Marie, Coconut milk is used in a number of thai sauces, as well as soups and marinades. Here is a recipe for a cake using Coconut milk.

Ann.

Coconut Recipes

Fresh Coconut Cake
source: http://island-realestate.com/copra/recipes.html

3 C. Cake Flour
3 Eggs
3 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Vanilla
3/4 t. Salt
1/8 t. Almond Extract
3/4 C. Butter
1 C. Coconut Milk
2 C. Sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter and line with wax paper three, 8-inch cake pans.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter, sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
Divide batter between the three baking pans.
Bake 25 minutes or until brown and cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Frost with cream frosting.

Cream Frosting

1/4 C. Butter
2 T. Cream
3 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar
1 t. Vanilla
1/4 t. Salt
3 C. Grated Cocount

Hi Maria,

Have you tried soy or rice "milks"? I use both in baking, in my tea, and on cereal.

Paul

Can coconut be used as a milk substitute? Nutritionally, probably so. Someone once said that milk was blood without the red corpuscles. During WW II, both the Americans and the Japanese used coconut water as a substitute for blood transfusions -- rich in vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. The meat is 50% loric acid, which is found in mammal's milk around the world. What pasteurizing, adding preservatives and stuffing into a can does to alter the usefulness of this is anyone's guess. But more than likely, it does it no good. Untampered with is what makes it a good food. (The tree blooms every 28 days. From the time the fruit sets, to full maturity averages nine months.)

CRieger

I ahould have mentioned that I am interested in the properties of coconut products that are supposed to aid with digestion. I read about a study that recently reported the use of fresh coconut and coconut macaroons was successful in curing stomach and intestinal disorders. Well with me it worked for about two days then I was having the same old problems again. -- Marie

I never got around to experimenting as much as I'd planned. But I did use coconut milk to make gelatin leche, a Mexican dessert. I used strawberry jello and it was a huge hit. It was beautiful, as well. Like a big pink flan. Just heat up the milk like you would the water and dissolve the jello in it. what a surprise this was!!

Has anybody tried cocount milk to cook rice?

i was wondering, because I had cocount rice in a restaurant and it was so good. Just wandered if that is how they did it.

i believe coconut rice is made with grated coconut (the white part that you get when you break the coconut open!)

Here is the recipe for vegetable coconut rice.
2 cups of washed, uncooked basmati rice.
Soak the above rice for 1/2 hr -1 hr in 2 cups of water and 2 cups of coconut milk.
For the vegetables, you can use 8 oz of mixed vegetables,
1 cup of thin sliced onions.
3 garlic clove minced
small piece of ginger minced
1 green chillie sliced
For seasoning, cinnamon piece 1/2", 2 cardamom, 2 cloves, 2 bay leaves, 2-3 black peppers

In a pan, pour 6-7 teaspoons of oil. When it is hot, put the onions, garlic, ginger, chillie and the seasonings. Fry till the onions are golden brown. Now add the vegetables and fry them for 5-7 mins.
Add the above to the rice and add salt to taste. Put it in an electric cooker and let it cook.
Once it is done, garnish with chopped cilantro.

I prepare this very often and it tastes really good.

For Flavor, you can also use minced mint along with the vegetables.

Thanks
Chunnu

I substitute coconut milk for dairy in all my smoothies, I haven't tried it in recipes for cake/cookies etc. But I don't see why it wouldn't work. I'm sure there are a lot of good recipes out there. Check out this link: http://montanarob.homestead.com/page3.html
I don't eat any dairy if I can help it due to cholesterol problems and I avoid it because it is calcium robbing..yes, it is...it's an acid food and if your body becomes too acidy from consuming acid foods your body will automatically gather calcium from other sources..ideally your bones..thus it is definitely best to keep your alkalinity and acid intakes in balance. And we wonder why osteoperosis is such a big problem in the elderly!

Just as a note: We prefer the light coconut mild, it has tons less fat but does not seem to taste like a low-fat product.

Did you know that coconut milk is VERY high in saturated fat? Check out the link below for the nutritional analysis.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nutrition Data website

I don't understand how the cake is FRESH coconut cake. The coconut milk used it CANNED (not fresh milk/juice from the coconut) and the coconut in the frosting is FLAKED (dried, not fresh coconut meat). I suppose fresh describes the CAKE since we're baking it and not just thawing it or taking it out of a can but then every cake recipe should start with "fresh", which is a bit silly.

Yes, I agree coconut milk is high in saturated fat (3 grams per tbsp) but it's the same amount as in heavy cream with less total fat per serving (4 versus 6 grams). Trader Joe's sells a light (lower-fat) version and has the added benefit of being the only coconut milk I've found that has no preservatives.

Thank you chunnu for vegetable coconut rice recipe. I will make it tonight!