Forget Flower Crowns: It's the Year of the Floral Coconut Bowl

Forget lettuce wraps and cocktails inside pineapples. (Okay, maybe not. We love both those things!) But this summer’s edible bowl food trend is all about coconuts.

We flipped out when the cute team of college buds behind Amazebowls took over our HQ to whip up these acai coconut bowls with toppings that almost broke all of our phone cams.

We’re showing you how to make the ultimate acai bowl bar at home – basically, the coolest food trend happening around L.A this summer (thanks to Amazebowls’ catering concept). The Amazebowls team cuts a little hemp milk into their acai blend which we love for extra fat, protein and fiber. The piece de resistance? Edible flowers and these frozen coconut halves that begin to thaw as you eat them.

Gather your girlfriends, layout all the goodies and try to break the internet as a team…

How To Build The Ultimate Acai Bowl Bar

Step 1: Gather the Equipment

For the base:
blender or Vitamix + tamper
knife
cutting board
serving bowls or mature coconuts
soup spoons or tablespoons

For the toppings:
small bowls or ramekins, 1 for each topping
small serving spoons, 1 for each topping

Step 2: Prepare the Acai Base

1 frozen acai pack
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup frozen pineapple
1 banana
1/2 cup hemp or almond milk
1 tsp agave

Use a blender to combine the ingredients into a smooth, homogenous mixture. It may be a little stiff and difficult to blend at first. If you are using a Vitamix, use the tamper to help move things around.

Step 3: Gather the Toppings

bananas, diced
kiwi, diced
strawberries, diced
blueberries, whole
granola
almond butter
cacao nibs
hemp hearts
chia seeds
coconut shavings
edible flowers

Step 4: Arrange and Serve

Display each topping in its own bowl with a serving spoon, and arrange them in an “assembly line” on a table or countertop. Present the granola first, fresh fruit next and the rest of the topping options to follow. Edible flowers should appear last.

Prepare the base just before it’s time to eat. To serve, spoon the desired amount of acai base into a chilled bowl or frozen coconut half. Allow guests to top the acai as desired.

Pro Tip: To make the bowls extra pretty and uber-Instagrammable, don’t clump like colors! Separate similar-colored ingredients to create an eye-grabbing rainbow effect that highlights the different textures.

DIY Coconut Serving Bowls

Drain

Puncture a small hole into the coconut eye and drain coconut juice into a container.

Crack

Once all the juice is drained, hold coconut in the palm of your hand and use the blunt side of a heavy kitchen knife. Start tapping firmly as you rotate the coconut around. Continue to tap and rotate until you see a crack. After a few rotations, the coconut should break open into two equal halves.