TWD- Apple-Coconut Family Cake

My daughter and I just made this delicious cake. Amber chose it for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe and you can find the recipe on her blog HERE.

We made this as an after-school snack, mostly because I had some leftover coconut milk in the fridge and I figured I could use the coconut milk in place of the yogurt. I also used applesauce instead of the oil. I reduced the sugar by about 1/4 cup since I only had sweetened coconut to use in the cake.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I haven't ever combined apple and coconut in anything, but it worked out really well. The coconut milk really brought out the coconut flavor and the apples were delicious. I skipped the glaze and just sprinkled my cakes with sanding sugar.

I doubled the recipe, since I had a full cup of leftover coconut milk. I made 2 6-inch springforms, 4 4-inch springforms, and 5 little heart cakes.
My daughter wanted to make faces on the heart cakes- one for each member of our family. She used cranberries for the eyes and an apple slice for the mouth. Not too bad for a 4-year old.

You can see everyone else who participated this week by checking out Tuesday's with Dorie!

-Homemade Granola Bars

At the end of last school year, my son was always begging me to buy granola bars. All the other kids got granola bars packed in their lunches, some even got chocolate covered granola bars filled with caramel, pb, and chocolate chips.

Well, I am that mother who doesn't buy prepackaged things. I decided that if he wanted granola bars, I would make them.

I was able to taste The Barefoot Contessa's granola bars earlier this year, when Leslie
sent them to me as part of Secret Baker. I knew they were really good, so I decided to use that recipe with the dried fruit and nuts that I happened to have on hand.

These were perfect- chewy, sweet, crunchy and delicious. My son was happy and that made me happy.

Recipe for Homemade Granola Bars from the Barefoot Contessa

*I used dried blueberries, golden raisins, and peanuts instead of dates, apricots and cranberries

*I also added milk chocolate chips, but they melted into the hot granola mixture- (duh!), so these kinda turned out to be chocolate coated granola bars!

TWD- Chewy Chunky Blondies

Nicole chose this week's TWD recipe, Chewy, Chunky Blondies. You can find the recipe on her blog- Cookies on Friday.

You can also find the recipe on a post from when I made these a couple of months ago- when we were taking dinner to a local homeless shelter.
I doubled the recipe to make sure that there would be enough to go around and they were wildly popular. My husband was lucky enough to taste one and he was wishing that there were more to sample.
I used Heath bits, pecans, and toasted coconut in my blondies.

Check out the TWD blog to see who else loved these blondies!

TWD- Chockablock Cookies

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Chockablock Cookies, was chosen by Mary over at Popsicles and Sandy Feet.
You can find the recipe on her blog.

Honestly, I was going to skip this recipe. Cookies aren't my favorite thing to make and there wasn't a picture of these to entice me. They sounded fine enough, with tons of mix-ins, but I just didn't know. Plus, they call for shortening, which is a no-no for me. Meaning, I don't ever have shortening on hand because I don't buy it. I wasn't about to go and buy shortening just for a cookie.

Then I decided- why not? Playgroup was the next day, so I could just take them as a treat for the kids.
I mixed these up and let the dough sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes, while I put my kids to bed.
I made 1/2 of the recipe and got 25 cookies.
I used golden raisins, peanuts, coconut and chocolate chunks as my mix-ins.
I let them cool, plated and wrapped them for the next day and went to bed.

I was curious about the molasses flavor and I tried one out of pure curiousity.
Plus I figured that since my cookies were somewhat small and I had only used 6 Tbls of butter for 1/2 the recipe, that each cookie only had 1/4 Tbls of butter, which makes it sound perfectly okay to consume a cookie. Don't you love how much thought goes into whether or not I can try a cookie? HA!

I thought that the molasses flavor was almost non-existent, except when a bite w/out a chocolate chunk was taken. Then it was faintly in the cookie.

These turned out to be pretty good. Someone at playgroup thought they tasted like trail mix cookies.
Some kids just ate them. Some picked out the raisins. Some picked out the nuts. My picky son ate them with no complaints and no removal of ingredients, which surprised me.
So, overall I thought these were a success. Not something I would have picked to try without the help of other TWD'ers, but something that I will make again.

Go see what everyone else thought about these loaded cookies by checking out the TWD Blogroll!

Dorie's Chewy, Chunky Blondies

Everytime we make dinner to serve at a local homeless shelter, I make sure to choose something fairly easy for dessert.
Bar cookies are just about the easiest thing to bake, in my opinion.
These particular blondies are full of just about everything. Chocolate, nuts, Heath bits, and coconut, make for a lot of add-ins.
I have seen them on other blogs over the past couple of years, but can't remember exactly where. I knew they would be good, just because they were Dorie's recipe, so I made 2 huge batches and ended up with an enormous amount of blondies.

