

In the last 2 weeks we have tried Tsuke-men at 2 different restaurants near Matsudo station in Chiba. Both were quite good! Give them a try if you ever are around Matsudo station.

Tonikaku
This place seats about 8 or so people and looks like a couple is running it. It is very clean inside. The soup (dashi) is light to medium, not fatty. It has a little bit of a spicy after taste, just right. The noodles were good too. Their Char-siu wasn't too fatty (I won't eat the real fatty kind). I look forward to eating there again someday, it was definitely above average and worth the 15 minutes or so wait to be seated. Plus, this place had the best music! Lots of late 70's hits. Got me in a great mood! It was a delicious and fun lunch. They are open 11:30 am to 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm every day except Monday (closed on Mondays) and open only for lunch from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm on Sundays, Thursdays and holidays .

UPDATE:
Tonikaku has a new location just 2 streets over from it's
previous location. The address is:
Nemoto 462, 1st floor
Matsudo-City
047-361-4667

Front of Tonikaku, brand new location

Tsuke-men at Tonikaku　「兎に角」のつけ麺

Tomita
This place makes their own noodles and boy are they GOOD! They are thick and like 'al dente' style. Very unusual and very good! The soup had a bit more fat in it than I prefer but it wasn't overwhelming. I wouldn't be able to eat it so often but it's ok for every now and then. The soup's flavor was delicious, I detected a bit of garlic but not sure. The Char-siu was WAY too fatty for me. There is barely any meat on it at all (see the close up photo I took). I gave all my Char-siu to my husband. There was a pretty good size cue and we had to wait around 20 minutes, but the staff was very organized and took our order before we got in so that once we were seated, the food came right away. As I said, I don't know how often I would eat here, because I prefer alittle less fat but those noodles were some of the best I've ever had. They are open everyday except Wednesdays (closed on Wednesday) from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Front of restaurant Tomita　「とみ田」の外観

Tsuke-men at Tomita　「とみ田」のつけ麺

Char-siu at Tomita　「とみ田」のチャーシューつけ麺

Recipe for Lanikai Style Pineapple Gazpacho 「ラニカイスタイルのパナップル・ガズパッチョのレシピー」

I saw this recipe on the internet recently, someone from Hawaii offered it up for us all to try. Would you like to try it with me? I haven't yet, so if you try it, let me know what you think about it!

I love the first picture of the food tray with the Mokuluas in the background (two islands called Moku Nui and Moku Iki). The Mokuluas are my favorite thing to see when I am on Oahu. I sure miss sitting on Lanikai beach when I see this picture.

Adjacent to Lanikai is Kailua Beach (to the left of the Mokuluas) and from there you can see another piece of land that looks like an island off shore. It is actually not an island. It is Mokapu Peninsula, which is where the Marine Corps Base Hawaii is located (so it is closed to civilians).

You can see the Mokapu Peninsula in the background of the photo of me with the red Mazda RX8. We rented that car for one day and then took some pictures down by the sand at Kailua Beach (there is a launching ramp for small boats there).

Have fun with the recipe! Aloha.....

Lanikai Style Pineapple Gazpacho

2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 chopped yellow bell pepper (yellow Paprika)
1 chopped orange or red bell pepper (orange or red Paprika)
½ cup chopped onion (Tama negi)
1 medium chopped cucumber (Japanese Kyuri ok)
2 cans tomato juice, each can 11.5 oz./340 ml (or V8 brand vegetable juice)
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger (Shoga)
1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1-2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
Juice of one small lime
½ to 1 cup chopped cilantro (Coriander) leaves, according to taste/as you like
¼ cup olive oil

Use a large bowl or similar container for the gazpacho soup.

Cut up the pineapple and chop (just use the soft fruit, do not use the hard core/center).

Next, chop the bell peppers (Paprika), onion, cucumber, and tomatoes, into small pieces (approximately 1/4 inch or so - less than 1cm) and place in the bowl.

Pour 2 cans of V8 juice or tomato juice in the same bowl. Add the chopped garlic and sea salt.

Chop the ginger real small, it is hot when it is raw and in this recipe, it replaces the spicy chiles that are typically used in Spanish style gazpacho. So remember that a little goes a long way.

Add the remaining ingredients and refrigerate a few hours or overnight. The flavors will marinate and become mellow.

Serve this gazpacho soup cold in small bowl and garnish with chopped cilantro.

To make a shrimp cocktail using this Gazpacho, just add some cooked, chilled shrimps and serve in a tall glass. I think I will like it this way best.

Some interesting trivia about Pineapple:

Pineapples contain the enzyme bromelain. Bromelain aids in digestion as it breaks down proteins.

Bromelain is an anti-inflammatory and can help with sprains, strains and muscle injuries as well as swelling, bruising, healing of wounds and minor operations. Some claim it will even help with arthritis.

Pineapple is rich in minerals such as Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium as well as Vitamin C and many amino acids. It is also low in calories.

Pineapple is a natural diuretic.

Pineapples are good for your oral health.

Pineapple juice can be used to tenderize meats.

Choose the only fresh fruit because it has the most healing properties. Unfortunately, most of the bromelain in canned pineapple is destroyed due to the heat used in the canning process.

The most important factor in determining ripeness of a pineapple is smell, let your nose help you decide. Ripe pineapples give off a sweet, fresh tropical smell. Avoid pineapples that give off an unpleasant odor or have any soft spots or areas of dark discoloration. Once home, let the pineapple sit on your counter at room temperature until ready to use.

