Coconut and Strawberry Buns

Do you ever get random or bizarre thoughts?  You know the ones that leave you wondering "now where did that come from?"  I get them - constantly.  They tend to go along the following lines, "If I was the Queen, would I still shop in Zara?" or "I wonder what the Pope does to relax?"  Another gem is "If we had 10 more kids, would the sequence continue with boy, girl, boy or would it change so that we'd have 10 more girls?"  I was having these random silly thoughts as I was making these buns the other day with the kids helping me.  (Note: "helping" can be loosely translated as "annoying the hell out of me by spilling flour, eating raw egg and dipping little fingers in the butter - all of which stresses me out causing a mild sweat to appear on my upper lip"). 

This is my Mums recipe from the only baking book she owns called “All in the Cooking”.  There is no publishing date on it but her copy has a handwritten date of December 1970.  Imagine, it's over 40 years old.  It’s been held together with a combination of sellotape, rubber bands and a build up of flour and kids drool.  There are handwritten recipes squeezed into the bottom of almost every page of the book. 

Flicking through the book the other day gave me a laugh.  It’s so old that the concept of Political Correctness was unknown.  The chapter entitled “Choice, Buying and Storage of Food” starts with “It is most important to buy only from shops run on hygienic lines.  All foods should be protected from flies”.  You’d be at risk of a jail sentence if you put anything as blatant as that in print these days.   I suppose I need to remember how old it is – 40 YEARS, WOW!  At the back of the book, Mam has a handwritten note saying “One teaspoon of golden syrup in a half pint of warm milk is equal to 3 eggs in a cake”.  That’s news to me and to be honest, I don’t want to risk ruining a good cake by testing her theory.

Coconut and Strawberry Buns

Makes 6 large buns or 10 medium buns.

Ingredients

225g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

85g unsalted butter

85g sugar

60g dessicated coconut

1 egg, beaten

Few tablespoons of milk

3 tbsp strawberry jam

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Line a baking sheet with some parchment paper.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

Rub in the butter, add the sugar and coconut (keeping back about 2 tablespoons) and mix well.

Mix to a fairly stiff consistency with with the beaten egg and the milk.

Take a tablespoon of mixture between two forks and place on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 20 mins, until golden.

When cooled, brush over with the ham and dip in the remaining coconut.

Cranberry, Coconut and Lime Cake

It's the one time of the year when everyone has a spring in their step.  Thoughts of "recession", "breakdown of the EU" and "austerity measures" that have followed us around like a bad smell over the past 11 months of the year are brushed under the carpet for a few weeks - January 1st is time enough to have to deal with these mindnumbingly depressing subjects.  We're all happy to sing along to Christmas songs in the supermarket, smile at a stranger on the street (not in a creepy way!) and say "Happy Christmas" to staff in shops as they gift wrap that last minute present that you're still not 100% sure about - best to hang on to the receipt just in case his eyes don't light up quite as you'd expect.

As it's the third week in December, Christmas has definitely arrived.  It's time I baked something a little bit Christmasy.  To ease myself slowly into the Christmas baking season, I saw half price cranberries in the supermarket - bingo, that sealed the deal.  I started off with this recipe on Baking Bites website but adapted it quite a bit.  This is such a lovely teatime cake, the lime and coconut combination goes so well with the tartiness of the cranberries.  Just to make it a little bit special I mixed some white rum with a few tablespoons of lime juice and poured it over the warm cake to keep it moist and to add a very subtle kick to it.  I would safely say that this is one of the nicest "plain" cakes I have tasted in a long time.  It's moist, it's sweet n' sour and the lime, coconut, rum combo is delicious.  I'm well chuffed with this creation!



Cranberry, Coconut and Lime Cake, inspired by Baking Bites

Ingredients
220g plain flour
375g sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
lime juice from 5 limes
1 tbsp lime zest
3 tbsp canola oil
2 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
130g fresh or frozen (unthawed) cranberries
50g desiccated coconut, plus an additional handful to sprinkle on top
2 tbsp white rum

Method
Preheat oven to 180C and lightly grease and flour a 2lb loaf tin.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the milk and eggs.  Add in lime juice, lime zest from 4 of the 5 limes, oil, eggs and milk and whisk until just combined.
Use a spatula to stir in in cranberries and desiccated coconut, then pour out the batter into prepared tin.  Sprinkle a handful of desiccated coconut on the top of the cake.
Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes.
Mix together the juice of the remaining lime and the rum.  While the cake is still warm, use a skewer to insert holes and pour the mixture over.

Brown Butter, Toasted Coconut and Rolo Cookies

I have never baked anything using brown butter before as I'm always afraid that I'll burn it - that's why I yet have to attempt to make caramel.  I get turned off by the idea of thermometres, waiting for the soft ball stage or dumping the saucepan into ice cold water while stirring frantically.  Why didn't somebody tell me that browning butter is nothing like that.  It's so so easy to do - but I guess you all know that anyway!

I'm not getting very much sleep these nights.  Apart from making me grumpy as hell and giving me dark circles under my eyes, the tiredness is giving me a craving for sweet things, with my body crying out for a pick me up of some sort!  Yesterday all I wanted was a really indulgent biscuit (or 4) before I was able to face the day.  I guess it's better than craving a bottle of vodka before being able to start the day but it plays havoc with my attempts to lose the jelly belly!  I found a recipe for chocolate chip cookies using brown butter on Joy The Baker blog recently.  As I had quite a few packets of Rolo that needed to be used up (crazy fixation with stashing chocolate bars explained here), I decided to use chopped up Rolos instead of the chocolate chips.

These cookies are amazing, they really are.  The brown butter give a nutty, almost caramel flavour that goes perfectly with the soft caramel in the Rolo pieces, while the toasted coconut adds texture.  They are delicious and I'll definitely be making them again and possibly giving them as gifts at Christmas.  My family are now throwing their eyes up to heaven as their hopes of getting make-up / clothes as presents from me at Christmas have now officially been dashed! 

I measured out the ingredients for the full recipe which makes about 48-50 cookies but I rolled half of it into a log, wrapped it in clingfilm and chucked it in the freezer.

The butter is almost melted

This is the colour you're looking for

Brown Butter Toasted Coconut and Rolo Cookies

Ingredients

225g salted butter

190g brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

375g plain flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg

50g toasted coconut

3 packets of Rolo chocolates, chopped
2 tablespoons of milk (if needed, to bind everything)

Method

Preheat to 190C degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. On one baking sheet, spread out coconut. Toast coconut for about 6 minutes, until browned and fragrant. Remove from the oven, place in a small bowl and let cool.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam and crackle.  Once the crackling subsides, keep an eye on the butter. The butter solids will begin to brown. You’ll smell the butter as it browns. Once well browned, immediately remove the butter from the flame and place in a small bowl. Removing the butter from the pan will ensure that it doesn’t continue to cook and burn in the hot pan. Allow the butter to cool for a few moments.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, measure the sugar. Add the brown butter and beat together, on medium speed, for about 2 minutes. 

Add the egg and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. The mixture should become silky smooth. Add vanilla extract and beat.

With mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients. Beat until just incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to fold in the toasted coconut and Rolo pieces. Dough will be thick so add a little milk, if needed.

Spoon balls by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown but still slightly soft in the center. Remove from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store cookies in an airtight container.

Can't Buy Me Love

Fork Biscuits and Coconut Ice

A perk of this gig is that you get to taste everything you bake, to make sure the fruits of your labour are worthy of putting in print.  Speaking of labour, tasting lots of baked goods does nothing for a lady who’s 8 ½ months pregnant and hasn’t known in months what part of the weight is “baby” and what part is “far too many cakes and buns”.

Part of the fun of baking is actually feeding people, especially when I’m feeding those who look forward to tasting some of my cakes and telling me how amazing they are!  Went to visit my nephews and nieces yesterday so I decided to make some “Fork Biscuits” and some “Coconut Ice” for them as a pathetic attempt to buy their love (my head is lowered in shame even thinking about it!).  They all went down a treat and I left with a smile on my face from ear to ear.  It’s the little things in life that give me pleasure.

