Coconut Grapefruit Sans Rival

Do you sometimes have trouble paying attention when you are baking? I have trouble paying attention at the best of times, but making this dessert was more difficult than it needed to be because I was in space cadet mode. I blame it on all the kindergarten I taught this week--many little kids and their snowsuits and winter accessories turn my brain to mush. I only decided to make this dessert at the last minute, as I was worried it would be too rich and too sweet (it is basically buttered meringue, after all). To balance the sweetness a bit, I made a grapefruit curd to add to the buttercream. I reduced the grapefruit juice by half, which meant that the curd was a bit too bitter on its own, but it was perfect in the buttercream: difficult to identify, but encouraging another taste to figure out the mystery ingredient. Too bad I only had pink grapefruits--red ones would have made for a prettier frosting.

I made a small version of this, using 5 eggs in total: 2 for the curd, 3 whites for the dacquoise and 3 yolks for the buttercream. The original recipe calls for 10 egg whites and 5 yolks for 12 servings, but I got 8 servings from my mini version (13x13x6.5cm). Instead of baking it in pans, I traced a paper CD envelope onto the foil using a chopstick. I wanted to pipe the meringue mixture, but I got two, yes two, yolks in the meringue so it wasn't the most durable stuff. I started out well, separating the first egg neatly. Then, who knows what happened, but I cracked the next egg with such force and flung it in the bowl before noticing that I had mixed yolks and whites, and the yolk was broken. Oops. I scooped it out and did the very same thing with the next egg. This yolk was really broken up and I was unable to remove it all from the whites. I considered pitching the whole thing but I was out of eggs. So, with a few choice words, I started beating the whites anyway. It worked rather well, and I got fairly stiff peaks. So, I folded in a pile of unsweetened coconut and that's when I got a bit worried. Rather than manhandle (Maryhandle?) it any more by putting it in a piping bag, I quickly spread it with a palette knife, got it in the oven and hoped for the best. It was fine, so don't panic about a tiny bit of yolk in your egg whites!

I halved this piece to make 2 servings

The French buttercream was easy to make, and not as fussy as the meringue one I usually choose. I always find that moment when you are beating the butter in and it finally comes together a bit off-putting. It's when the bowl of beaten yolks (or whites) begins to look exactly like a bowl of beaten butter. That's when I start to calculate just how much butter will be in every piece and how many pieces I am likely to eat. 2 tablespoons, in case you were wondering, and totally worth a brisk walk or ten. I'll always choose real buttercream over that nasty, gritty powdered sugar stuff.

Putting it together was easy enough, except that the kitchen was quite warm by this time and frosting each layer pushed the ones below off kilter. I eventually got it somewhat straight, so I just left it alone, intending to fix it up the next day. That didn't happen. Instead, I added a few flakes of fresh coconut and dug in. I don't think my Sans Rival is going to rival any of the beauties you'll find on the Daring Kitchen, but it tasted great! Thanks to Catherine for a fun challenge. Now, what to do with the extra buttercream and grapefruit curd???

Full challenge PDF with photos and recipes.

Blog-checking lines: Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Oatmeal, Coconut and Macadamia Nut Cookies

Do you bake to create something new? To recreate a taste memory? To use up a surplus of ingredients? Or just because you need something sweet? I bake for all of those reasons, but this recipe is one in a series of cookies I've been making over the past few years trying to recreate a teenage indulgence. I was never a mall rat, but whenever I did go I would pick up a cookie at a famous cookie franchise. It was called Mrs. something or other... They were huge and chewy with a centre verging on raw. I loved them and could make one last all day. Like I said, they were huge. This chain sold lots of cookies but this one was my favourite for a number of reasons: it did not contain chocolate; it had coconut; and macadamia nuts. Oh and I did I mention the size? It does matter.
A few years ago I was at a mall and went to pick one up only to find they had been discontinued for years! Like I said, I'm not a big shopper. I was disappointed so I set out to make them myself. Over the years I've taken a few cracks at the recipe, but my results have always been too cakey or too crisp. Sometimes the cookie didn't spread at all, other times it spread all over the place. I even tried to adapt a few ANZAC biscuits recipes, as they are full of oats and coconut, but they weren't quite right either. My most recent attempt is the first I have been mostly happy with. It's almost thick enough and chewy--almost too chewy. I used golden syrup instead of white sugar along with old-fashioned rolled oats and shredded coconut, but will try quick oats and flaked coconut next time. And maybe change the ratio of flour to coconut/oats to give me exactly what I'm looking for. That said, these were delicious and if you're a cookie dough monster like me you'll love them raw or baked.

