I grew up in the Caribbean and coconuts are no stranger to me at all. I have very fond memories of drinking coconut water straight from the coconut tree. I remember watching my mother make a sweet treat called “Sugar Cake” using coconuts as the base. It was just grated coconuts, sugar, sometimes coloring if you wanted to add color. My siblings and I loved eating freshly made sugar cakes. Oh and I have to mention coconut jelly – it’s the soft jelly like fruit from the coconut before it gets hard and form the coconut people use to grate and create coconut milk. The only thing I never saw my mother do was use the coconut oil for cooking.
Green coconuts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Cooking with coconut oil was very new to me until a few weeks ago when I wrote my first review. I have to say I was shocked and how many people are cooking with coconut oil and how much it’s used in Gluten free cooking. My brother in law actually just started his Vegan lifestyle and he also like to use coconut oil in cooking. Needless to say since my first experience I have been cooking with coconut oil a lot but I kept reading that its also great for skin and you can use it in baking. Yep that’s right people have been baking with coconut oil and getting great results. I wanted to give this a try so when I was contacted by Kelapo to review their coconut oil product I was super excited. I love baking and it’s something I do quite often so trying the concept of baking with coconut oil was exciting to me. I figured it would be just like using oil in baking. It wasn’t hard to find a recipe I knew my family would like either because Kepalo had a whole recipe section on their site devoted to recipes using their coconut oil. I found the perfect Strawberry Cupcakes recipe that worked great for Valentine’s Day and our family dinner night.
When I started out using the recipe and baking the cupcakes I didn’t know how it would turn out but they ended up turning out amazingly soft and moist. They are the best strawberry cupcakes I’ve ever made, even better than the box mix stuff as well. Here’s some photos of my cupcakes.
Don’t they look yummy? They taste even better than they look. Here’s the recipe so you can give it a try for yourself.
[gmc_recipe 3345]
I didn’t stop at just baking with my Kelapo coconut oil, since I had read so many suggestions from other bloggers to try the coconut oil on my skin I made a simple sugar scrub. Since coconut oil solidifies when it’s cold I scooped out about three table spoons into a bowl and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds to liquefy it. I waited for it to cool down a little an added a cup of brown sugar to the mix and a few drops of lavender essential oil. It stirred and used it in the shower that night. It was the last step after I used my soap, I just rubbed it on my skin and washed it off. When I got out the shower my skin was soft and smooth. Plus the oil added moisture to my skin so when I applied lotion my skin didn’t dry out as it would normally do in the harsh winter weather. I loved it.
My overall rating of Kelapo Coconut Oil is five stars. I loved using their product, what I loved the most was the smell. It was amazing it reminded me of coconuts from home. When I opened the jar it was such a contagious smell it brought back great childhood memories. Cooking, baking and using it for my skin was so fun and exciting and they all worked out so great. I imagine I will be baking with it again soon. I want to try it for a Pina Colada cupcake and I also so a recipe for coconut frosting using the solidified coconut oil that I know I will be trying. Kelapo also offers no-soy coconut oil cooking spray and a coconut oil soft gel. They are an organic and fair-trade company so stop by their website and learn more. You can like them on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Pinterest.
Disclosure: I was provided a sample from Kelapo for review, any opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced and my opinions may vary from your own.
