Tuesdays With Dorie - Toasted Coconut Custard Tart

This week's challenge is Dorie's Toasted Coconut Custard Tart, which called for dark rum. Now I rarely drink alcohol, but I know dark rum has a specific flavor profile compared to other types of rum or even rum extract. I've been debating on spending money for something I rarely use but decided since I've had really good rum cake in the Bahamas, maybe I could duplicate it. They don't sell tiny bottles of dark rum, so I bought a regular bottle of Myers Dark Rum (which is the only brand of dark rum I could find).



Rum is not something my family enjoys either, so I made two mini tarts,seeing as only my dad and me would be the ones eating them. Boy was I wrong. They lasted maybe 10 minutes because my mom and brother had a bite and decided to eat more. Cutting the recipe into thirds made the perfect amount for two mini tarts. As far as flavor, some TwDers said there wasn't a strong coconut flavor, which makes sense. If you think about it, it's really just a normal custard with toasted coconut folded in. One person suggested using coconut extract, so I substituted that for vanilla. It would be interesting to see if you can make the custard with coconut milk. I know skim milk is frowned upon because of the fat ratio.

The amount of rum used is debatable. The rum is kinda strong, so if you love rum, great. If not, you may want to scale it back to 1 Tbsp instead of 2. I left rum out of the whipped cream because the custard was strong enough. I did use coconut extract in both the custard and topping.



Thanks to Beryl of Cinemon Girl for choosing this delicious tart. You can find the recipe on pages 344-345 of Dorie's Baking: From My Home To Yours or on Beryl's blog.

Baked Coconut Shrimp

I love fried food. Who doesn't? Unfortunately, I eat a lot of it, especially when I eat out. Onion rings, fried zucchini, cheese sticks, fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried fish, the list goes on. What's one way to enjoy fried food without frying? Baking. Sure, baking might not give you the exact crispiness that frying does, but adjusting the batter still makes it tasty (and healthier).

Take these coconut shrimp. Normally, you order them at a restaurant and get fried shrimp. I found a nice recipe for coconut shrimp that cuts out the fat. I have made this recipe multiple times, and there is one thing I learned - they stick ridiculously to the foil. Spray the foil, and when you think you have enough, spray again.

I think they are tasty enough to be eaten alone, but feel free to make sweet and sour sauce for dipping.


Oven-Baked Coconut Shrimp



26 shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails intact
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with cooking spray. Don't hold back - if you think you have enough, spray some more.

2. Rinse shrimp under water and pat dry. Make sure they are deveined (even if the bag says though. Machines usually miss one or two).

3. Beat egg whites on high speed until frothy, about 2 minutes. In another bowl, combine cornstarch, salt, and pepper. In a third bowl, place coconut.

4. Working with one shrimp at a time, dredge in cornstarch, then egg, then coconut. Place on baking sheets until all shrimp are dipped.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, flip each shrimp over, then bake another 15 minutes or until coconut is toasted.

Source: Recipe Zaar

Serves 3-4

Tuesdays With Dorie - Coconut Butter Thins

This week's pick was Coconut Butter Thins. Dorie calls them thins because these cookies spreeaaaddddd! I was disappointed after removing them from the oven because when they went in, they were plump little rectangles.

I modified the recipe a bit with ingredients on hand. I had a lemon to use, so instead of lime zest went the lemon. I think I put too much in because the lemon is very strong. Whoops. I also used walnuts instead of macadamia nuts because they were $4 a bag at Wal Mart. I would definitely make these again because I love how shortbread-based cookies melt in your mouth. Maybe I will make it with the specified ingredients haha




Thanks Jayne of The Barefoot Kitchen Witch for picking these delightful tropic treats! You can find the recipe on page 145 of Baking: From My Home to Yours or on Jayne's blog.

Put The Lime In The Coconut...

Oh...my...goodness. I am so exhausted from helping freshmen move into their new home at my university, and I still have the welcome ceremony tonight and the summer book group discussion and dance party tomorrow night. At least I can blog while resting my feet.

Last week, I bought a bunch of limes because they were on sale. I have a horrible habit of buying food, THEN picking out recipes so sometimes I have trouble figuring out what I'm making or I'm one item short. When I'm in the mood for a baked good, I grab Dorie's book first and check the index. Under limes, coconut tea cake caught my attention. All I needed was to buy coconut milk, so I grabbed some on my next trip shopping.

Dorie says in her recipe intro that this is a "dry cake" because her friend really likes dry cakes (as in pound cake texture, not overbaked texture). Since this cake is "dry," it is perfect to serve with coffee or tea. If you are like my family and prefer the cake without a hot beverage, you may want to consider adding a simple glaze on top.