Oatmeal Coconut and Macadamia Nut Cookies
Adapted from Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy by Alice Medrich
2 cups rolled oats
¼ cup water
5.625 ounces/1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
8 ounces/1 cup unsalted butter
5.25 ounces/¾ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup golden syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup roasted, salted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup sweetened coconut

1. Place the oats in a bowl and sprinkle with the water, stirring to combine. Set aside. Whisk the flour, baking soda and nutmeg together in a medium bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Take off the stove and add the sugar, syrup, vanilla and salt and stir well. Add the egg and beat in. Add the flour mixture, oats, nuts and coconut and stir just until combined.
3. Cover the dough and let it stand at room temperature for a couple of hours, or ideally overnight in the fridge. This helps to moisten the oats thoroughly.
4. Preheat oven to 350℉. Line baking sheets with ungreased parchment. Scoop 2 level tablespoons of dough for each cookie and flatten into a small hockey puck shape. Bake 10-12 minutes, just until cookies are golden on the edge. Slide parchment and cookies onto a rack to cool. Store airtight.

I'm back, with Rarotongan Coconut Rolls

Coconut bun with very special sauce

Hello! Is anyone out there? I have been back in Canada for 2 weeks now and am finally getting around to posting something. Unfortunately it's something I made before I left, but I am still having computer problems. I have a new hard drive, but iPhoto is not working properly, meaning no new photos, and no photos from Ecuador. Since returning, I haven't baked much, worked much or done much of anything. I just want to jump back on a plane (preferably without any airports involved) and be somewhere else, away from everyday responsibilities. That's not happening right this minute, so I'll post this and then head back to the computer shop so that I can share the results of pumpkinfest 2011. Brace yourselves.

Ready to rise

I have had this recipe bookmarked for ages and finally got around to making it in a fit of baking before I kissed my stove goodbye for 6 weeks. My family and I are huge fans of coconut, and my nephew likes to help too. While trying to entertain him at my mother's non-childproofed house, we gave him a coconut and a hammer. What followed was hilarious, with James chasing the coconut around the garage and swinging the hammer with abandon. I know, not safe, but nobody lost an eye, the kid was entertained and I got enough coconut to make these buns. Win-win, no?

Barely risen, hoping the oven spring will sort that out

Not exactly. More lose-win. I loved the coconut sauce and could see myself eating it on just about anything. I left it at my mother's and she was contemplating pouring it over ice cream. The buns, though, were a bit of a disappointment. They did not have the texture of yeast buns, but seemed more like bad biscuits or scones: heavy, with a dense crumb. I proofed the yeast, but they just did not rise much and the amount of liquid called for did not even make crumbs, much less a kneadable dough. There were comments noting this on the original recipe, so I can't say I wasn't warned. I'll be making these again, but using a different yeast dough recipe. Maybe this one from King Arthur Flour?

Baked, slightly risen, but look at that sauce!

Here's the link to the original recipe, from the lovely blog Pease Pudding.

Coconut Ice Cream with Passionfruit Caramel

Remember those passionfruit caramel filled chocolates from my last post? They might have been a bit of a disaster, but the very happy outcome was that I got a great recipe for passionfruit caramel sauce. Not that this sauce was immune to the struggles I had that day. The recipe stated 'dark amber caramel' and I thought my caramel was amber but the end result was much too thin and pale. I used golden syrup instead of corn syrup, giving it a darker colour to start with, so this may have been the problem. However, golden syrup has so much more flavour than corn syrup, so it was worth having to boil the caramel for another 10 or 15 minutes after adding all the ingredients. It still wasn't thick enough at room temperature. Oh well. It was so delicious that I was really happy to have almost 500 ml left after making the chocolates. Even though I tested it almost every day, there was still enough left to do something with. I decided to make ice cream and stuck with tropical flavours to make a knockout combination. This is a simple and tasty ice cream, but it makes a very small batch. 2 cups was perfect for me, but you may want to double it.

