{"id":9657,"date":"2011-06-15T10:46:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T15:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gw.finelimedesigns.com\/2011\/06\/latik-cooking-magic-with-coconut-milk-3\/"},"modified":"2020-06-27T21:49:50","modified_gmt":"2020-06-28T02:49:50","slug":"latik-cooking-magic-with-coconut-milk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cupcakeproject.com\/latik-cooking-magic-with-coconut-milk\/","title":{"rendered":"Latik – Cooking Magic with Coconut Milk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Latik, a Filipino dessert topping, is made by cooking down coconut milk or coconut cream (the more solid stuff on the top of a can of coconut milk) for hours until it separates into fried coconut curds (latik) and coconut oil.<\/p>\n

Making latik is like putting coconut milk into a magic hat, saying, “Abracadabra,” and pulling out an amazing toasted hybrid of brown sugar and desiccated coconut<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Latik<\/p>\n

Although I still marvel at sugar turning to sweet, sticky caramel<\/a><\/strong>, egg whites tripling in size to become fluffy meringue<\/a><\/strong>, and heavy whipping cream turning into pipable clouds of frosting<\/a><\/strong>, I’ve seen these kitchen tricks so many times that I need to stop and remind myself to not take them for granted. But, when I first saw a photo of latik, I may as well have been at a David Copperfield show.<\/p>\n

“Coconut milk can turn into that?” I marveled. I had no idea!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Latik is ideal for sprinkling on ice cream and sorbet (in the image above, I topped mango sorbet with latik). It’s commonly used in Biko<\/a> (sweet rice cakes) to give it shot of rich coconut flavor and it is wonderful as a topping on cakes and cupcakes. Also, you can use the byproduct (the coconut oil) for cooking or baking.<\/p>\n

Latik may not be something that you’ll make every day, but if like me you love exploring new feats of culinary wonderment, it’s worth making at least once.<\/p>\n

How to Make Latik<\/h2>\n

Ingredients<\/h3>\n

You just need one ingredient: a 14 oz can of coconut milk. Be sure to choose the full-fat kind with the cream on top.<\/p>\n

Process<\/h3>\n

Bring a can of coconut milk to a boil<\/strong> in a saucepan and simmer gently over low heat while stirring periodically to prevent burning.<\/p>\n

Continue to simmer until the milk reduces to a thick cream<\/strong>, about an hour. You can eliminate some of this hour by using only the coconut cream (the solid part on top of the can). However, you won’t end up with quite as much latik.<\/p>\n

Continue heating and stirring periodically until the cream separates into coconut oil and latik<\/strong> – about 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Coconut
\nMonitor it closely, watching for it to turn a deep caramel brown color – about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Latik
\nTurn the heat off as soon as the curds turn a deep caramel brown color.<\/p>\n

\"Latik
\nUse a coffee filter or a fine sieve to separate the coconut oil from the latik.<\/p>\n

Latik lasts for several days on the counter or a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n

If You Love Latik, You May Also Like…<\/h2>\n