My mind starts spinning for recipe ideas when a challenge presents itself. While brainstorming for No bake cakes, my friend flippantly says “I dislike no bake cakes with graham crackers.” I ask “why”? The answer: “My sibling and I made so much of it as a child that I’ve started disliking it.” Okay, understandable.
I had to find a Graham Cracker alternative and Cheerios, along with the Coconut Jam, were an easy bet since we already had it in our pantry. It wasn’t long until I was in the kitchen with the metal cups and spoons clanking against bowls, the food processor and mixers buzzing and whirring. It was mad scientist recipe experiment day. My favorite of all days.
Coconut Jam is a product I grew up eating in the Philippines. The consistency is much like caramel and used as a topping or spread for Rice Cakes and Pan de Sal (Filipino Bread Roll). You can find the recipe for Pan de Sal here. One of the great things about Coconut Jam from the Philippines is it’s made with only two ingredients. Namely, Coconut Cream and Sugar.
The Filipino name for Coconut Jam is “Minatamis na Bao” (Mee-na-tah-mis nah Ba-oh). To quote Lalaine of Kawaling Pinoy: “Minatamis na Bao (coconut jam) is very easy to make. All you need are coconut cream, brown sugar, and patience.” You can find her recipe here.
First Experiment
Second Experiment
Other Fruit Toppings for the No Bake Cake:
- Mangoes
- Apricots
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Fruit Cocktail (drained)
Cool things about the No Bake Peach Coconut Jam Summer Cake:
- No bake
- Gluten Free
- Easy to Make
- Easy to Modify
- Versatile Recipe – make a single cake or a large tray for friends!
- 8×8 baking dish
- Food Processor or blender – or rolling pin to crush Cheerios
- mixer – only if making own whipped cream
- Place mixing bowl and whisk in freezer for about 30 mins
- I added unflavored gelatin to the whipped cream so it holds better in room temperature.
- Cool Whip can be used in a pinch
- Grind Cheerios 1-3 cups at a time, depending on size of food processor, into a “grainy flour” consistency
- Pick ripe peaches for the topping but if peaches are firm and tart, cook in low heat with a little sugar until tender.
- The instructions are broken down into 3 parts to make it easier to follow.
No Bake Peach Coconut Jam Summer Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 7 Cups Cheerios
- 1/4 cup Milk or Almond Milk
- 1 cup Coconut Jam
For the Filling and Topping:
- 3 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 8 tablespoonspowdered sugar sifted
- 5 tablespoons Milk
- 1 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
- 4 large ripe peaches sliced thin
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Pulse/Grind Cheerios (1-3 cups at a time) in food processor
- Put powdered Cheerios and milk in a bowl and mix well
- Add Coconut Jam and mix thoroughly
- Set aside
For Filling and Topping:
- Put heavy cream in mixer and whip until soft peaks form
- Fold powdered sugar gently in whipped cream
- On a separate bowl, mix gelatin slowly in hot milk until totally dissolved
- Mix in rapidly a few dollops or tablespoons of whipped cream in gelatin
- Mix rapidly to avoid clumps
- Fold in cream and gelatin mixture into whipped cream and fold in well
- For Easy Peach Coconut Jam Summer Cake
- Layer about 3 cups of the cake on the bottom of the baking dish
- Spread whipped cream on top as the second layer
- Crumble the rest of the cake over the whipped cream
- Spread whipped cream evenly over as the fourth layer
- Top with peaches
- Wrap with cling wrap and chill for at least 1 hour
- Serve chilled
Notes
- Place mixing bowl and whisk in freezer for about 30 mins
- I added unflavored gelatin to the whipped cream so it holds better in room temperature.
- Cool Whip can be used in a pinch
- Grind Cheerios 1-3 cups at a time, depending on size of food processor, into a "grainy flour" consistency
- Pick ripe peaches for the topping but if peaches are firm and tart, cook in low heat with a little sugar until tender.
- The instructions are broken down into 3 parts to make it easier to follow.
WAIT!!! So you want to tell me that coconut jam is a vegan caramel?????
This is AWESOME!!!! (and I am so stealing it ) LOL!!!
The dessert looks amazing! I bet your friend was thrilled
Haha! It is a vegan caramel. My friend enjoyed the No Bake Peach and Coconut Jam Summer Cake and so did my co-workers. As for “stealing” one of the Philippines favorite spreads/sweets for everyone’s baking and cooking pleasure – well, enjoy! Sharing is caring. I’m sure your creative mind will make wonders out of Coconut Jam. I would love for Filipino food/New Filipino Food/ingredients/recipes to be popular. It makes my Filipino heart proud 🙂
This cake is beautiful and I love how versatile it is. I’m always looking for pretty gluten free desserts and I think I found the perfect one for this summer.
As soon as I saw the pics I said, I have to try this! Looks really yummy and the peaches are so fresh!
That creamy filling looks perfect with the peaches. I’m trying to eat as many peaches as possible while they’re in season, so I’ll definitely have to put this on the menu ASAP!
Clever to use cheerios as a base, but I could never tire of the classic graham crackers either! And that cake looks so scrumptious I could eat half the cake!
Me too! I love Graham crackers but I also love a challenge so Cheerios was the best ingredient for the No bake Peach Coconut Jam Summer Cake. If you are to make this cake, please keep in mind that Coconut Jam is very sweet.
Summer and No Bake – hey that’s a perfect combo, and this looks yum!
Well doesn’t this look like the perfect dessert for my BBQ party this weekend? I know the guests will LOVE it. Love easy desserts that are so delicious.
I love the use of coconut jam in the cake instead of butter. With coconut, fruit, and cheerios, I could even justify making this as a breakfast/brunch dessert. It also looks very pretty the way you layered the peaches on top, in all of your versions. Pinning for later.
I used to eat pan de sal for breakfast when I lived close to a Filipino bakery. But this no-bake summer cake…this needs to happen soon. And yes, challenge accepted! 😀
What a lovely and beautiful idea to use peaches and offer a no bake option. This is a perfect bite for the summer or anytime. I am not a baker so I appreciate easy recipes like this.
Coconut jam sounds delicious and I love that it’s vegan. This cake is mouth-watering! The fact that it’s no bake is so great as I’m not much of a baker!
I absolutely adore peach desserts, and this is the perfect time for no bake desserts! I would love a slice of this right now.
this looks great – now I have to get my hands on the coconut jam to be able to make this delicious looking treat