coconut

Daring Bakers: Lamingtons

The last post on Hottie Biscotti was the April Daring Bakers challlenge.  A full month of no posts!  I know you’ve been wondering just what has happened to me.  Well, I have just been doing a poor job of keeping up with the blog.  Honestly I don’t know when I would’ve posted next if I didn’t have a commitment to keep up with The Daring Bakers.  Blogging has taken a back seat lately.  Being a mom is a lot of work and sometimes (or a lot of the time this past month) sitting down and watching TV during nap time is more valuable and enjoyable to me than taking photos or writing a blog post.  Anyone else have dry spells in blogging?

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Anyway, I was glad to have this fun challenge to get me back here. I’d never seen or heard of Lamingtons before.  I’d never even made a sponge cake!  So, thanks for the great challenge, for having me try something new, and for getting me to blog, Marcellina!

For the May challenge Marcellina from Marcellina in Cucina dared us to make Lamingtons. An Australian delicacy that is as tasty as it is elegant.

I ate one of these with my afternoon coffee today and loved every bite of it.  The delicate cake with the thin layer of chocolate and slightly crunchy coconut made for a really special treat.  It’s basically a Mounds bar in cake form, so if you like those you should have no problem liking Lamingtons.

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Making the sponge cake is fairly simple when it comes to ingredients and baking, but it is tedious.  Having a stand mixer is super helpful since you beat the eggs and sugar on high speed for 15 minutes.  I was thankful to be able to turn on the timer and tend to other things while my mixer did all the work!  When you fold in the flour mixture it’s important not to deflate the eggs, but you also want to get all the flour incorporated, so there’s a delicate balance.  I don’t think that I achieved a perfect sponge, there were a few little pockets of unmixed cornstarch and baking powder in one part of the cake, but overall the flavor was incredible and the texture was light and airy.  And I don’t know what truly proper sponge cake should be like, so maybe mine was nowhere near acceptable.  But it worked!  So I’m going to call it good.

Here is my set up for dipping and coating the cake.  Doesn’t it look neat and clean?

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The chocolate glaze is delicious, a breeze to mix up, and easy to work with, at least at first.  The only problem I ran in to glazing and coating the pieces in coconut was that the delicate cake lost little pieces in the chocolate which, after about a dozen pieces of cake, made for a yucky mess that was no longer easy to work with.  So I ended up not even bothering to coat all the pieces.  My kids gladly ate the extra cake for dessert and felt very fancy.  If I really needed to coat them all I’d make a second batch of glaze that I could switch to once the first batch became not so wonderful.

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Here is the mess I made.

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But here is what came out of all that mess.  Totally worth it.

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Lamingtons

Makes 24

Ingredients

Cake

  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup castor sugar (I used regular granulated with no issues)
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 2¾ cups unsweetened desiccated coconut, to assemble

Chocolate Glaze

  • 3 ¼ cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • ½ to ¾ cup milk

Directions

Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Prepare a 4 ½ cm (1¾ inch) deep 9”x 13” baking pan by lining with non-stick paper and greasing the paper.
  3. In a stand mixer bowl place eggs, sugar and salt. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high for 15 minutes.
  4. While the eggs and sugar are beating sift the cornflour and baking powder at least 3 times.
  5. After 15 minutes add vanilla and beat on high for another 5 minutes. The mixture should have at least tripled in size, be light in color and very foamy.
  6. Sift flour mixture over the egg mixture. I like to use a whisk but you can also use a large metal spoon to lightly fold the flour in. Some people like to use a wooden spoon but I find it too heavy. Heavy handling now will result in a flat tough sponge. If you are using butter, thoroughly fold it in now but lightly.
  7. Spread mixture into your prepared pan and smooth out evenly. Some cooks at this stage drop the pan onto the bench top to even out the air bubbles.  I did this, but just once and not from very high 🙂
  8. Bake in preheated moderate oven for 22-25 minutes. The sponge will rise quite a lot but then settle back down. Don’t be tempted to open the oven to peak.  When baked the sponge will have shrunk very slightly from the sides and should feel springy when pressed gently.
  9. Turn the sponge out immediately onto a wire rack to cool and reverse sponge so as not to mark the top. Allow to cool. It is best to keep the cake for a day before making the Lamingtons as the cake will be easier to handle.

Chocolate Glaze

  1. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a heatproof bowl.
  2. Stir in the butter and ½ cup milk.
  3. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water.
  4. Stir until icing is smooth adding more milk to thin the icing if needed. I find I need more than ½ cup but not quite ¾ cup of milk.

