Homemade Coconut Extract

Lately, I’ve read about so many recipes calling for coconut extract. But, I’ve always tended to be skeptical of most extracts, besides vanilla and most that I’ve found in stores say things like Coconut Extract flavoring, or Coconut Extract, made with artificial and natural flavors. That never seems like a good idea.

Even though recipes keep popping up that I’m tempted to make, and even though I won’t buy coconut extract, I haven’t made any of them (until recently), thanks to a little voice telling me that the extract is a necessary ingredient. But, in October, I had an epiphany. I had just finished shaking together split vanilla beans and vodka to make vanilla extract for holiday gifts. Way too late, it occurred to me: I can probably just make coconut extract, right?

A quick google search confirmed it: of course we can. With just two ingredients, fresh coconut and vodka, a jar, and some time, homemade coconut extract can be yours. But, I’ve had bad luck trying to open coconuts in the past and Larry was out of town for work – when I’m solely responsible for the kids, I minimize danger as much as possible. No attempting to open a coconut for me.

Instead, I picked up a container of fresh coconut pieces from the produce section of the grocery store. All of the recipes called for shredded coconut, but instead of monkeying with small squares of coconut and a grater, I thinly sliced each piece. Once they were in the clean jar, I added vodka and planned to sit patiently and wait 5-7 days.

But, then I thought about it. Did we really have to use fresh coconut? Was this one of the times that everyone just did the same thing because it’s what everyone has always done? I had a bit of dried unsweetened coconut left from making the Coconut Butter Chocolates, so I tossed them into a container and added vodka to that one, too. I live for experiments like this.

I took pictures and then noticed that the dried coconut was soaking up the vodka. It looked like white wet sand. I splashed in more vodka, figuring the worst that could happen would be diluted flavor, popped lids on top of both and put them in the pantry, out of sunlight.

It was all a little slapdash, as you can probably tell by the pictures. A quick experiment that meant I didn’t really consider the outcome: What if it worked? What if I liked it and wanted to talk about it?

Every day, for a week, I shook those jars. I stared at them. I tried to analyze what was happening inside. And, then, on day eight, (I figured one more day could only help), I opened them, smelled them, and tried a drop. Straight vodka. At 9:30 in the morning. Back in the pantry, I decided to give it another couple days. But, it was the same result: straight alcohol without even a touch of coconut in sight. Every week, I smelled and took the tiniest sample, worried that I’d run through my supply, just by sampling, and every week, I returned those jars to the pantry, disappointed.

Did it take so long because my coconut wasn’t freshly opened? Was it because extracts are really are not quick-turnaround, despite what was promised?

But, then, five weeks in, when I opened the jar, it just smelled different, a tiny bit tropical. And, when I tasted it, I finally tasted coconut. I let it continue to sit for a few more weeks, because, like vanilla extract, I knew it would just continue to intensify. That was the fresh jar. The dried coconut (which is 9 weeks in, and still soaking) still just tastes like vodka. I’ll give the dried a bit more time to see if it turns into anything more than coconut sitting in vodka. If it doesn’t, it won’t go to waste. We can cook or bake with it, or maybe we’ll be crazy and someone will actually drink it.

Last week, I finally used the homemade coconut extract in one of the recipes that first made me consider it as a worthwhile ingredient. The result was so, so coconutty (recipe coming up in the next post), but here’s the thing: it was mixed with coconut flour and coconut oil, so was it really the extract that made the difference?

Regardless, I’m happy to now have a bottle in my closet, in case I spy another ingredient list with coconut extract that I need to make. And, if I don’t, I might try a bit splashed into pancake batter or stirred into a mug of hot chocolate. Or, it will sit in my pantry, and in two years, I’ll find it and remember the winter that I needed, more than anything, to make homemade coconut extract.