Cruising the Constellation of Coconut

I have been cruising in and around the "Constellation of Coconut Flour".  I broke down and purchased a pound of coconut flour for around $6.50ish.  I know, kind of on the expensive side and somewhat violates my penny pincher code, but for the sake of analysis, I just had to!

Thus far, I find that it performs much better then the coconut powder (very small granulated pieces) that I have been buying at Saraga International Market in Indianapolis.  I'm almost ready to put coconut on my monthly shopping list.  The texture is great in some of the baking I've tried with it, like pancakes.  Oh you know I would go there!

Today I am giving a breakfast cheesecake a go!  It is in the oven right now.  I do have concerns, the directions said "Pour mixture into the pan"... well, I used all the ingredients and did what it said.  I will admit when I was mixing part of the mixture till smooth, it didn't get to smooth... just kinda clumpy.  So I just kept going with it, what the author meant by smooth... I have no idea.  We will see when it comes out of the oven in a bit!

Breakfast Cheesecake

1 cup ricotta cheese, at room temp (ok... mine might have been a bit on the cool side!)
1/2 cup coconut flour
Sweetener equivalent to 1/4 cup sugar ( I used 3 teaspoons liquid stevia based on a conversion chart )
4 teaspoons lemon juice
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9"x9" baking pan.

In a medium bowl, place the cheese, flour, sweetener, lemon juice, egg yolks, and vanilla.

In another medium bowl beat the egg whites on high till stiff peaks form.  Then beat the cheese mixture (with the same beaters) until smooth.  Fold the egg mixture into the cheese mixture till thoroughly combined.

Pour into baking pan.  Bake for 20 mins or until the edges begin to brown and a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Cool slightly before serving.

Soooo.... how did mine turn out?  Well, I left it in about 5 mins longer because I didn't see any browning happening through the glass.  It is cooling at the moment before I can prep it for a picture.  I'm so sorry I didn't take pictures of the whole process!  I just didn't think to blog this until after I put it in the oven!

While I'm waiting for it to cool, my penny pincher self is wondering what could I mix in with the coconut to bring down that cost a bit?  Would it affect the taste in a bad way?  Humm???  Something to think about and perhaps try maybe in a little while after I have tasted the original.

I can smell it in there cooling.  It makes me think of the beach!  But coconut smells kinda do that to me.  It has drowned out the smell of 7 pineapples that were making the kitchen smell like a Hawaiian paradise earlier!  Ok.. I think it has "slightly cooled" time to taste test!!!!

Oh yeah, wild blueberries as a topping!

Captains Log

I find this recipe to be in need of further study.  As it is, it is fine.  It seems a bit dry in flavor, but not in a bad way.  I suspect the ricotta is responsible for that since it is fairly dry in taste alone.  Adding the berries was a stellar idea if I say so myself.  It gave me some ideas about perhaps adding the blueberries to the mixture before baking just to see what happens!  Might be a flop, might not.  In conclusion I find this recipe in need of future exploration and good for a healthy breakfast!