Assemble

  1. Dip each piece into the chocolate icing, let the excess drip off.  Keep the bowl over the pan of warm water to keep the chocolate smooth.
  2. Roll in coconut.
  3. Place on a wire rack and let sit for 2 hours.  Refrigerate or freeze.

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars

Sometimes you just need to bake something.  Maybe the weather is dreary, you’ve had a bad day, or, if you’re anything like me, you just need a project that has a beginning and an end and tangible (and edible!) results because no other task you’ve attempted that day has been successfully completed.  You want something quick with very little prep and a short bake time so that you don’t have to wait long to enjoy the fruits of your labor.  These oatmeal bars meet every one of those qualifications AND they’re delicious.  They remind me a lot of the oat and honey Nature Valley bars.  Drizzle on some melted chocolate chips to make them a bit fancier, but they are really good just on their own.

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars | Hottie Biscotti

This recipe is from a cookbook I have baked from a lot, but it’s been a while, Rebecca Rather’s Pastry Queen.  It is one of my favorite dessert cookbooks.  Most of you probably scrounge around on the internet for recipes, like I do.  But then you browse an old cookbook and find a real gem and you tell yourself you’ll do it more often.  But you somehow find yourself going back to the computer or pinterest the next time.  I urge you to go to your cookbooks!  I have so many of them, some I have never even cooked from.  And that’s a shame.  I vow to do more cooking from physical cookbooks.  You should join me.  Back to the bars.

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars | Hottie Biscotti

If you bake at all, then you have everything you need for these bars.  They come together in a snap and bake up in a mere 20 minutes.  After cooling they are very crunchy, so slicing them is really more like sawing or chopping.  If you’re not so concerned with appearance you can just break them apart into pieces.  Those pieces might be amazing along with a bowl of vanilla ice cream…and some hot fudge…

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars | Hottie Biscotti

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars | Hottie Biscotti

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars

From The Pastry Queen

Ingredients

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup
  • 2 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 pan.
  2. Melt butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat.  Stir until sugar dissolves, 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat.
  3. In a large bowl stir together oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and coconut.  Pour melted butter over and stir to combine thoroughly.
  4. Press firmly into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
  5. Cool for 20 minutes before cutting into bars.
  6. Melt chocolate and drizzle over bars or dip them.

 

 

Weikel’s House Special Cookie Copy Cat

There is a place right off of highway 71 in La Grange, Texas, between Houston and Austin, called Weikel’s where you can stop for gas and get a snack.  If you ever make this drive you have definitely driven by and likely stopped at a similar spot called Hruska’s.  It’s right on the highway in Ellinger and impossible to miss.  But Hruska’s has nothing on Weikel’s, in my opinion.  They’re both gas stations with bakeries serving cookies, kolaches, etc.  Hruska’s, which also offers sausages and lunch/dinner items, had been my go-to stop until my in-laws brought some cookies and shortbread bars to us from Weikel’s.  I haven’t gone back since.

Weikel's House Special Cookies Copy Cat | Hottie Biscotti

Every time I stop here I get cookies for the kids, usually whatever Carson wants and plain sugar for Betsy to keep the mess to a minimum.  I also get a box of house special cookies and a cherry shortbread.  The house special cookies are indeed special and I’ve been wanting to duplicate them for some time.  I might be on my way to doing that with these!

Weikel's House Special Cookies Copy Cat | Hottie Biscotti

The house special is a crispy, crunchy cookie that has cornflakes, oats, pecans and coconut.  There is no butter on the ingredient list, only shortening.  So that could account for the difference in texture between mine and theirs.  I also left out the oats.  But the flavor is very similar and I am real excited that I won’t have to drive to La Grange to get my cookie fix!

However, if I had to choose between mine and Weikel’s I’d still choose Weikel’s.  There’s just something really special about them, and something about the experience of stopping with my kids that makes them better somehow.  And maybe it’s about having someone else make them, like how a sandwich is almost always better when someone else makes it for you than if you make it yourself.  Anyway, be sure to grab one (or a box of 6) if you ever stop by.  Then try this recipe and give me some feedback!  I’d love to truly duplicate these tasty cookies.