Dark rum is optional, and since I had some, I used it. I couldn't tell it was in the cake, but it may be one of those cakes where you can tell if it's not in the cake. I'll have to make this again (so many variations - lemon, orange, spice, sesame) and try it without the rum.

Also, it uses a bundt pan. I love bundt cakes!


Coconut Lime Tea Cake




This recipe can be found in Baking: From My Home To Yours on page 194.

Cookie Post With Sweet Mary

I dedicate this to my best friend because she will be laughing too hard when she reads this post.

Last week, I tried making coconut and lime cookies from Sweet Mary. They turned into a disaster. They spread way too much and stuck to my cookie sheets.


Since Mary created this recipe, I asked her if she had trouble with her dough and maybe I was supposed to chill it before baking. She gave me some wonderful tips on why they may have spread. My butter may have been too soft, and using margarine probably made it spread even more. Then she suggested messing around with the flour and sugar so the structure of the gluten holds more. Then we decided both of us would experiment more with the ingredients and flavor and post our results.

I decided to mess with the temperature of the butter and dough while she messed with the flour. Since I ran out of coconut, I didn't use any. I froze my stick of margarine for 20 minutes before beating. I was going to do two variations - one with rum extract, one with vanilla extract. Since I didn't have time to make two separate batches, I just separated the dough into two bowls. Now, since I had to add the extracts before adding the flour, I also split the flour mixture in half. However, I'm not good at guessing. With the flour, I cut the measurements in half (1/4 cup flour in this bowl, 1/4 cup flour in that bowl, etc). For the batter, I just poured and guessed. Bad idea. There was more batter in the vanilla bowl than the rum bowl. When I added the flour to the rum bowl, the dough came together nicely. When I added the flour to the vanilla bowl, it seemed too wet. I added another 1/4 cup flour, but I was afraid to add too much. It was a little bit better but it didn't look nearly as good as the rum bowl. I chilled the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes before rolling it into balls. Then I put the cookie sheets into the freezer for 20 minutes while the oven preheated. I put them in the oven and baked for 10 minutes.

They weren't done, so I baked another 2 minutes. The rum batch came out nicely and were baked on the bottom rack.


The vanilla batch spread more than the rum batch, making them soft and hard to scrape off of the sheets. So I put them back in again, and again, and again. They weren't hardening up at all, so I pulled them out and let them cool before attempting to remove.


So I conclude that you can use margarine, although I'm wondering if butter would really make them not stick to the sheets. Keeping the dough cold does help minimize spreading. I wonder if they needed more flour?

Mary used more flour and a little more leavener and got a cake-like cookie. She prefers her first batch because they are flat and crisp yet chewy. We both agree that the lime overpowers the coconut (I used toasted coconut in my first batch). I also used white chocolate chips while she used dark chocolate chips.

Thanks Mary for doing this with me and for all of your help. We really do need to experiment more with this to get the ultimate coconut lime cookie.

When The Craving Strikes Out Of Season

For 11 years, I was a Girl Scout. I started out as a daisy in kindergarten, quit, then restarted as a brownie in 3rd grade. I don't remember why I quit, but apparently I changed my mind and wanted to rejoin. Every year, my family would buy several boxes of cookies, mainly Tagalongs and Thin Mints. Even though the names never made sense (Samoas? Do-si-dos?), you could never forget them. According to fellow cookie lovers, the company switched to a different bakery (if you want to call it that). I haven't had any this past year, but I was told several times there was a difference in the taste, and it wasn't for the best. Plus it was expensive for the amount of cookies in each box. So why buy something when it is cheaper (and slightly healthier) to make it yourself? A long time ago, Nicole from Baking Bites created several Girl Scout recipes, including samoas, do-si-dos, and tagalongs. Thanks to her, you can enjoy homemade Girl Scout cookies any time of the year!

I decided since I had coconut and caramel I needed to use, I made samoas. I really recommend making the base with butter, not margarine because the taste with margarine wasn't cutting it. Also, once the chocolate on the bottom hardens, they will peel easily from the parchment paper. To speed up the process, you can place them in the freezer until hardened.


Samoas




Thank you, Nicole for taking the time and creating the homemade version! For the recipe, please visit Nicole's blog. If in the future the page disappears, email me because I have it saved in one of my binders.

Bake-Off Challenge With Megan

Whenever I sent Megan an extra copy of Pillsbury's 15th National Bake-Off Cookbook, we agreed to pick a recipe and bake it. Some can call it our own mini bake-off. Megan sent me a list of several recipes she picked, and I picked which one we would do first. I chose a recipe called Apple Harvest Squares, which was entered by Rex Pippin of Alabama.

