Loco for Coco

A while back in Colorado, I across this recipe a while back in a Real Simple magazine of clipped it out and added it to my recipe scrapbook. I'm not really sure why we brought the recipe scrapbook along to Guatemala - we must have been thinking we'd have tons of free time to try out new recipes - but because it's here we do try to make use of it. A couple of months ago I was flipping through looking for a fast and easy dessert recipe when I came across berries in coconut cream. While I don't really love eating pure coconut, I do love anything that is coconut flavored. I remember having seen some Ana Belly Crema de Coco for just a couple Q in the Bodegona (our local grocer) and everything else I had on had.

Berries and Coconut Cream
2 lbs. berries (whatever kind float your boat)
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. cream of coconut

In a large mixing bowl, gently toss the berries sugar and lime juice. With an electric mixer (I did it by hand), beat the heavy cream and cream of coconut until soft peaks form. Serve with the berries. The first time we did try it with the berries like the recipe suggests, but there was so much left over we had to do something else with it. Hmmm.....well it was sort of like icing, so why not try it on top of brownies. It turned out great! Add a couple of sliced up strawberries and you've got a delicious, easy, breezy dessert! Since then we've served up this strawberry, coco, fudge delight several times.


I've tweaked the recipe just a bit too by adding the sugar and lime juice into the creamy mix. I love the citrus tang and plus it's a great way to use up some of our tons of limes that we always seem to have around. I was thinking about whipping up my specialty for any impromptu Semana Santa gatherings that may happen, but after a stroll through the market this afternoon I returned home without having scored my strawberries. Ben brought home a big bag of mangos the other day though (a gift from Otto), so maybe I'll slice them up and see if it's any good. I have a feeling that it is pretty hard to mess up coconut cream brownies!


Is all this talk about chocolately goodness making you thirsty? Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on a little something to wet your whistle while chowing down on your coconut cream brownies!