Coconut and Lime Sugar Cookies

Fantastically Odd.

That's what we should call these cookies. They have a completely unique flavor with a nice blend of sweetness and a trace of zingy citrus. How did I come upon the idea to make such a confection? Well,a few months ago I tortured a friend of mine with the "Lime in the Coconut" song for a week straight, singing it daily and finding new ways to bring it up at random...'Hey, I'm going grocery shopping and I was going to pick up some limes, but..where would I put them?',etc. Don't ask me why.Apparently I get a kick out of annoying them, like a small child...Anyways, a few days ago they went to the grocery store to pick up some dinner items, came back and asked me to put them away for later,  I open the bag and there sits a fresh bristly coconut and little lime....Hilarity ensues, and they have won this round of jests.

But the question remained: What in the world am I going to do with a lime and an entire coconut?I don't even know how to open a coconut! So I consulted my best friend, whom you fondly refer to as Google, and discovered not only how to open this perplexing fruit, but a recipe to use it with.

Coconut and Lime Sugar Cookies 
original recipe from My Baking Addiction
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one large lime, finely minced
3 tbsp lime juice
½ cup unsweetened toasted coconut (If you have a fresh coconut, go here)
1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies
 
                   1. Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
                   2. Zest the lime, and collect the juice.

                   3. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
                   4. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy, about 3 minutes.
                   5. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lime juice and lime zest.

                    6. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut.
                    7.  Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart, they do spread out.

                    8. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
                    9.Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

These cookies go fantastic with a glass of cold milk!

How to Open a Fresh Coconut

You know. Just in case you ever need to.

Step 1- Acquire a coconut.

Step 2-Go grab a towel,a hammer and a screwdriver, nail, or other cylindrical sharp object. On one end of the coconut there will be small, circular indentations. Using the hammer and nail or the screwdriver, CAREFULLY nail/screw holes through each of these soft spots.

Make sure the holes go all the way through.

Step 3-Drain the coconut over a bowl or other container to collect all the juice. Shake it a few times, when it is empty, you simply won't hear the juice sloshing around anymore.

Step 4- Wrap the coconut in a towel, making sure it is completely wrapped with no open ends.And finally, the fun part-smash it to bits with a hammer. I would recommend you do this outside. Preferably on bricks or concrete.We don't want any counters broken, now. 

Yummy!

 Step 5- Using a small knife, CAREFULLY  pry away the brown skin from the meat of the coconut. Be warned, this part takes forever! Once it is all pure of the skin, feel free to eat as is (which I vehemently suggest not doing...) or you can shred it up and toast it for a future recipe!

 

 http://www.howtoopenacoconut.com/

Maple Cheesecake with Roasted Pears

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made two classic desserts for Thanksgiving this year. A Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie and this fantastically sweet maple cheesecake with roasted pears.

Now if I had to choose a favorite type of cake, it would most certainly be cheesecake. To be completely honest, I'm not a huge fan of traditional cake.
Shocked?
Most people are when they discover that a baker doesn't enjoy one of the quintessential sweet treats. I find cake to be too dry and a tad too simplistic and doesn't supply the right texture and flavor combinations. Then again, perhaps I simply haven't had a good enough cake. Now what  I do enjoy is a good cupcake. They have a much better cake to frosting ratio.
But, I digress. Onto the cheesecake!


As most cheesecakes are, this dessert is powerfully sweet and exceedingly creamy. The pears give it some extra texture and a hint of irregular flavor.


Maple Cheesecake with Roasted Pears
original recipe from Martha Stewart
2 bars (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 pie crust made in a 9-inch springform pan with vanilla wafers or graham crackers
Nonstick cooking spray
2 medium pears, sliced lengthwise 1/8 inch thick
Crust
6 ounces cookies (about 12 graham crackers, 46 vanilla wafers)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted



                 1. Prepare the crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground or break up the crackers using a the flat bottom of a cup or can.Add sugar, salt, and butter and pulse (or combine with hands) until combined. Firmly press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. (If using a springform pan, press crumbs halfway up sides.) Bake until crust is dry and set, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely in plate on a wire rack before filling.
                 2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on high until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the maple syrup; beat until smooth. In a medium bowl, beat cream and sugar on high until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. With a rubber spatula, stir about one-third the whipped cream into cream cheese mixture, then fold in remainder. Pour into crust and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours (or up to 1 day, overnight is always a good default).
                 3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a parchment-lined baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange pear slices in a single layer on sheet and brush with 2 tablespoons maple syrup.