Usually we don't have a single drop of food leftover, but somehow I managed to bring 1 or 2 of these back home.
My hubby was happy to sample them and of course, was hoping that there were more to be found. He was disappointed to know that they were all gone.

We have a definite crowd pleaser right here, folks!

Chewy, Chunky Blondies
(Source: Dorie Greenspan “Baking: From My Home to Yours” p.109)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath Toffee Bits (I used Heath Bits)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I used toasted coconut)

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.

Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

TWD-Lemon-Ginger and Lime versions of Coconut Tea Cake

This week's TWD recipe, Coconut Tea Cake, was chosen by Carmen who blogs over at Carmen Cooks. You can find the recipe on her blog. Or you can go to one of the links I have from when I made this recipe previously.
I have made this recipe twice before; I made mini lime bundt cakes and a regular sized Lemon-Ginger Bundt, both times because I had leftover coconut milk that I needed to use.
Basically, Dorie's book is the first thing I turn to if I need to bake something or if I have leftover ingredients that could be used for baking.

Both times I made this cake it was delicious. Both times I made a simple glaze.
It was a hit both times.

Check out the TWD Blogroll to see what other variations people made of this cake!

Today is my younger brother's 18th birthday and I am so thrilled that he is here with me to celebrate! I am going to bake him an awesome cake and we are going to have a fun day~ Happy Birthday Andrew!!!!

TWD- Toasted Coconut Custard Tart

This week's TWD recipe, Toasted Coconut Custard Tart, was chosen by Beryl, who blogs over at Cinemon Girl.
You can find the recipe for the custard and topping, slightly adapted on her blog- HERE. You can find a great post and the recipe for the Sweet Tart Dough- HERE (minus the lemon zest).
This was the tart that I almost made and then didn't and then did- again and again and again.
I knew that our family couldn't eat the entire tart, so I didn't really want to make the whole thing and then I talked myself out of making it entirely because I am trying to eat less sugar.
Not baking makes the don't-consume-sugar thing a tad bit easier.

But, I really wanted to make it because tarts are so pretty. They might be my favorite thing to make at the moment.
I have made pastry cream/custard a million times. The tart crust- no problem.
I just needed someone who loved coconut that would take the tart off of my hands.

I asked my hubby if his boss liked coconut. He said yes.
Problem solved.

I knew I wanted to use my rectangular tart pan, so I made 2/3 of the custard (also because I only had 5 eggs and needed one for the tart crust).
I made the recipe as is, except for the rum. I omitted it from the custard and the topping.
I added a little bit more vanilla extract instead.

My girls helped me make the custard, crust and topping. We put it all together and took it to my husbands work.
It was much appreciated.
My daughters made sure that we kept a couple of little square pieces for us, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to use this particular tart pan- you can cut lots of smaller squares and it ends up serving more people.

I didn't try the tart or any part of it. But my girls did and they loved it. Hubby's boss loved it.
And I am sure it was good because I have tasted Dorie's pastry creams/custards, crusts and toppings before and they are magnificent.
Check out the TWD Blogroll to see who else loved this tart!

MSC- Coconut Cupcakes

It's that day of the month again, the day we celebrate Cupcakes!
This months MSC selection-Coconut Cupcakes, was chosen by Jennifer over at Cinema Cupcakes.
I decided to make these, as well as some Red Velvet Cupcakes (which I will post on the 20th for The Cake Slice) when I made dessert, as part of dinner, for the local homeless shelter.
I didn't have to cut the recipe in 1/2 or anything, because I needed as many cupcakes as I could get.
I got 24 cupcakes from the full recipe.
The recipe can be found on page 28-29 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.
The recipe calls for a 7-minute frosting, flavored with coconut extract, but that isn't my favorite frosting and since I was making red velvet cupcakes too, I decided to make 1 frosting that would be good with both. I decided on cream cheese frosting.
I ran to the store to pick up a few items for the dishes I was making for dinner, to serve at the homeless shelter and forgot cream cheese. Smart, I know.
Well, time was running out and I had the ingredients for Martha's Fluffy Vanilla Frosting, which is also found in the cupcake book, so I just used that for both cupcakes.

I didn't taste even a bite of these, but I let my son try one unfrosted and he said it was "Amazing!".
They received many compliments that night, so I think they are a winner.
Check out the MSC Blogroll to see what everyone else thought of these!

Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting

I found this really cute plate the other day for 2 dollars! I love finding cute plates for cheap prices.