Coconut Saffron Ice Cream
Source: Delicious Days by Nicole Stich, via David Lebovitz
1 cup coconut milk
⅔ cup whipping/heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
scant ½ teaspoon saffron threads

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a small bowl and chill thoroughly.
3. Churn in an ice cream machine, transfer to a sealable container and place in the freezer to firm up. 

Passionfruit Caramel Sauce
Source: Adapted from CandyBarLab by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives
Makes 3+ cups!

¾ cup + 2 Tablespoon (210 ml/7 oz/200 gm) passion fruit puree
1½ cups (360 ml/12 oz/340 gm) sugar
½ cup + 2 Tablespoon (180 ml/5 oz/140 gm) corn syrup (I used golden syrup--yum)
1¾ cups (420 ml) whipping/heavy cream
6 tablespoons (90 ml/3 oz/90 gm) unsalted butter

1. Place the sugar, golden syrup and enough water so it’s like wet sand in a medium saucepan. Set over medium-high heat and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until dark amber in color, about 5 minutes. Use a pastry brush, dipped in water, to wash down sides of pan to prevent crystallization as the mixture boils. Remove saucepan from the heat and gradually whisk in the passion fruit puree, heavy cream and butter. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool.
2. Serve warm or at room temperature with just about anything you can think of! I found this caramel sauce had a greasy mouthfeel when refrigerated, so I may skip the butter next time, and there will be a next time.

Mango with Coconut Sticky Rice

When mangoes (mangos?) are in season, I go a bit crazy. I buy them by the flat, then race to eat them all before the fruit flies push me out the door and lock it so they can have them all to themselves. I never cook mangoes, never make smoothies with them, never do anything but peel and eat them. Except for once a year. Once a year, I remember sticky rice and mango and I go out and buy some sticky rice so that I can make this. It's the easiest and most delicious thing, and it's pretty impressive too, I think, for something so simple. 

You need sticky rice to make this, and half the battle is finding the right kind. The rest is easy. Sushi rice is not sticky rice. You need to buy rice that is sometimes called sweet rice or glutinous rice. The easiest way to tell is to just have a look at the grains of rice. If they are slightly translucent you've got the wrong rice. Sticky rice is chalk white and opaque before cooking. You do need to soak it before cooking, preferably overnight, so plan ahead!

Left to right: basmati, medium grain, sticky rice

Coconut sticky rice with mango

Adapted from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Serves 3-4

1½ cups sticky rice

1 cup coconut milk

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 ripe mangoes

gratuitous black sesame seeds for garnish, optional

1. Rinse the rice and soak it in fresh water to cover for about 8 hours. You can also soak it in warm water for 2 hours. Drain and place in a metal sieve.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and balance the sieve on top of the pot. Make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the sieve. Cover with a lid and steam for about 15 minutes. Now turn the rice over in the sieve so that it steams evenly. You want the rice on the bottom to be on the top and vice versa. Steam for another 10 minutes, then test. When the rice is ready, it will be shiny and sticky (!) and will be cooked all the way through. Remove from heat but leave covered.
3. Meanwhile, combine the coconut milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan, and heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil. Stir in the rice and cover and let sit for 20-60 minutes so that the rice absorbs all the liquid. 
4. Peel the mangoes, halve them and slice thickly, either lengthwise or crosswise. As you can see, I couldn't make up my mind. However you do it, the flesh around the pit is the cook's treat.
5. To serve, arrange the sticky rice and mango on a platter or in bowls. Serve immediately, as the rice will dry out if exposed to air.

German chocolate cake

Greetings from Toronto! I am here for a month to work on a short contract, but I have neither a kitchen or my camera, so I'm hoping to have time to share all the things I made last month and didn't get around to posting. I was actually expecting to catch up on responding to comments on the train here, but there was a problem and we had to travel by bus instead. Now, I don't romanticize the train, but it is a hell of a lot more comfortable than a bus. And it has wireless internet. And food that doesn't make you feel nasty the entire next day. Enough about that, I seem recovered now and ready for cake.