Weikel's House Special Cookies Copy Cat | Hottie Biscotti

Weikel’s House Special Cookie Copy Cat

Makes 18-20 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 stick of butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup cornflakes
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions

  1. Beat butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add in the oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar and egg, beating between each addition.  Scrape the bottom of the bowl, add the vanilla and mix again.
  3. Add in the flour, baking soda and salt and mix just to combine.
  4. Fold in the cornflakes, pecans and coconut making sure that it is evenly mixed.
  5. Refrigerate for an hour.
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Scoop into large balls (about 2 tablespoons) and place on cookie sheet (6-8 cookies per sheet) and bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are golden.  Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple minutes on the sheet then move to a wire rack.

Gluten Free Coconut Pavlovas with Lemon Curd and Raspberries

In preparing for Easter lunch this coming weekend I wanted to make a dessert that was light and fresh and beautiful.  These coconut pavlovas with tart lemon curd and fresh raspberries will fit the bill perfectly.

coconutpavlova3A good friend made pavlovas for Easter a few years ago and they were not only delicious but beautiful.  When served individually, they’re an extra special dessert for your guests.  Pavlovas might sound fancy, but they are just baked meringue layers.  Topping them with lemon curd and berries makes them completely lovely.  You can use the recipe below for lemon curd, or buy lemon curd at your grocery store.  I love the combination of raspberries with the coconut and lemon, but blueberries, strawberries or blackberries would be nice.  And in fact, pineapple might be amazing…

You can make the lemon curd and the meringue a day in advance.  This will free you up on the day of your lunch or dinner to tend to everything else you have to do.  But this also means that if you’re bringing these somewhere you don’t have to worry about them in transit.  Bring everything in separate containers and assemble right before serving.  No balancing cake plates in your lap and getting mad at the driver for taking those corners too quickly!

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If you’re not a fan of coconut, then you can leave it out and make plain meringues.  You could also add nuts, pulsed well in a food processor, in place of the coconut to create a different flavor.  The coconut adds a texture you won’t find in a plain meringue, which I found to be really nice against the smooth and creamy lemon curd.

coconutpavlova2 Coconut Pavlovas | Hottie Biscotti

These are gluten free, not because I did anything to make them that way but because the ingredients are all gluten-free friendly.  It’s nice to serve something like this when serving a group that may contain some people who do not or cannot eat gluten.  Since it’s becoming more and more common, at least in my experience, to encounter those people, it’s great to have some recipes that don’t leave anyone out or make it hard for them to enjoy the meal.  Any gluten-free readers who see something wrong with the recipe below, please let me know so that I can correct it.  Enjoy!

Coconut Pavlovas with Lemon Curd and Raspberries

Lemon Curd from The Dessert Bible and Pavlovas adapted from A Passion for Desserts

Serves 6

Ingredients

Lemon Curd

  • 2 egg yolks (reserve the whites for the pavlovas)
  • 2 eggs
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup creme fraiche OR 1/4 cup whipping cream + 1 tablespoon buttermilk
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 9 chunks

Coconut Pavlovas

  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • fresh raspberries for serving

 Directions

Lemon Curd

  1. Combine the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a medium sized saucepan.  Whisk together over medium low heat, whisking constantly until mixture begins to thicken.  Reduce heat to low and continue to cook and whisk until mixture reaches a pudding-like consistency.
  2. Remove from the heat and whisk in the creme fraiche or cream mixture all at once.  Add in the butter, 3 chunks at a time, and stir to almost melt them before adding the next few pieces.  Stir until all the butter is melted.
  3. Pour the lemon curd through a fine mesh sieve to remove any pieces of cooked egg.
  4. Let cool at room temperature for about an hour, then cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface so that a skin does not form, then refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Pavlovas

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Find a cup, bowl or glass that will serve at your guide for piping the meringue.  It should be small enough to fit 6 circles on the cookie sheet with enough space for them to spread a bit.  Trace the circle with a pencil on one side of the parchment, turn the parchment over on the cookie sheet and set it aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and the vanilla on high speed until mixture is very foamy.
  4. Add the sugar in a steady stream, and continue to beat on high until mixture is very thick.
  5. Fold in the cornstarch, vinegar and coconut.
  6. Transfer meringue to a large ziploc bag, cut off one corner, and pipe circles onto the parchment paper.  With the back of a spoon smooth out the circles and make a crater in the center of each.
  7. Put pan into the oven, then reduce the oven temperature to 300°F and cook for 45 minutes.
  8. Remove from the sheet to a wire rack and cool completely.
  9. If not using right away, store in an airtight container.

