Not everyone can tolerate the milk that is sometimes required when it comes to baking. In fact, people who are lactose intolerant almost always avoid pastries and cakes that are made with milk. Coconut milk is seen as an ideal substitute for dairy milk, primarily because of its texture and its consistency. It is also used by those who want to continue baking even after they have converted to veganism.
Coconut milk is not the water that you find inside the coconut. That is coconut water. Coconut milk is actually derived from the meat of mature coconuts. You can get this by grating the hard, white meat from the coconut and squeezing this grated pulp with the use of cheesecloth to get the milk out.
The thickness and purity of coconut milk depends on how this meat is squeezed for its liquid. For diluted coconut milk, you can add half a cup of water to the grated coconut pulp before squeezing. For thicker and purer coconut milk, you can just squeeze it as is. The former method will produce more milk but this will be somewhat watery. The latter will produce less milk but this will be thicker and will have a stronger coconut flavor.
Coconut milk is considered healthier than dairy milk due to its higher niacin and medium chain fatty acids, which is considered a healthier version of saturated fatty acids. It also contains a healthy amount of iron, protein, and copper. This means that it is a great substitute if you want to pump up the nutrients of your baked goods.
When baking with coconut milk, you have to understand that this dairy milk substitute does not necessarily taste like conventional milk. It actually has a different flavor and is sometimes considered a stronger tasting substitute for milk. With that said, you should probably think about what the resulting flavor will be, particularly if you are baking something that is not compatible with the distinct flavor of coconut milk.
There are a lot of cakes and pastries that will do well with coconut milk added to it though. Some examples are those cakes and pastries that have some coconut flakes, grated coconut, or even shredded coconut topping on it. It would make the flavor more consistent if you use coconut milk in place of the milk that the recipe may call for.
If you cannot get hold of fresh coconut milk, there are a number of passable substitutes being sold in grocery stores everywhere. There are canned and tetra-brick liquid coconut milk that you can use direct from the can or box. There are also powdered versions that you need to hydrate with warm water.
