Orange Coconut Cakes

Almost exactly one year ago, I was home for my little brother’s college graduation. At his party, I told an old family friend about how I was getting more into cooking. We started talking shop and shared our love of Lebanese food. Fast forward to this past weekend and me checking my mail (the paper kind), and I see that this same family friend had sent me a cookbook on Lebanese food. How thoughtful is that?! I couldn’t believe she remembered our conversation from so long ago.

I immediately opened it and dug in. One of the first recipes that caught my eye was for an orange coconut cake called kark el laemoon jose el hind. The first ingredient was a 1/2 pound of butter, and then 4 eggs…but I was up for the challenge. I was going to figure out how to make this a bit more plant-y.

When I say I’m up for a challenge, it’s no joke. Sometimes I still feel “challenged” in the kitchen. It wasn’t too long ago that a recipe that called for “orange zest” would have gotten a serious side eye. And the the mini tart tins in the photo above? I got them as a gift about 6 years ago, but was too intimidated to use them until recently.

If someone would have told me last year that I would be creating recipes (ones that actually turn out), I wouldn’t have believed them. My husband made all the dinners in our house…I would order in if he wasn’t home. But then I changed my diet and something clicked in the kitchen. Maybe all the green juice went to my head and made me feel invincible. Maybe using plant-based ingredients felt easier. Whatever it was, I felt a lot less pressure in the kitchen. There have been so many great things that have come from changing my diet, but experimenting with cooking and getting to share the things I learn has been one of my favorites.

{ Orange Coconut Cakes }
   Makes 24 mini cakes

1 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges juiced)
1 tablespoon orange zest (zest the whole orange if you want to top finished cakes with more)
1/4 cup applesauce (try to get the natural kind with no sugar added)
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons flax meal (mixed with six tablespoons water)
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup walnuts
1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
Coconut oil to grease inside of tart tins

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease the inside of your tart tins with coconut oil. Mix your flax meal and water together and place in fridge to create a thicker texture (the flax meal is used as a substitute for eggs). In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients: chickpea and brown rice flour, walnuts, coconut, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In a medium bowl mix your remaining wet ingredients, including your orange zest and the flax from the fridge. Pour your wet ingredients into your dry and mix well. Fill your tins right to the top, these cakes don’t rise much. Cook for 13-15 minutes until cooked all the way through. Let your tins cool and remove from pans. Sprinkle more orange zest and coconut on top or add a drizzle of raw honey.

OPP Tips:

If you don’t have mini tart tins, don’t sweat it. You could make this in a cake pan and cut into squares (just increase the cook time). Or use pretty cupcake liners and turn into cupcakes. My friends, Cakegirls, are having a big sale on their cool liners right now.

I used big flakes of coconut because I thought they looked cool at the store. But the small flakes work well too.