Assemble the Pavlovas

  1. Divide the lemon curd evenly among the meringue circles.
  2. Place a few raspberries on top of the lemon curd, then sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

 

Skolebrød: Norwegian School Bread

Thanks to my sister I am now aware of this bread’s existence and of its ability to lure you into eating it when you’re not even the slightest bit hungry.  It’s evil.  Thanks a lot, Lisa…

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Lisa had this pastry at Epcot when she and her family were at Disney World on vacation recently.  She asked if I’d try it out and let her know if it was worth the time and effort.  As I began searching the internet for recipes I found that many people have developed an obsession with the bread as a result of visiting Disney.  But as far as I can tell it’s not a Disney invention, but really a Norwegian pastry, a bun filled with custard and iced then covered in coconut.  You can maybe understand now why it’s so evil.  I love all of those things and when you put them together it becomes irresistible.

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These are a labor of love.  And they will take you the better part of an afternoon (or morning) to complete.  BUT they are worth it, as long as you have someone (or many someones) to share them with or an event to make them for.  The recipe makes 20-24 buns and they are best eaten the day they’re made or the day after.  I didn’t try to freeze any, but am unsure how the custard would freeze and am fairly certain it wouldn’t be the same after it’s thawed.  So I suggest making these for a breakfast, brunch, baby or bridal shower where you’ll be serving quite a few people.  That way they’ll all be consumed at their peak of deliciousness and you’re guaranteed to make friends for life.

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This recipe for skolebrød came from a blog I’ve just discovered, Five and Spice.  It’s a lovely blog with delicious sounding and amazing looking food.  I’m so glad to have found it!  I didn’t change a thing from the original recipe and wouldn’t in the future.  The bread is amazing on its own.  I’d consider making it into rolls or a braided bread and serving with butter and lingonberry jam some time.  The custard is pretty simple and has good flavor and consistency.  Make sure to use good vanilla.  The coconut on top provides a terrific crunch.  I used unsweetened coconut chips, but ended up running out and using sweetened flaked coconut for the last few.  It was not only more difficult to put on the buns, but wasn’t as good.  Stick with the unsweetened stuff.

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Consider making these.  You will feel like you’ve accomplished something great when you’re done…because you have!  It’s a lot of work, but again, well worth it.

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Skolebrød

From Five and Spice

Ingredients

Buns

  • 1 stick of butter, melted
  • 3 cups whole milk, warm
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
  • 2 teaspoons cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6-7 cups flour

Custard

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut chips

Directions

Buns

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, stir together milk, butter and sugar then check the temperature, it should be between 100 and 110°F.  Sprinkle the yeast on top, stir once, then let sit for about 10 minutes, until mixture is foamy.
  2. Stir in the cardamom and salt.
  3. Add in flour, 1 cup at a time, until you’ve mixed in 6 cups.  At this point you will probably need to add in 1/2 cup flour.  The dough should be fairly loose and sticky, not dense like a bread dough.  If it still seems too loose, add in 1/4 cup, mix again.  Add the additional 1/4 cup if you have to.
  4. Transfer the dough into a large greased bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and let rise for at least 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Custard

  1. In a small bowl whisk egg, egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch.
  2. In a saucepan heat cream and milk over medium heat just until it begins to simmer.  Temper the eggs by adding 1/4 cup of the warm milk to the eggs, whisking while you add it, then another 1/4 cup.
  3. Now, with the heat on medium-low, whisk the egg mixture back into the milk and cook, whisking constantly to keep it from getting lumpy, until the mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency.
  4. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, transfer to a bowl and let cool.

Form the buns

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Line 3 (maybe 4…) cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Flour a clean surface and turn dough out.  It will be sticky!  have extra flour on hand!  Divide the dough into 20-24 pieces, as equal as you can get them.
  4. Roll each piece into a ball and place them on the cookie sheets, 5-6 per cookie sheet with enough space between for them to rise when baked.
  5. Cover with clean dish towels and let rest for 30 minutes.
  6. Form a crater in the center of each bun and fill with custard using a spoon or a pastry bag.
  7. Bake each batch for about 15 minutes, until the edges of the buns have browned a bit.
  8. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Top the buns

  1. Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.  You want a consistency that isn’t too thin, but not too thick.  You don’t want it to drip off the sides of the buns.
  2. With an offset spatula or spoon, spread some glaze onto  the top of the bun, around the custard.
  3. Press some coconut onto the bun, gently shaking off any excess.
  4. Repeat with the remaining buns.