I made this for my brother's birthday. Like me, he is not a chocolate fanatic, but he does love coconut. That's what I told myself anyway, as I've been wanting to make this cake for a while. My mother used to make it for us when we were kids and I don't think I'd had it since. My plan was to use a recipe from America's Test Kitchen via Leite's Culinaria, but there were a few comments about the cake being dry, so I made one from Rose's Heavenly Cakes instead. Not only was it dark, moist and absolutely delicious, it used up a couple of extra egg whites, and I always have those around. The cake has a fairly light texture and stays soft even when cold, though our cake didn't last long enough to need refrigeration. It was huge, so if you can make yours last more than a day or two, keep it covered in the fridge and bring to room temperature to serve.
Cake
Source: Rose's Heavenly Cakes
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (2.3 oz/66 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa
½ cup (4 oz/118 grams) boiling water
½ cup (3.7 oz/108 grams) canola oil (I used grapeseed)
4 large eggs, separated, plus 2 egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (2.6 oz/75 grams) cake flour
⅔ cup (2.6 oz/75 grams) all-purpose flour
1½ cups (10.6 oz/300 grams) superfine sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350℉/175℃. Grease only the bottoms of 2 9" round cake pans and line them with parchment. Cake strips are recommended for the most even cakes, but I didn't use them and it was fine. I also didn't use a stand mixer, just a hand mixer and slightly higher mixing speeds than those noted below.

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. Add the oil and the yolks to the bowl. Start on low speed, then beat on medium for about 1 minute, or until mixture is shiny and looks like buttercream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and beat briefly. 
2. Whisk the dry ingredients together (including the sugar), then sift half the mixture over the cocoa mixture. Beat on low speed until moistened. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and repeat with the remaining dry ingredients. Raise the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute. The mixture will be very thick. On low speed, add the egg whites. Gradually raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes. The batter will be like thick soup. Divide the batter evenly between the pans (17.5 oz/495 grams) in each.
3. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean, and the cakes spring back when pressed gently in the centre. During baking, the batter will rise almost to the top of the pans and be domed in the middle, but this will lower just before they are ready. Right after removing the cakes from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the pan and unmold onto a cooling rack. Remove parchment and re-invert so cakes can cool right side up.

For the topping, I went with the recipe from Leite's, as it just looked better and used evaporated milk instead of condensed, meaning I didn't need to make another trip to the grocery store. I had extra, as I didn't cut my cake into 4 layers. It'd make a great topping or filling for cakes, cookies or cupcakes, if you don't eat it all with a spoon.

Coconut-pecan topping

Source: Leite's Culinaria

4 large egg yolks
One 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups (finely) chopped pecans, toasted 

1. Whisk the yolks in a medium saucepan; gradually whisk in the evaporated milk. Add the sugars, butter, and salt and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is boiling, frothy, and slightly thickened, about 6 minutes.

2. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, whisk in the vanilla, then stir in the coconut. Cool until just warm, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cool or cold, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. (The pecans are stirred in just before cake assembly.)

To assemble cake:

1. Stir pecans into filling. Slice layers in half horizontally, using a serrated knife, if desired. Top each layer with a generous amount of filling and top with another cake layer. Spread more filling on top of cake. 

The Daring Bakers make panna cotta and florentines

Pistachio marzipan panna cotta with florentines

Who needs an excuse to make panna cotta? The Daring Bakers, I guess! I don't why I don't make it more often: it's simple, delicious, and impressive enough that it looks like you were slaving over it, when in fact the fridge did most of the work. I made a number of variations this month, and I love when a challenge inspires me to eat nothing but pudding for a month. It's a good thing the canal is still open and I can skate it off!

Pistachio Dome

I never got the challenge florentines made, as I decided to go with a more traditional (I think), recipe using almonds and candied orange peel. This was great as I made a big jar of candied orange peel in December and it was taking up precious space in my fridge.  I found this recipe here, and quite enjoyed these confections. They're more like a candy than a cookie, meaning rich and delicious. 

Ginger-vanilla panna cotta with blood orange gelee

I have belatedly realized that I haven't written down any of my recipes for this month. I really need to measure and write things down when I'm in the kitchen rather than assume I'll remember weeks later. I did not use the challenge panna cotta recipe either, as I knew it'd be too rich for me. The first panna cotta I made, during a gray and cloudy week, was ginger-vanilla with a blood orange gelee. I adapted the recipe from the panna cotta plus gelee I had posted just a couple of days before the challenge was announced. I omitted the Amaretto and steeped some freshly chopped ginger in the cream/milk mixture.