Daisy Can Sit! 「デイジー、お座り」

Today Daisy learned to sit. She is very food motivated! It took 30 minutes to get a consistent 'sit'. Then she was happily sitting all day for treats and toys. I hope she will remember it tomorrow! I think she is a fast learner for only 13 weeks old. Enjoy the video.

Daisy's New Bed 「デイジーのベッド購入」

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　何見てんんねんっ！？」って感じ....
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　「んっ？何っ何っ？」

Daisy got her first bed yesterday. She knew right away what it was for like she has had it for years. It is a bit tempting to chew on though, but I guess that is just what puppies do. Thankfully, 3 days of rigorous concentrated efforts to stop the hand biting seems to be working. Wow, nothing like puppy teeth! Like putting your hand in the mouth of a shark! We hope by the end of this week our hands and other body parts will be completely safe.

A Lolo (crazy) Puppy 「ビーグルがやって来た！」

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　カメラ目線のデイジー

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　んっ？　虫？！

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　可哀想なウルトラマン.....

Well, we have gone and done it. Ken finally broke down and got me a puppy. You know that old saying, 'be careful what you ask for'? I have had bronchitis this past week (yes again, 3rd time in 5 months) and it's been tough with a new puppy in the house. Maybe we are the ones who are lolo (not the puppy).

She is actually very good for 12 weeks but she is just a puppy and full of energy. She is a "Lemon" colored Beagle, so far, no howling. I hear that is mostly when they are lonely, just incase anyone in addition to my mother wants to let me know they are famous for this. Mom sent us the cutest little puppy travel set already.

Her name is Daisy. First we thought of Ipo (Hawaiian for 'sweetheart') but she didn't seem to respond very well to that. I also thought of Lulu Aina because of her markings, or Makamae a Hawaiian favorite doggie name, but then after a few days she reminded me of a daisy's color (the flower). Also my mom reminded me that my great grandmother Eva Williams had a dog named Daisy. She responds right away when you say 'Daisy!'. The pronunciation in Japan should be ok too. So I think officially her name will be Daisy Ipo.

Enlarge the middle picture and look what pretty blonde eyelashes she has, they're so cute!

Springtime Swallows 「途中で見つけたツバメの巣」

The other day, my husband and I were out driving and we stopped at a rest area. As I entered the ladies room, I noticed beautiful bird singing and thought it was that recorded "nature" sound/music I hear some places lately (like the train station at Shin-Urayasu). Right away I noticed however the "caution" cone...some swallows had decided to nest in the ladies room. The workers there had taped off the area and placed the notice. It was pretty cute. Check out the nest above the cone up near the skylight.
One of the swallows was just sitting on top of the edge of one of the stalls singing out his heart the whole time I was in there. I have seen other areas taped off (in Japan) where the swallows are nesting, such as the entrance to the train station. These swallows were pretty smart if you ask me...nice safe place to build a nest, not to mention brave.

A Swedish Tablecloth 「スウェーデン製のテーブルクロス」

Today I put on my table a beautiful tablecloth that my dear friend Beata (who is from Sweden) just gave me (which she got on her recent trip back home, thank you B!). She made such a nice selection of colors, and it goes surprisingly well in the room.

It was alittle long in one direction for my antique table that is sized a bit strange, so I got out the sewing machine and made the adjustments. I ended up having some left over material and got this idea to put little 'caps' on the backs of the dining chairs. I have some velvet covers on the chairs already (the antique wood needs refinishing desperately). Velvet as some of you may know, can get matted down when it is touched often so these little covers will help protect the velvet nicely. I may make more of these with other fabrics and use them on the chairs even when they just cover the plain wood.

They are super easy to make and they add a nice accent don't you think?

My amazing friend Jun 「友達のジュンさん」

This last Friday, I stopped by my friend Jun's house. She is a lovely former JAL airlines flight attendant and now spends her time representing a line of wonderful Italian handmade ceramics and accessories that she helps import to Japan (called Mamma Ro'), enjoying life with her husband and their 2 dogs and pursuing other outlets for her creativity.

She is amazing to me since she is always making something creative, setting a perfect table, cooking or baking up something gourmet and picture perfect, hosting a wonderful BBQ party at her exquisitely decorated home (BBQ's are unheard of in Tokyo but she has a large and fabulous roof garden overlooking the Ebisu area), to name just a few things, and still she has time to write a most interesting blog, be a savvy business woman, super homemaker and wife, and on top of it all, being such a cheerful happy friend all the time. I'm so fortunate to have such inspirational friends around the globe!

So last Friday, Jun was putting on an exhibition in her home for Mamma Ro' (the Italian Ceramicware) and I stopped by. Her friends had done some very nice flower arrangements and baking of goodies for us all to enjoy. Here are some pictures of some one of the table settings that day and the elegant hostess herself chatting with her customers over a table of colorful dishes.

Jun has her own blog (although its in Japanese, you can still enjoy the pictures if you can't read) which is at http://manufatto.exblog.jp/ and a website for her Italian Ceramicware, where you can see more beautiful pictures. Check it out at http://labellavita.jp

It was fun afternoon!

Aloha, Terri

E Komo Mai, Welcome, 「いらっしゃいませ！」 熱烈歓迎

The beginning of Princess T's adventures over the Anuenue. That is where I'd like to be anyway! Where bluebirds fly and troubles melt like lemondrops (or Junior Mints would be nice)...well, we can pretend can't we?
So having now cleared a small corner of open space in my brain, I hope have time to share with my friends, old and new, some of adventures of my life in Japan, love of Hawaii and what is new with Princess T designs.
A hui ho, Terri