I decided to bake these while I was home for Thanksgiving break. The base is very similar to a pie crust. Normally you would use a pastry cutter. I remember reading in Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home To Yours, you can also use your hands to cut butter, so I did. The result was fine, although I would suggest pressing it into the pan with the bottom of a glass. The topping didn't make enough to cover the entire base, so next time I would increase it just a smudge. I put the adjustments into the recipe below. These taste best when served warm.

Megan, we need to do this again :)

EDIT - Oops, there has been a misunderstanding!! Megan ended up doing Sweet Applets instead. Oh well, at least they both have apple. Now we can switch recipes and see if we get the same results. Hopefully so, because her applets look good!


Apple Harvest Squares



Base
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
2 cups chopped apples (I used Granny Smith)
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease the bottom of a 13x9 pan.

2. Sift together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until particles are fine. Press into bottom of pan. Arrange apples on top. Combine 1/8 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle on top. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, combine 1/2 cup sugar, milk, vanilla, walnuts, and coconut. Spoon over baked base. Bake for another 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Source: Pillsbury's 15th Grand National 100 New Bake-Off Recipes, 1964 p.43



Murray getting ready for the holidays

What I've Been Up To This Semester

Taking 17 hours of classes plus 12 hours of work gives me limited time to update my blog (although I do work in a computer lab, so when I'm not busy I surf the web. Yay food blogs!) However, that didn't stop me from cooking and baking. I'm going to put it all in one post so I can be caught up.


Chicken Curry




Only once in my life have I had curry, and it wasn't even from a restaurant. While in Ireland, I bought a jar of curry sauce because it was on sale. I mixed it with rice and tuna, and it was absolutely delicious! When I came home, I wanted to buy curry powder, but it isn't the cheapest spice around, so I waited. When I was grocery shopping for college, I decided to give in and buy a jar. I found a recipe for chicken curry online awhile back and saved it into an online recipe box. That makes this dish #3 towards my goal.

1/4 cup flour
2 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 Chicken breast
1/4 cup onion
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup white rice, cooked
Veggies, such as carrots or peas

If time permitting, bake chicken at 375F for 35 minutes. Otherwise, chop and fry in skillet. In a bowl, mix flour, curry, ginger, and sugar. Sauté onions in butter until tender. Once tender, add flour mixture. Slowly add broth and milk. Cook until thick and bubbly. Add lemon juice, chopped chicken, and veggies; cook a few more minutes. Serve on top of hot rice. Makes 2 servings.

Source: Recipe Zaar


Garlicky Pasta with Basil and Tomatoes




I found this recipe from Laura Rebecca's Kitchen and knew I had to try it!! I'm 50% Italian, so of course the more garlic, the better. I used canned tomatoes and vegetable oil since I'm on a budget. This is a must for garlic lovers.

8 oz uncooked pasta
3 tablespoons oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and keep warm.

2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add chopped tomatoes; cook for 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Add pasta, seasoning, and cheese, tossing gently to combine.

Source: Laura Rebecca's Kitchen


Carrot Spice Muffins




During the summer, I borrowed Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home To Yours" from my library after hearing so many posts about the book. I was making a list of recipes to try, but that turned out to be 3/4 of the book!! I had a 3 week limit on it, so I copied about 10 recipes. Last weekend, my parents visited me for the afternoon. I decided to make them French toast and Dorie's carrot spice muffins. Mmmm one of my favorite muffins!! Plus I love carrots. I didn't have any nuts or raisins, so I omitted them. I did have the coconut it called for, so yay.

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup raisins (optional)
1/3 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F. Spray or line a 12-cup muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Stir in brown sugar. In another bowl, whisk oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Pour the wet into the dry and quickly stir to blend. Add carrots, coconut, raisins, and nuts. Divide evenly among the pan. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins

Source: Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home To Yours" p.14


Zucchini Casserole




Since my favorite vegetable is squash, I bought 4 of them to eat. One of the 12 cookbooks I got was dedicated completely to zucchini. I decided to make the zucchini casserole. My version is slightly different, so here is my adaptation.