Coconut panna cotta with tangerine, blood orange and cardamom granita

Next, I combined a recipe I was testing with one of my own. I was testing the granita above (which was lovely) and decided to make a panna cotta to serve it on, just for kicks. Inspired by some beautiful coconut panna cottas in the Daring Kitchen forum, I set out to create my own lighter version. I love coconut milk, but again, I didn't want it to be too rich. So, I combined it with milk and Cointreau and I really enjoyed the results. You can find the coconut panna cotta recipe here and the granita recipe here.

I love this green

The pistachio marzipan panna cotta was my absolute favourite. I had some leftover homemade pistachio marzipan from these amazing brownies, so I combined it with some milk and a bit of cream to make a soft, slightly textured and very pistachio panna cotta. I am really kicking myself for not writing this one down, as it was outstanding. That said, I doubt I'll be blanching and peeling any more pistachios to make more marzipan, so it might just have to be a happy memory. I think I already whined about that job in the brownie post so I'll stop now. If I do have a burst of enthusiasm, you'll be the first to know.

Thanks so much to Mallory of a sofa in the kitchen for the great challenge idea. Be sure to check out the Daring Kitchen homepage to see a slide show of some stunning creations. Here's the challenge PDF, complete with recipes and helpful links. 

Blog-checking lines: The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Coconut tapioca pudding with caramelized bananas

I love tapioca pudding--even the super gloopy kind. How about you? I imagine you must be willing to give it a chance if you're still reading this. I know many are turned off by its weird texture, but that's what I like about it. It's certainly not the flavour, as tapioca really doesn't have much. You won't find any vanilla, eggs or milk here, because this is not your granny's tapioca, or at least not my granny's. It's made with small pearl tapioca, not instant, and flavoured with coconut and topped with bananas. Mango or pineapple would also be wonderful here, so just use what you've got. I originally developed this recipe for Food52, where it was an Editors' Pick. I don't really know what that means, but I think it means someone liked it. I hope you do too.

tiny bubbles...

Serves 3-4

Tapioca:
2 cups water (you may need to add more, depending on your brand of tapioca and how loose you like it)
4 pods green cardamom, cracked but whole (optional)
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup small pearl tapioca
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup thick coconut milk (skim from the top of an unshaken can), plus extra for serving, if desired

1. Bring water, cardamom and salt to a boil in a medium pot.
2. Add tapioca, and bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to keep mixture at a gentle boil.
3. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently as it tends to stick. Tapioca is ready when most of it turns clear, without a white dot in the centre.
4. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add thick coconut milk and stir in. Divide amongst dessert bowls and let stand while you prepare the bananas. It will thicken as it cools. Serve slightly warm. Do not refrigerate, as it will turn to glue!

Caramelized bananas:
2 bananas, ripe but firm, quartered
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Heat butter in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add bananas, cut side down. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Turn when browned and brown other side.
2. Place bananas atop tapioca and drizzle with pan juices and/or extra coconut milk to serve.

Gingered carrot cookie dough in cream cheese ice cream

This week's recipe was chosen by Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farini. She's got the recipe--go say hello! I had never noticed the recipe in the book, but it sounded intriguing. Even more intriguing, because I was away on a business trip and had to wait awhile before I got home to look at the recipe. I love carrots and coconut in any form, so I knew I was going to love these. I don't like raisins, though, so I left those out, and replaced the pecans with cashews. The only thing I was worried about was the possible homeliness of these cookies. There was no picture, and they didn't sound pretty. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I don't like an ugly cookie. I just have to doctor it up somehow, as I did with the Dulce de leche duos from last year. I thought about a cream cheese filling, but word on the TWD discussion board said they were a bit lumpy for that. So, I thought about making a cream cheese ice cream and putting the crumbled cookies in that. Then I tasted the cookie dough...