 

Carrot and Coconut Scones

During my first sit down with this cookbook from Baked I saw this recipe and knew I had to try it.  Two (plus) years later and I’ve finally gotten around to it!  I am glad I did.  While these little gems were baking my house smelled incredible and I was instantly in a better mood.  Baking does that to me a lot of the time, but there was something about the sweet carrot, toasting oats and coconut that was more magical than usual.  We all have a special thing that makes a bad day better, and baking (and the promise of something delicious) is mine.

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I put off making these most recently because of the ingredient “carrot puree” and the extra step of making it.  Turns out it’s one of the easier parts of the recipe and should not deter you.  It will make a mess of your microwave, so next time I might try it on the stove top.  Also, don’t worry about it being super duper smooth.  Mine was a little chunky and it worked out fine.  I used baby carrots, about a handful, and had no issues.  I pureed them in my mini food processor, and think a stick blender might be a better choice.  Looking into getting one of those…

As with all scones, you don’t want to overwork the dough.  And if you don’t overwork the dough, the dough will be delicate, so be careful when transferring it to the baking pan.  Use a wide rigid spatula to move them so they don’t fall apart.

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Scones are best the day they’re made.  Day 2 or 3 is still ok, especially after a nice warm up in the microwave or quick toast in the oven and with a nice smear of softened butter.  Day 4, you’re about to cross the line into hard as a rock and inedible.  I kept mine in a sealed container in the fridge after the first day and we ate them in a few days with the exception of one scone who was sadly tossed out.  You could easily freeze these and warm them up one at a time or warm the entire batch for company.  If you do freeze them, glaze them just before serving.  Enjoy!

Carrot and Coconut Scones

Courtesy of Baked Explorations

Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

Carrot Puree

  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into chunks (or a handful, 6-8, baby carrots)
  • 1/4 cup orange juice

Scones

  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup carrot puree
  • 1 egg white, beaten (for egg wash)

Citrus Glaze

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Carrot Puree

  1. Place the carrot and the orange juice in a medium microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave for 5 minutes on high.  Check that carrot is fork tender.  If it’s not, microwave for 30 second intervals until it is.
  2. Blend the carrot and orange juice until smooth and set aside.

Scones

  1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Whisk together flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, salt and coconut in a large bowl.
  3. Add the butter and use your fingertips to work it into the flour until the butter is pea sized and the mixture is coarse, not worked too much.
  4. In another bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk, vanilla and carrot puree.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until the dough just comes together.  Turn it once in the bowl and knead gently once or twice to bring it together.  Be careful not to overwork the dough!
  5. Lightly sprinkle a clean surface with flour and turn the dough out of the bowl.  Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour if it looks sticky.  Flatten the dough into a disk about 1 3/4 inches high.
  6. Cut the disk like a pizza into 8 slices and transfer the scones to the parchment lined baking sheet.
  7. Whisk egg white with  1 tablespoon of water and brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.
  8. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotate baking sheet after 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops are slightly browned.
  9. Cool scones completely on a wire rack.

Glaze

  1. Sift powdered sugar (to get rid of any lumps) into a bowl, then whisk in the juices until smooth.
  2. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones and allow it to set before serving.

Chocolate Snack Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing

This recipe came from a real cookbook.  One with pages and everything.  America’s Best Lost Recipes.

My sister worked at Half Price Books a couple years ago and got her hands on this neat cookbook from the Cook’s Country editors.  It contains recipes that have been around for a while that have been shared by home cooks.  Stories accompany each recipe telling who they came from, and how and where they originated.  The goal of this cookbook is to bring back recipes that are worth remembering.

This simple chocolate sheet cake is called “Scotch Cake” in the cookbook.  The note about this recipe says:

“The origin of the name of this simple sheet cake, with its unique pecan and coconut topping, was a mystery to Melinda and her mother, whose recipe card for it included a note that said: “I don’t understand the name of this cake.  I just call it my “boil it” cake”.”

I brought this cake to a potluck dinner, and it received a few compliments.  It’s a great potluck dessert because you can make it a day in advance and keep it in the fridge, it’s simple to prepare, you can take it in the pan and it cuts really nicely.  After being refrigerated the cake becomes almost fudgy and the coconut pecan icing gets that nice sugary crunch.  You know what I’m talking about.