My aunt has been making Fork Biscuits for years and years and typical of old recipes that have been passed on, they are as unfancy as you could possibly come across but they are also the most crumbly, slightly chewy, delicious biscuits you’ll taste.  She has always flavoured them with the zest of an orange, but cinnamon, ginger or chocolate chips can be delicious additions.   The ones in the picture are flavoured with orange and white / dark chocolate chips because that’s all I had in the house when I went to make them.  The recipe says to bake them for 15 minutes, but you’ll need to watch them like a hawk from 10 minutes as they very quickly go from underdone to overdone.  They never get a golden brown colour but they’re done when you see a little bit of colour at the edge of the biscuit.

I found a handwritten recipe for Coconut Ice in one of my Mam’s cookbooks.  Again, this recipe is at least 25 years old and I have no idea where it comes from.  Coconut Ice is basically a homemade Bounty bar.  What I love about it is that (a)if you close your eyes you could actually be eating a Bounty bar and (b) because the recipe is so old, it just sticks to the essentials, 3 ingredients and 4 or 5 lines explaining the method.  Simple, no fancy ingredients, no complicated technique and it works.  Delicious!  I haven’t changed any part of the recipe from my Mam so you can see what I mean.

These are both perfect for kiddies birthday parties but they’re too good to be reserved for kids only.  I firmly believe that either of these recipes wouldn’t be out of place if they were wheeled out with a cup of coffee after a dinner party for friends.   

Fork Biscuits.

Ingredients

110g (4oz) soft butter

55g (2 oz) caster sugar

150g (5 oz) self raising flour

Grated zest of 1 small lemon or 1 small orange

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4.  Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, add the sugar, flour and grated zest and mix until it all comes together.

The dough can be used right away, frozen or kept in the fridge for up to a week until you need to use it.

Form into small balls, the size of a walnut.  Place on a baking tray and flatten slightly with a fork dipped in cold water.  Allow plenty of room for expansion.

Bake for 15 mins.  Allow to cool slightly for 5 mins on the baking trays, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 20 biscuits.

Coconut Ice

Ingredients

500g packet of icing sugar

397g tin of sweetened condensed milk

250g packet of desiccated coconut

100g bar of milk / dark chocolate, melted

Method

Mix the icing sugar and condensed milk until smooth.

Add the coconut (reserving 1 tablespoon as a topping) and mix well.

Form into small balls with your hands and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Leave in the fridge to set for about an hour.

Dip each chilled ball in the melted chocolate and top with a little of the reserved coconut.

Makes about 50 walnut sized balls.

An Australian Classic

Lamingtons

I was flicking through a baking book I picked up from the library and saw this recipe for Lamingtons, which took me straight back to 10 years ago (oh God, has it really been that long?) when I did my tour of duty of Australia.  I spent the most amazing carefree year there and although I wouldn’t go as far as to say I found myself in Australia (I mean, does anybody actually say that?!) but it definitely made me more independent, confident and ready to take the odd risk or two.  You gotta hand it to the Aussies for just living each day.

What does that have to do with Lamingtons, I hear you say?  You’re quite right, it has nothing to do with them.  Anyway, library book..........Lamingtons...........Australia.   Lamingtons are sponge cake squares covered in a chocolate icing and dipped in desiccated coconut.  They’re almost as much an Australian stereotype as vegemite or Bondi Beach.  I haven’t made them in years and forgot how good they taste.

Lamingtons - from “Good Housekeeping Easy to Bake Cakes and Bakes”

Ingredients (for the sponge)

125g (4oz) butter, softened

125g golden caster sugar

2 medium eggs

125g (4oz) self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients (for the topping)

200g (7oz) icing sugar

50g (2oz) cocoa powder

25g (1oz) unsalted butter

5 tbsp milk

200g (7oz) desiccated coconut

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (Gas Mark 4).  Grease and line a 15cm cake tin.

Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla extract into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until creamy. 

Turn the mixture onto the prepared tin and level the surface.  Bake for about 30 mins until just firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Wrap and store, preferably overnight so that the cake is easier to slice.

To make the topping, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl.  Put the butter and milk into a small saucepan and heat until the butter has melted.  Pour over the icing sugar / cocoa and stir until smooth, adding 2-3 tbsp water so that the icing coats the back of a spoon.

Scatter the coconut onto a plate.  Cut the cake into 16 squares.  Pierce each square of cake through the top and dip into the icing until all sides are just coated, then roll in the coconut and transfer to a plate.

Leave to set for a couple of hours before serving.