Do you ever eat the raw cookie dough? Do you ever like it even more than the baked cookies? Yes and yes for me. I always try everything I bake before I cook it, and I usually prefer it to the baked version. Or maybe it's that I feel slightly nauseous by the time things come out of the oven. I've always been like this, and I can remember eating huge gobs of whatever my mother was making while her back was turned. I don't just mean desserts: bread dough and raw ground beef were things I couldn't keep my grubby little fingers off. I also ate raw potatoes and turnips and bacon out of the package if nobody was looking. Despite my mother's dire warnings, I never got sick. I know some who won't eat batter because of the raw eggs, but salmonella is rarely if ever in the news here. Is it possible to build up a tolerance to it? Living in Japan was fabulous for the abundance of raw food. Sushi, of course, but raw beef dipped in raw egg yolk? I'm there. Chicken sashimi? It was pretty good too. Now that I've grossed you all out, let's talk about these delicious cookies, shall we?

I made this cream cheese ice cream from Epicurious, adding some vanilla. It basically tastes like frozen cream cheese icing, which is a very good thing, I think. I put small blobs of the cookie dough in after I had churned it, meaning after 4 searches of my storage area, and a very long wait till the canister was sufficiently frozen. Then I had to wait again for it to firm up. This is a yummy and easy ice cream, and I think you could taste the carrot and spices, along with the coconut more in the dough than in the baked cookies. YUM!

I did bake some of the dough, and these were very yummy cookies, especially hot out of the oven. I wonder what they'd be like with zucchini, since I am drowning in the stuff. More on that in my next post. 

TWD: Lots of ways banana cake

I love banana bread. I love banana bread with coconut. I loved this recipe. I made half of it, and baked it in a loaf pan. I used coconut, coconut rum and yogurt for the liquid. It was pretty much perfect, and I wish I could make it again right now. I cut a slice to photograph, then quickly had to slice another when I accidently inhaled it. I took it over to my brother and sister-in-law's, and was told to forget about taking the rest back home with me. 

Still steaming! This week's recipe was chosen by Kimberly at Only Creative Opportunities and I think you should head over there now for the recipe, even if you're a coconut hater. That's where the 'lots of ways' comes in--you can put just about anything in here and it'll be good. Enjoy!

Easter!

There's nothing like a 4-day weekend, especially when the weather is as nice as it was. I went to visit my family, and did lots of cooking, as we had 2 dinners on the weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't do so well with the photos--just some snapshots before we demolished everything (literally, for the cake). I got up early on Friday morning to make this coconut cake for my brother's birthday. His birthday was in March, but this cake is worth the wait. The only change I made was to use fresh grated coconut on top and between the layers. I made it last year and after the first bite my brother said 'I'm taking this with me'. This devolved into a 4-way fight for the cake, but we made up and shared it in the end. This year the cake got a bit mangled on the trip, but it was mostly fine. I got a quick picture, and thought I would get more at my brother's house. What I didn't expect was that my nephew would fling it onto the floor! It was in a carrier, but looked a complete mess after that.

Hmm, having some white balance issues, but it was good--really. This is the before shot.

                            

Before Mr. Trouble got a hold of it. He's the best nephew ever, so all is forgiven.

For every family dinner I have to make coleslaw. I prefer making desserts, so I usually make something sweet too, but this is what my family always asks for. I've been making this since I was a teenager working in the kitchen of a local hotel. 

1 head cabbage, shredded (I do this by hand, but you can use a food processor)

3 carrots, grated

1 red onion, finely chopped

Place these in a LARGE bowl, and salt and pepper generously. Pour over a mixture of:

2 cups mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

1 bunch of dill, finely chopped (about a cup)

Mix with your hands. This keeps well, and is best made a day, or at least a few hours, in advance. 

Yup, same white balance issues. Bright yellow walls+skylight make for tricky pictures!

I also wanted to make some rhubarb desserts, but I will have to wait a while longer, as you can see below. No doubt everyone will be eating raspberries by the time my rhubarb is ready, but I consoled myself by making 2 more maple sugar pies. I can wait a long time if I get to eat more sugar pie!