Chocolate Snack Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing

From America’s Best Lost Recipes

Ingredients

Cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing
  • 1 stick butter
  • 6 tablespoons whole milk
  • 4 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
For the Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9×13 pan.
  2. Whisk flour and sugar in a large bowl.
  3. Heat butter, water and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil.  Pour over the four mixture and stir to combine.
  4. Stir in the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, vanilla and salt until combined.
  5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For the Icing
  1. Heat the butter, milk and cocoa in the same saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts.
  2. Take it off the heat and stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla, coconut and pecans.
  3. Spread over the warm cake and let cool completely.
  4. Serve or refrigerate for up to 3 days.  Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.

 

Nilla Wafer Cake

What has happened to me?  Why did I make Kraft macaroni and cheese for Ben and a frozen Healthy Choice meal for myself for dinner last week?  Because I am a new mommy, and that means I am kind of a mess.  To all those mothers of newborns who have it together, I envy and admire you.  Everyone is telling me it will get better…I hope they’re right.

I’m not cooking anything really worth posting about.  And even if I was, I don’t really have time to post!  I really miss my kitchen.

This recipe caught my eye on allrecipes.com a few weeks ago, right after Carson was born.  My mom even bought a box of Nilla Wafers that day so that we could make it, but we didn’t have a chance.  Ben and I were having company last night, so I decided to try it out.

I wasn’t too impressed with this, but the people who ate it were very nice to be complimentary!  It wasn’t very sweet, and the texture was quite dense and a little rubbery.

So, I went and looked at the recipe again.  I FORGOT THE SUGAR!  2 C UPS OF SUGAR!  Maybe the lack of sleep is catching up with me.  Maybe it was just a result of my haste to get this made while Carson slept.  Whatever the explanation for my mistake, it was a bad one.  This ranks up there with making a cup of coffee at my parents house over Christmas with one of those Tassimo makers and putting the mug upside down.  I have lost my mind.

I might try it warmed up in the microwave or possibly toasted with some butter.  I will probably try this again sometime.  I like the idea of the using the cookie crumbs as the flour, and I am interested to see the difference 2 cups of sugar makes.

Nilla Wafer Cake

Ingredients

  • 6 whole eggs
  • 3.5 oz can of coconut (if you use bagged sweetened flaked coconut, just use 1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 12 ounce box vanilla wafers, crushed
  • 2 C sugar
  • 1 C chopped pecans

Directions

  1. Beat eggs well.
  2. Mix wafers and all other ingredients into eggs.
  3. Pour into greased and floured tube pan.
  4. Bake at 350 for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Coconut & Almond Lemon Curd Bars

Since I am kind of a hermit these days as a new mommy, I have been raiding my pantry in search of things I can cook or bake with instead of going to the grocery store.  I found a jar of lemon curd in there and so I made these bars.

My mom makes the BEST lemon bars, but these were pretty good and different enough not to be a competitor.  My mom’s are super simple with a buttery crust topped with a tart lemon filling and dusted with powdered sugar.  In contrast, these bars have a crumbly almond and coconut topping that makes them a little special.

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com.  Here is the link.  The recipe calls for a jar of lemon curd, but I think you could easily use any lemon bar filling as a substitute.  This basic filling would be a good one.

Lemon Curd Bars

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 (10 ounce) jar lemon curd
  • 2/3 cup flaked coconut
  • 1/2 cup toasted and chopped almonds

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter. Add the flour, sugar and baking soda. Mix until the mixture forms coarse crumbs
  3. Pat 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of one 9×13 inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.
  4. Spread the lemon curd over the baked layer. To the remaining 1/3 of crumb mixture add the coconut and the almonds. Sprinkle over the top of the lemon curd.
  5. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Bake bars for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Oatmeal, Pecan, Coconut & Butterscotch Cookies

A bag of butterscotch chips in my cupboard greeted me (by falling out onto the counter) the other day and so I took this as a sign to make something with them.  I found a recipe for pecan and oatmeal cookies, and so I just added the coconut and butterscotch chips because I have this, well, it’s a problem.  I like to add too many extras to a cookie.  Sometimes I can keep it simple and show some restraint, but most of the time I have the urge to add more and more goodies.

These cookies are very sweet, so one was enough for me.  I could eat probably 3 oatmeal raisin cookies in one sitting, but one of these sweet little things is enough sweet for me.  You could easily leave out the butterscotch chips or replace them with chocolate chips.  You can play around with the add-ins, so make them how you like them.  Enjoy!

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