1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped (I used canned but fresh works too)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Enough beef for two servings
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used pepper jack)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Chop and cook beef until brown; drain grease and set aside. In a small casserole dish, put a layer of zucchini slices. Top with 1/4 cup tomatoes, 1/4 cup onions, 1/2 clove garlic, 1/4 cup cheese, and 1/2 the amount of beef. Top with squash slices. Top with remaining tomatoes, onions, garlic, cheese, and beef. Top with any remaining squash and zucchini slices. Top with bread crumbs and Italian seasoning. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until squash slices are tender. Makes 2 servings

Source: "Garden Way's Zucchini Cookbook" 1977, p.104



I also made stuffed squash with oriental stuffing and stuffed pepper with a garlic alfredo rice mixture, but I forgot to take pictures of them! Oops!

Now that I am all caught up, what was the last homemade meal you made for dinner?

A Challenging Pie

You must have patience when it comes to making Coconut Cream Pie. If you rush the filling, it will become super runny. I was doing fine with the filling until I burnt it. I was trying to clean out the one cabinet so I could pack for college. Apparently you have to stir it quite often; otherwise it will burn on the bottom. Since I burnt it, I poured what I could into a new pan (which was most of it). Since I didn't want to burn it a second time, I let it get bubbly and then turned it off. It took about 15-20 minutes. It wasn't as thick as it called for, so next time I'll let it go maybe another 5 minutes. As a result, the pie filling was super runny. The meringue acts as an insulator, so the filling does not cook anymore when you toast the meringue.

You can easily make Banana Cream Pie with this recipe. Omit the coconut and put sliced bananas in the bottom of the pie before adding the filling.

I already had plans for this pie before I joined Chefs Like Me. When I saw the challenge this week was pie, I thought the timing couldn't be better.


Coconut Cream Pie




9 inch pie crust (mine was pre-made but homemade works too)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour OR 1/4 cup cornstarch (I used cornstarch)
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups milk
4 eggs, separated
3 Tbsp butter
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1. Line a pie plate with pie crust. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond edge. This is important because when it's baked, the excess will break off. Bake at 450F for 10 minutes. After crust is removed, turn heat down to 350F.

2. For filling, in saucepan combine 1 cup sugar, flour/cornstarch, and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Make sure you stir because it will burn on the bottom. Reduce heat; cook an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Separate egg whites and yolks. Beat yolks in a bowl. Stir in 1 cup of hot milk mixture into the yolks. This will allow the yolks to get used to the heat; otherwise, they will curdle. Pour egg mixture into milk mixture. Cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir in 1 cup coconut. Pour into baked pie crust.

4. For meringue, beat egg whites, 1 tsp vanilla, and cream of tartar at medium speed for 1 minute. Soft peaks should form. This means when you take the beaters out of the egg whites, peaks will form but fall back down.

5. Gradually add sugar, about 2 Tbsp at a time. Beat at high speed for 4 minutes or until stiff peaks form. When you take the beaters out, peaks will form and keep their shape.

6. Spread meringue on pie. Make sure you spread all the way to the crust and no holes are present. The meringue acts as an insulator. The filling will not cook anymore. If heat does get in, the pie may shrink. Sprinkle remaining coconut on top. Bake at 350F for 12 - 15 minutes or until meringue and coconut are golden. Cool in the refrigerator.

Source: "Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Pies," 1978 p. 32

Don't Let The Name Fool You

For family vacation this year, we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. It's a theme park based on six countries in Europe - Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Germany, and Italy. My dad got a slice of German chocolate cake in Germany, and he commented on how there should be chocolate frosting on the sides rather than a little bit on the top. Since his birthday was August 2, I baked him a German chocolate cake with frosing on the sides.

German chocolate cake isn't a German dessert, as the name suggests. It got its name because it uses German's chocolate, and somehow when the recipe came into print, the s was dropped. Fascinating, no? This is my second attempt in my life at a layer cake. A traditional German chocolate cake is three layers; however, I went with two layers. Note - do not cut the cake recipe! I adjusted the recipe by using 2/3 of the ingredients listed. It made two very thin layers. I would just use what the recipe says and just make two thick layers. Plus the cake part wasn't tasty with my adjustments. The coconut-pecan filling is very, very rich from the canned milk, so make sure you serve the cake in tiny slices.


German Chocolate Cake




For the cake layers, I used the recipe that came with the German's chocolate box (made by Baker's Chocolate). It is replicated here. The only difference in the ingredient list is the box calls for 2 cups all-purpose flour and the site calls for cake flour. Then for the filling and frosting, I used this recipe because I had sweetened, condensed milk, not evaporated milk. The filling makes alot. The frosting I cut because I was only frosting the sides. I used half a bag of semisweet chocolate chips (I would prefer dark chocolate), 1 tablespoon corn syrup, and 4 tablespoons butter. I think the corn syrup is used to make it more spreadable, so if you don't have it, maybe you could use milk?