TWD: Coconut tea cake

I was so excited about this cake that I made it more than a week early. Yup, you read that right. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am never early for anything, but it seems like we've been making lots of cookies and tarts at TWD, and cake is my favourite thing to bake and eat. I even went hunting in my mother's basement to find a bundt cake pan. Unfortunately when I was turning the cake out I saw that it was recommended for microwave use. Oops. Guess that's why the outside of the cake was a bit too brown in spots. It didn't melt, but that was probably just luck. I think this pan dates from the 80s, when my parents bought their first microwave--a behemoth Panasonic Genius. My mother still has it, and she can have the pan back too.
:)

I used fresh coconut both inside and on top of the cake. I also added 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom, but the flavour wasn't that strong, so I'd add more next time. Interestingly, in the TWD P&Q forum (that's problems and questions), some found that the optional cardamom overpowered, but I have been taste-tasting the cake for days (it's a good keeper), and I still can't taste it. Instead of rum and vanilla, I added some of my homemade extrait antillais: a mixture of rum, vanilla beans, mace, tonka beans and sapote. It smells like heaven, even though I only made it a couple of weeks ago and it needs longer to get really strong. I tried to get a photo, but it looks like alien parts in a bottle, so just use your imagination. I also glazed the cake with some cream cheese icing that I thinned with the leftover coconut milk and more rum.

I usually don't like bundt cakes much, but this was nice: the coconut added a nice texture, and it was lighter than I expected, and very moist. Again in the P&Q some found this a bit dry, but I think the fresh coconut helped. The cake lasted 4 or 5 days, and kept very well. This week's recipe was selected by Carmen of Carmen Cooks, so she's got the recipe. Thanks for a fantastic pick Carmen!

Daring Bakers' January Challenge--The world comes to Canada

Graham Crackers and Nanaimo Bars!

I'd never made graham crackers or Nanaimo bars before this 2-part challenge, so I was excited, more so by the graham crackers than the bars. Nanaimo bars are really sweet. It was an option to make the graham wafers gluten-free, but I used wheat flour to make my wafers, as I seemed that I had nothing in the house to make these, and buying three more flours was not practical for me with all the other ingredients I needed. 

The graham wafers were really easy to put together and the dough was not as sticky as the gluten-free version. After rolling out, I used my new cookie cutters. Turns out that even graham wafers with slightly rude messages are cute! No photos, and I have already eaten the evidence. This was the tastiest dough I have made in a long time, and it was hard to stop snacking on it.

They baked much more quickly than the recipe specified, and if I had paid more attention to the other Daring Bakers' comments, I would have kept an eye on them. As it was, I was also distracted by Australian Open tennis on TV, so I ended up with many dark graham wafers. Those are the ones I used for the base of the Nanaimo Bars. 

The recipe made a lot of graham wafers, so there were lots left over, and they made a great snack with a cup of tea.

The next step was making the base. I toasted some almonds and unsweetened coconut and combined them with the graham wafer crumbs.

To this I added a mixture of butter, sugar, cocoa and an egg that had been cooked in a double boiler.

I spread this in the pan and refrigerated it while I thought about the filling. The original recipe calls for butter, icing sugar, cream, vanilla and custard powder. Custard powder! Ick. I looked at it and vanilla pudding in the grocery store a number of times. I even found an organic version at my local health food store. However, they are basically cornstarch and artificial flavourings and I couldn't bring myself to buy them. I have always found Nanaimo bars too sweet, so I decided to change the filling a little bit. I made a thick pastry cream with some milk, cornstarch and an egg yolk. I beat together some butter and icing sugar and then added the cooled pastry cream gradually. I also added some vanilla bean paste. What I ended up with was a paler, less sweet version of the custard-flavoured buttercream centre. It was really light and fluffy instead of dense and gritty, so I was very happy with it. Unfortunately I have no photos, as this was a late-night affair, and I had no good light. However, you can see it in the finished Nanaimo bars. 

You can also see that there is not a lot of chocolate on top, as, once again, I didn't pay attention to what my fellow Daring Bakers were saying in the forums. Most people found that the 4 ounces of chocolate and a bit of butter melted together was insufficient to coat the top. So, I tried it with 2 ounces of chocolate, and, big surprise, it wasn't enough. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate that hasn't been made into a cake anyway, so I just drizzled on the chocolate and found that there was enough for me. 

These are the 3 pieces I saved for myself, as I gave the rest away. This blogging business is hard work, so maybe I'll go and have one now. Be sure to check here to see the beautiful and creative Nanaimo bars the rest of the Daring Bakers have come up with. 

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca. Lauren's notes and gluten-free recipe are after the jump.