 Roast until pears are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and brush pears with 2 tablespoons maple syrup and broil until browned in spots, about 4 minutes, rotating sheet frequently. Let cool. To serve, arrange pear slices, overlapping slightly, on cheesecake.

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

For this Thanksgiving I decided to make two classic desserts with a little extra zing. Timeless pumpkin pie becomes a sweet treat with hints of nutmeg,a bundle of cinnamon, and plenty of chocolate.
More of a spiced chocolate pie with hints of pumpkin than a traditional pumpkin pie, this dessert was a big hit with my fellow chocolate lovers. A layer of dark chocolate atop the crust, semisweet chocolate laced through the pie itself, and a drizzled finish of melted chocolate on top. Creamy, smooth, with perfect balance of flavors, I plan on making this for years to come.

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
adapted from Martha Stewart

For the Crust
2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (about 16 crackers)
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (you can use chips or finely chopped chocolate)
For the Filling
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of cloves
1 ounce milk chocolate, melted

                     1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare crust.  Combine graham cracker crumbs,butter,     sugars, salt, and cinnamon in bowl. Firmly press mixture into bottom and up sides of a deep, 9 1/2-inch pie dish. Bake until firm, 8 to 10 minutes.

I prefer to make my own crumbs, so you can choose what flavor of graham crackers you want to use.

                    2.Remove from oven, and sprinkle bittersweet chocolate over bottom of crust. Return to oven to melt chocolate, about 1 minute. Spread chocolate in a thin layer on bottom and up sides. Let cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Pre-baking

Right out of the oven (after spreading the chips around)

                     3. In a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt semisweet chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.

                     4. Mix pumpkin, milk, brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

Whisk 1/3 pumpkin mixture into chocolate mixture. Whisk in remaining pumpkin mixture until completely incorporated.
                     5. Pour pumpkin mixture into crust. Bake until center is set but still a bit wobbly, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pie dish on a wire rack. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 8 hours (preferably overnight). Before serving, drizzle melted milk chocolate on top. Serve immediately.

I drizzled both milk and bittersweet on top. 

 I apologize for the lack of pictures with this post, but it was gone before I could get any nice shots of the finished product!

Raspberry Cheesecake

As my last hope of clutching on to what is left of this beautiful summer, I made one last fruitful dessert : a deliciously tart and creamy raspberry cheesecake.

I know I have mentioned before how it is shocking how little foods I have tried at this point in my life, and here is no exception. Last week when I made this cheesecake was the first time I've ever tried raspberries...I know,I know, it's madness! I can tell that you're blown away by my deprived youth, like so many others. Alas,now I have tasted the sweetness that is a raspberry and I have made cake with it!

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake  
original recipe from Not so Humble Pie
1 cup (5oz) finely ground graham crackers
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 (8 oz) packages (32 ounces total) cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
pot of boiling water, for the roasting pan

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
2. Place a 9" spring form pan onto a double layer of aluminum foil. Wrap up the sides of the pan to make it water tight (you don't want any foil seams or edges on the bottom or low on the sides of the pan) 
3. Combine the graham crackers, 2 tablespoons sugar and the melted butter in a large bowl and mix, I usually just mix it with my hands. Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of your spring form pan. I just used a cup.

I prefer making the crumbs myself :)

     4. Bake the crust until set, roughly 10 minutes and then allow it to cool on a wire rack and then reduce the oven's temperature to 325°F. 

     5. Purée the raspberries and then strain out the seeds and any solids.

Looks a little gruesome...

Post puree it should look like this.

Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the puree. 

Pour into a small sauce pan and bring the raspberry sauce to a bare simmer over medium low heat. Reduce the sauce for 1-2 minutes until it has thickened slightly and then set aside to cool.

      6. Beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and fluffy (roughly 3 minutes). Add the 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a slow steady stream. Beat in the salt and vanilla and then beat in the eggs, one at at time, fully mixing after each one. Take care not to over mix. Pour the batter into your prepared crust.

Dot the top of the batter with drops of the raspberry sauce (I actually used a turkey baster for this and it worked perfect, but you can use a knife or skewer).