I was thinking of a cupcake that I could make to round out my other treats and I remembered this picture.
Doesn't that frosting look perfect? I was so curious about these cupcakes that I had to throw them into the mix.
The secret ingredient here is reduced coconut milk. You bring coconut milk to a boil and then let it reduce on the stove until it becomes thick and syrup-like.
The reduced coconut milk is added to the cupcake batter and also the frosting.
I don't usually sample things when I am baking, as strange as that may sound, but I did take a little nibble of this cupcake and it was really good. Very moist.
I also tasted a little bit of the cupcake with the frosting- I think they went together well and complimented each other, but the frosting was a tad bit on the sweet side.

I was a little bit disappointed because the frosting didn't look as good as in the picture. I think the butter for the frosting was too soft which led to a very soft frosting that was difficult to pipe and keep its shape. A few hours in the fridge helped, but they didn't turn out looking as good as I wanted them too.

The cupcakes and frosting also had those fun little flecks that you get when you use a vanilla bean. I just love how that looks and the flavor it adds is amazing.

These were also well liked as I had no leftovers to bring home. If you like coconut-you should try these!

Recipe for Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting


One Year Ago- "A Lot Like Love" Pie- Fresh Peach and Raspberry Pie with White Chocolate Mousse, Raspberry Coulis and Fresh Peach Sorbet

TWD- Mini Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tarts with Toasted Coconut Shortbread Crusts

This week's TWD, a very decadent dessert-Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart, is brought to you courtesy of Carla. You can find the recipe over at her blog- Chocolate Moosey or
elsewhere on the internet if you search for Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart.
I know because I wanted to see more pictures of this one and I googled it.
This is the sort of dessert that you would probably want to serve at a large gathering. A dinner party (like Wendy did) or at the end of your book club meeting (Nancy).

Some function that would benefit from a full-sized tart.
I knew that I would not be making this for that sort of function. Just because, well mainly because there was no such function to attend in a certain time frame.
I also knew that I had some leftover cookie dough in my freezer from when I made Toasted Coconut Shortbread.
A family of five just can't eat a whole batch of cookies at a time. Well, probably can, but shouldn't, so I had some cookie dough I needed to use.
I figured since we already had chocolate and caramel going on in this one, I might as well add some coconut. And please don't forget about the honey-roasted peanuts that are mixed into the caramel.
I had just enough cookie dough to make 5 little tarts in my muffin tin. Did I mention there are 5 of us? just kidding- I know I just mentioned that.
It worked out just perfectly.

Except I forgot to weigh down the cookie dough with something, so it puffed up like crazy. I had to cut out the middle of my cookie/tart thingies, so there would be a little room for some caramel and chocolate.
I used milk chocolate in my ganache because my husband always think that ganache is too bitter with semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate and I really wanted him to eat one of these little minis.
I also sprinkled a little toasted coconut on top, before I put these in the fridge to set.

Kids loved it. They wanted to skip dinner and just move straight to the tarts.

It reminded me of a Twix candybar, but of course, much more delicious.

So, on second thought, don't wait for some sort of special occasion, since in reality everyday is a special occasion. Make this just for the heck of it. Whoever gets to taste a bite will be appreciative!

Go and check out what all the other Tuesday's with Dorie Bakers did when they made this tart!

One Year Ago- Pear-Oatmeal Muffins and Lime Cupcakes with Cranberry-Lime Filling and Marshmallow Frosting

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies and Toasted Coconut Shortbread turned into Ice Cream Sandwiches

The other day on Twitter, I caught wind of someone's plan to make Lemon Curd Ice Cream. I think the idea started with Nancy-who had found the recipe (check out her blog for some great ice cream recipes this week), and other bloggers were planning on joining in- Kayte, and possibly some others. I am not quite sure who all ended up making the ice cream.
I had a little bit of lime curd left from the Tiramisu Cake, so I checked out the recipe and saw that I had a little bit more than enough to make the Lemon Curd Ice Cream, but in my case Lime Curd Ice Cream- I will post more about that tomorrow.
As soon as I made the ice cream, which I must add is super delicious, smooth and has just about the perfect consistency, I decided that it was begging to be smooshed between some sort of cookie.
The first idea I had was a chewy, gingery cookie- so I thought either these Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies or these Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies. (Both are in Martha Stewart's Cookie Book and the recipe on her site is slightly different-I baked them for less than the suggested time after reading some of the comments and I am glad I did- they were chewy)
I sent out a tweet asking people what cookie would be best. Lori aka Recipe Girl suggested some sort of shortbread and also put up a link for these Coconut Sugar Cookies.
Tracey found this link for Toasted Coconut Shortbread and Jessica ended up making those too, for her beautiful TWD creation this week.

At first I thought I would be really ambitious and make 4 cookies-but the next day I realized that was too much and I decided on 1 shortbread and 1 chewy.

I really thought the gingerbread cookie would taste great with the lime because of my tasty experience with this lime cream pie with a gingersnap crust. I left the chocolate out of those cookies and they were perfectly chewy and spicy. I accidentally left the cinnamon out of the dough, so they were very gingery. We loved them. My kids really loved them.
The coconut shortbread was very delicious too. Just as a shortbread should be. Buttery, coconutty, and at the end, just a bit of a salty taste. Very delicious.

Both tasted good with the ice cream. My husband thought the gingerbread cookie overshadowed the ice cream, but I disagreed.
I rolled some of the coconut shortbread ice cream sandwiches in toasted coconut, just to use up what I had left.
Perfect summer dessert!
Yum. Come back tomorrow for the Lime Curd Ice Cream!


Recipe for Toasted Coconut Shortbread on smitten kitchen

Recipe for Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (I left out the chocolate)

One Year Ago-Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

TWD- Coconut Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise

This week's TWD recipe, Coconut Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise, was chosen by Andrea. You can find the recipe on her blog, Andrea's Kitchen.
The picture of this dessert is one of the first ones that caught my eye when I bought this cookbook. It was my 2nd choice when it was my turn to pick the recipe back in January, so I was pretty thrilled when I saw it was one of June's recipes.

Honestly, I was a tad bit intimidated by this recipe. That is the reason I haven't ever made it on my own. Usually, if there is something that I want to make, I just do it. This dessert needed a special occasion. It needed extra time and now it was finally time to make it.

I made this 2 days before we moved. I also made the Honey-Peach Ice Cream,
and the Lots of Ways Banana Cake with Blackberry Sherbet.
I spent the entire day in the kitchen, but I knew it was going to be my last chance to bake for awhile. (I baked for the first time in a month yesterday!)
I was surprised that this recipe was not as difficult as it seemed. It had many parts, that had to bake or rest for long amounts of time, but none of the steps were that hard. I halved this recipe since we were having so many other treats that night and that enabled me to bake my meringues all on the same baking sheet. They were 6x3 inch rectangles.
A dacquoise is "layers of nut meringue and whipped cream or buttercream. It is usually served chilled and accompanied with fruit."-Wikipedia.
In this case the meringue base was made with almonds and served with layers of white chocolate ganache. Those layers were topped with roasted pineapple.
I had a little trouble with the white chocolate ganache just because I was scared to overbeat it, so it was a little bit runny. That made the putting together of this dessert a little messy, but the toasted coconut covered it and no one seemed to mind.
Everyone was very impressed with this dessert. It was crunchy and cold and all the flavors were delicious together. I am so glad we got to make this.
To see what the other members of Tuesday's with Dorie thought, check out the TWD Blogroll!

Coming Soon- Herbed Turkey with Roasted Red Peppers and Beans

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream

This recipe caught my eye in the last issue of Cooking Light. It was on the very last page, so I am sure that is what it was intended to do.
We were taking dinner to someone and I thought this was the perfect dessert to share.
I always end up doing that. I make something I have never tried before and give it to people. I guess I just have faith that most recipes will turn out deliciously.
Am I the only one who does that?
Maybe it is because I like trying new things all the time.
Anyway, I had some lite coconut milk leftover in the fridge, so I decided to sub half of the milk called for with the coconut milk. Just for an extra dash of flavor.
I didn't have any trouble finding potato starch, which I have never used before and I am not really sure if it affected the texture or taste of these cupcakes.
We loved them. I doubled the recipe so I would have enough to share and some to try.
The best part was the frosting. I used the leftovers on the Fresh Mango Bread Muffins I made a couple of days ago. Yum-my!


We are moving this weekend to Georgia! My husband is flying in tomorrow night and then we are packing the truck and heading out of here on Monday morning. We are taking our time, trekking across the U.S. and making stops along the way. We hope to be in Georgia by friday night. I have made enough treats and meals in the past couple weeks, that I will still have new material to blog about, so keep coming back to check in and have a good weekend!

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting from Cooking Light

Find potato starch in the supermarket baking aisle. Use lemon rind and fresh lemon juice in place of the lime for a variation.

Cupcakes:

Cooking spray

4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)

3 tablespoons potato starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 large egg

1 large egg white

2/3 cup fat-free milk (I used 1/3 cup lite coconut milk and 1/3 cup fat-free milk)

2 tablespoons flaked sweetened coconut

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon half-and-half

1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

4.75 ounces powdered sugar, sifted (about 1 1/3 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare cupcakes, place 2 muffin cup liners in each of 12 muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.
4. Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended (mixture will be the consistency of damp sand). Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in coconut and vanilla.
5. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in pan 2 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
6. To prepare frosting, combine 3 tablespoons butter and next 3 ingredients (through juice) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating just until smooth. Spread about 2 1/2 teaspoons frosting onto each cupcake.


Coming on Sunday- Banana Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting