Blue Skies Coconut Ice

Blue Skies (coconut ice squares)

Ingredients:

2 cups desiccated coconut

½ cup caster sugar or icing sugar*

¾ cup condensed milk

Blue food colouring

Instructions:

Line a square pan with baking/greaseproof paper.

Mix the sugar, dried coconut, and condensed milk together in a large mixing bowl. The Mixture will be quite stiff once thoroughly mixed.

Add a small amount of blue food colouring to the mixture, mix until you achieve an even colour.**

Press the mixture into the pan gently then top and press with the other mixture.

Place in the fridge to set for 30 minutes then cut into small bars with a sharp knife.

Wrap the coconut ice with waxed or greaseproof paper and store in the fridge in an airtight container.

*I used caster sugar as I didn’t have any icing sugar in the house. I like the gritty texture the sugar adds but Matt says I’m weird.

**I used blue food colouring but If you prefer a more traditional looking coconut ice then divide the mixture in half and add red food colouring to one half of the mix to make it pink. Press the white half of the mixture into the pan before pressing the pink on top.

cook's notes: It's a super simple no cooking/baking recipe that I slapped together after reading through several different variations of recipes. In the end I threw everything together and took notes all the while. I may also have got food colouring all over my hands and on my chin... I'm a total klutz. I think there is a room to add a bit more of this or that to alter the consistency of the coconut ice, it is a sticky mixture but by keeping in the fridge it keeps it from falling apart... and it can be hidden behind the lettuce.

Why blue skies? Ever watch Dollhouse? If not you should, It's a reference to something Echo says as Taffy the thief. Yeah I'm a geek, but you probably knew that already.

Dollhouse

Coconut and Almond Bark

Coconut and Almond Bark

Ingredients:

2x bars dark chocolate (150g bars )

1 cup almonds (toasted)

1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon butter (or marg)

Directions:

line a baking sheet with parchment/baking paper

1. melt the chocolate, sugar and butter over a low heat.

2. add the almonds and 1 cup of coconut to the melted chocolate and stir gently.

3. Pour the mixture onto the baking paper lined cookie sheet and spread evenly with a spatula.

4. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut over the cooling mixture.

5. Refrigerate the bark for 1-2 hours or until set then cut into squares or break gently.

cook's notes: While we were in the states Harrison was introduced to Almond Joy bars ( a Bounty bar with almonds for those in the UK ) he was addicted. So yesterday I got it in my head to make some coconut candy and add almonds to them... but that was more work than I had time for so I decided to make bark instead which I suppose is basically a thinner version of rocky road and all I needed to do was melt the chocolate and stir everything up. Easy peasy. There is a little bit of the bark left hidden behind some vegetables in the fridge all the rest has been nibbled up, so that must mean its good stuff no? I think so anyway. I may tinker with the recipe a bit when I make it next time to perfect it... it doesn't really need the sugar and butter but the cocolate was very dark and that would have lead to rebellion...although I would have been happy.

Return of the Coconut Flapjack

Coconut Flapjack
(granola bars)

2 cups porridge oats
4 tablespoons demerara sugar
4 tablespoons golden (light corn) syrup
1/2 cup butter
pinch of salt
1 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup dark chocolate melted

set the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4

Grease a shallow baking pan.

Put the butter, syrup and sugar into a medium sized saucepan and melt together over a very low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Do not let the mixture boil.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the oats, salt, coconut, mixing everything together well.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and press down with the back of a spoon or a plastic spatula.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave and then drizzle over the flapjack.

When the chocolate has cooled and set cut the flapjack into squares, but leave in the tin until completely cool before removing.

cook's notes: This is a recipe that I have been playing around with for a while now I am really happy with the result, and so is everyone else as it doesn't seem to stay in the house very long before its all disappeared into happy bellies.

Coconut Candy

Coconut Candy

ingredients
2 cups desiccated coconut (I used a mix of plain and sweetened)
1 tablespoon butter (softened)
1 tablespoon milk
¼ cup icing (confectioners) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
A sprinkle of salt (optional)
1 x bar of white chocolate *
1 x bar of dark chocolate **


In a small bowl, combine the coconut, butter, milk, vanilla and a small sprinkle of salt.