Swirl the surface of the batter to create the marbled effect by dragging a toothpick through each dot. Reserve the remaining sauce for garnishing.

      7.Set the cake into a large roasting pan and place into the oven. Carefully ladle the boiling water into the roasting pan. Fill the pan no higher than the lowest edge of the foil. Bake until the cake is puffy and set but the center is still has a slight wobble. This will take approximately 65-90 minutes, just keep checking it.

      8. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Transfer the cake to the refrigerator and allow to chill overnight (or a minimum of 6 hours).

          
Serve with the remaining raspberry sauce.
           

A Venture in Macarons and a new Lightbox

It has been quite awhile since I saw a recipe as daunting as these little deceiving delights. Unbeknownst to me was the finicky treat that is a macaron, and my first attempt at making them fell quite close to failure...(okay, very close, but I'm still recovering from defeat,here...).

They look just fine...

I started off this endeavor just as any other. Got a craving, saw a few recipes, and started the search for the perfect recipe to be the first one I tackled of its kind. Now just to clarify, there is a difference between macarons and macaroons. Don't get them confused as I did.

Now as I searched, one thing became common quite quickly.

The complaints...

"Even the professionals struggle with macaroons"
You must allow them to mature before they reach their peak of flavor
 “Three seconds of overbeating and they’re ruined"
Article after helpful article on experimentation and trials from Not So Humble Pie

Phew. Can these things be that tough?

So with fingers crossed and hopes set high, here we go.

Vanilla Bean Macarons (makes 50)
110 grams almonds (blanched or slivered)
200 grams confectioners’ sugar
100 grams egg whites, aged at room temperature for 12-24 hours
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
¼ tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
50 grams granulated sugar

Not at all adapted from Annie's Eats

Oh! I used these as an excuse reason to buy new cookie sheets!
You may notice this recipe is given by weight. First critical point with these, you MUST weight your ingredients. Measuring them otherwise will result in disaster.
Also, the recipe calls for blanched or slivered almonds, but I just bought almond meal. I didn't want to run across the risk of them not being perfectly ground.
On a final note, notice that you have to age your egg whites for a day beforehand. Yes, AGE them! So plan to take out your egg whites and place them on the countertop loosely covered for at least 24 hours to age them.

From top left, clockwise: powdered sugar,egg whites,sugar,and almond flour.

      1. Pulse the almonds and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor until finely ground and    well blended (Of course you will skip this part if you're using almond flour).

       2. Whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy.

  
      3. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod into the mixing bowl
      4. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms.

Very small , yet stiff, peaks

      5. Blend in the vanilla extract. (I was paying too much attention to getting the timing right, so I kinda forgot this part...)
      6. Add the ground almond mixture to the bowl with the meringue and quickly but gently fold together using a wide rubber spatula until no streaks remain. You want to achieve a thick batter.

      7. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
      8. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip and pipe into small rounds on the prepared baking sheets (each round should be about 1-1½ inches in diameter), spaced about 1 inch apart (I think mine were a little on the small side...) Let sit at room temperature for about an hour to develop a hard shell.

It makes a ton..I used 4 baking sheets...

       8. Preheat the oven to 300˚F.  Bake for 12-18 minutes, depending on size. To test whether or not the cookies are done, let cool for a minute until cool enough to touch.  Carefully attempt to remove one shell from the pan.  If it cracks at all or does not remain intact, continue to bake until one is removed intact. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies.

This is what happens when you rush and drop the first pan out of the oven...

 But this is the way the rest came out:

 Pretty,huh?

But completely hollow. I checked a few other references on macarons that I had and tried raising the cooking temperature and keeping the oven cracked open to try and fix it.
No luck. I just overcooked them and they were still hollow.

The original recipe suggests that you should store the shells in the fridge for 2-3 days to mature and then fill and sandwich the cookies right before serving.

Okay, so maybe if I let them sit for a few days, they will be...less hollow....

3 days later, and still no luck.

Alright, so this attempt at macarons didn't turn out so well, but I will be tackling them again very soon with a new recipe and hopefully better results.

Adorable little failures aren't they?

Alas, two good things came out of this venture.
1. I made an absolutely delicious filling for for future macarons. (I'll show you how to make it later, it's a white chocolate raspberry ganache and it is irresistible).
2. I finally made a light tent!

Here's one of my first shots with it: