"Oh the excitement I felt when I first discovered that I could make my own coconut milk from scratch by using shredded coconut! After making and testing this recipe several times I noticed that the fresher the shredded coconut the better the flavour and creaminess. When looking for this ingredient see if you can find it freshly shredded or look for it to be more moist than dry.
Adding the saffron to this drink makes for a really special concoction which is really beautiful as a night time tonic paired with your favourite adaptogens (or on its own). Those who have tried this drink always say it feels like a warm hug for the body." - Rocio Graves
Ingredients for 3-4 cups of milk:
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 3 cups room temperature water
- 15 Saffron strands
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or sweetener of your choice
- Optional:
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- The first step to this recipe is to dry toast the shredded coconut on a pan on medium heat. Once the fire is going and the pan is warm, add the cup of shredded coconut and lower the heat making sure to continuously stir with a wooden spoon — it is very easy to burn the coconut shreds so make sure you keep a constant eye on them and keep stirring until it starts to show a golden colour. When ready, remove the pan from the heat and allow the coconut to cool down a little.
- Whilst the toasted coconut cools down, prepare the saffron infused water by infusing the saffron strands in two tablespoons of freshly boiled water in a small bowl; simply pour the water over the saffron strands and leave to infuse for ten minutes.
- Add the toasted shredded coconut to a high speed blender along with the saffron water, the other 3 cups of room temperature water, the salt and sweetener. Blend on high speed for one to two minutes — you want to heat the coconut milk through the heat of the blending process.
- Strain the liquid through a cheese cloth bag and enjoy— if you’d prefer the saffron coconut milk to be warmer/hot you can gently warm it up on very low heat in a saucepan, but be careful not overheat as the consistency and flavour might change with high heat!
If you choose to store this milk in a jar in the fridge you will notice the fat separate from the liquid, so next time you use it simply warm it up in a saucepan on low heat and whisk or blend until creamy and frothy.
Recipe and photography by Rocio Graves for Wunder Workshop.