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave on MEDIUM power, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. Add the white chocolate to the coconut mixture and mix thoroughly.

Form into 1-inch balls by rolling a teaspoon of mixture in your hands, and place onto wax paper covered baking sheet.

Refrigerate the coconut balls for 20 to 30 minutes.

Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave on MEDIUM power, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted.

Drizzle the coconut candy with the dark chocolate (you may also dip the candy into the melted chocolate then place the dipped candy back onto the waxed paper.)

Refrigerate to set the dark chocolate. Once the chocolate has set, store tightly covered in the refrigerator.

*I used a 150g bar of continental white chocolate that was lurking in the cupboard

** I used a 100g bar of M&S fair-trade organic dark chocolate (72% cocoa) but you can use any chocolate you prefer and you can use more than one bar if you prefer the coconut candy to be covered by more chocolate.

Cooks notes: I had it in my head to make some simple coconut candy yesterday, having not made any before I searched the interwebs for a suitable starting recipe. The original recipe was simple enough but it didn’t workfor me, the mixture wouldn't stick together so I decided to experiment. I added vanilla, and melted white chocolate to the coconut mixture and it worked like a dream. Good reviews back from M, my Mother in Law, and from my neighbour down the street… and I think they taste yummy too!

Carrot and Coconut Cupcakes

Carrot and Coconut Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups caster (white)sugar
1 cup melted butter (or vegetable oil may be used)
3 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups finely shredded carrot
1 ¼ cups sweetened desiccated coconut

FROSTING
1 package cream cheese (softened)
1/4 cup butter (softened)
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan or muffin tin (or use paper muffin cup liners, I had run out).

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar, add melted butter (or oil), eggs, carrot, coconut, and vanilla. Mix with wooden spoon until well blended.

Stir in carrots, coconut,

Pour into 9x13 inch pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Or scoop into muffin tins filling 3/4Th's full.

Allow to cool; when cool, ice the cake.

To make the frosting: Cream the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the icing sugar a little at a time and beat until creamy.



Cooks notes: I haven’t actually eaten carrot cake of any sort since I had H. It may have had something to do with my weekly treat while pregnant was a Starbucks frappichino, with a pastrami panini and a slice of carrot passion cake (or whatever it was called) ... it was the one thing I lived for while pregnant.. and it didn't matter what I ate as due the the Hyperemisis nothing stayed down for very long anyway. M says this is one of the best carrot cakes he has had, which I'm quite pleased with, it may have something to do with the amount of sugar, and the sweetened desiccated coconut (its softer than plain dessicated coconut). I made the recipe with butter because I have never been a big fan of oily cakes but for the dairy intolerant you can easily substitute oil for the butter used, and it can be served with a water based icing or plain.

the Coconut Cookie Experiment

Coconut cookies

Ingredients:
1 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup butter/margerine (softened)
3/4 cup caster (white) sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
a pinch of salt
1 eggs (large)
1 1/2 cup desiccated (sweetened and tenderized coconut*)

Pre-heat the oven to 375° F

In a large bowl beat the butter, vanilla extract, and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Add the flour slowly until well blended. By hand stir in the coconut.

Drop the dough by teaspoon onto un-greased cookie sheet. For larger cookies drop by the tablespoon.

Bake for 10 minutes, until the centre is puffed up and the edges begin to brown. Remove from the oven, let them cool for a minute on the baking tray before placing on a wire rack to cool.

* I meant to grab the normal desiccated coconut but grabbed the "tenderized and sweetened coconut" by mistake... and I must admit it was lovely and I stole several pinches from the bag before I had finished making the cookies.



cook's notes: as I said above I had bought the wrong coconut by mistake when doing teh shopping last week and the packet was sitting rather forlornly, or as forlornly as a packet of dried coconut can sit, in the cupboard waiting to be used. I love coconut and have expirimented with several diffrent recipe creations, this one I was expirimenting with in an attempt to make a recipe up for Katy to make a dairy free version, as the last tiem she was over I made some coconut rocks. They were meant to be cookies but puffed up a bit too much, they still tasted nice though. These should work out much better and will work nicely with margarine. The turned out lovely and crisp and very coconutty!