1 beaten egg
50g caster sugar
30g icing sugar (sifted)
145g unsweetened desiccated coconut

Preheat fan oven to 170

Beat sugar into egg with a fork, add icing sugar, then add coconut and mix well. 

Spoon some of the mixture into a small dish (approx 1.5 inches diameter), press in gently, and then turn out onto a greased baking tray, leaving a small mound shaped macaroon. This recipe makes around 14 macaroons.

Bake for approx 14 minutes until golden. Leave to cool on wire rack.

Tony

I had three very ripe bananas to use up so I was looking around for a banana bread recipe that did not call for a lot of sugar or butter. I found an amazing looking recipe on King Arthur Flour's website for Banana Pina Colada Muffins (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/banana-pia-colada-muffins-recipe). These muffins were beautiful; banana batter studded with dried pineapple chunks, topped off with a delightful shredded coconut crown. My only problem was I didn't have any butter so I kept searching until I found a recipe for Island Banana Bread on Vegetarian Times website (http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/9044?section=). This one is vegan but I decided to alter it to suit my tastes. The following recipe is a fusion of the two differen recipes into my own very own Island Banana Bread:

Ingredients

2 c. White Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 c. Soy Flour

2 tbsp. Dried Buttermilk Powder

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

1 c. Diced Dried Pineapple (or other dried fruit: dates, apricots, etc.)

1/2 c. Raisin Puree (or prune puree)

1 1/2 c. Mashed Ripe Bananas

1/2 c. Packed Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Rum

3/4 c. Orange Juice

1/3 c. Shredded Coconut

Posted at www.evilshenanigans.com on 4/1/2009

It's April Fool's Day ... but I am not fooling around when I tell you that this pound cake is about the best I have ever had. 

I had half a bag of coconut sitting in my pantry since I made my Carrot Coconut Cupcakes and I didn't know what to do with it.  For a while I considered making coconut candy, but I was not in the candy making mood.  As much as I enjoy candy, I prefer eating it to making it.  So, it was back to the drawing board.

Now, I should say that the last few days here in my part of Texas have been warm.  The trees are turning green and the grass has transformed from straw brown to vibrant emerald.  I have been feeling decidedly 'Spring-ie' and I decided I wanted something that sort of said, "Hey Spring!  How you doin'?" 

I also had a glut of limes that I needed to use, and lime curd seemed just the thing to make.  Well, If you have curd you need something to spread it on, and I love lime and lemon curd on pound cake.  Why not, I thought, make a coconut pound cake? 

So, I did, and it was really, really tasty.  The toasted flavor of the coconut added another layer of flavor to the buttery cake.  It also added a lovely texture to the cake.  There was the fluffy part, the nutty crusty part, and now this chewy, sort of crispy part.   It was, for me, the perfect way to welcome Spring!

Lime Curd    Yield 1 cup

2 oz sugar
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 oz lime juice
2 egg yolks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Rub the lime zest into the sugar until it is fragrant and the sugar is tinted pale green.  Pour into a heavy bottom pot.

Juice the limes and add the juice to the pot with the sugar.  Stir in the egg yolks and cook over medium heat until thick.  Stir in the butter and cook until melted.

Pour through a strainer into a heat proof bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Make sure to press the film down on the curd to avoid a skin.

Chill for two hours.

While the curd chills, make the cake.

Toasted Coconut Pound Cake   Yield 12 servings

1 cup coconut
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 325 F and grease a 10″ loaf pan very well.

Allow your butter, eggs and sour cream to come to room temperature.

Toast the coconut for 10 minutes, or until brown and fragrant.  Set aside to cool.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium high speed for five minutes. 

Scrape the sides of the bowl down and add the eggs, one at a time, blending for one minute after each addition and scraping down before adding the next.

Add the vanilla and blend to combine.

Sift the dry ingredients and add them, along with the sour cream, in three alternating installments, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  Do not over-mix.

Fold the toasted coconut in gently and pour into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 60 minutes, or until the center of the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center.  You may need to tent the cake with foil to avoid over browning.  Do not over-bake.

Cool in the pan for 20 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

Slice and eat as is or ....

Spread a tablespoon of the lime curd over the cake, and while we are at it some softly whipped cream.

Your taste buds will thank you. 

I had a craving for carrot cake the other day.  It was one of those cravings you try to ignore, but in the end you submit because, like it or not, you did not try all that hard to avoid it in the first place.

Submitting to my desire also gave me the opportunity to play around with a recipe.  I always enjoy that!  I did not just want carrot cake, I wanted carrot cupcakes, and I did not just want carrot, I wanted carrot coconut.  I do not bake with coconut often because my husband, and main test subject, dislikes the texture of it.  Did I say dislikes?  I mean loathes. 

Regardless of the likes of my husband my mind was set on carrot coconut, so on the way home from work I picked up a few things and set to work.

The original recipe for the carrot cake is my father's.  It is an excellent, moist, and very dense carrot cake, but I knew with all the eggs and oil it would make a very poor cupcake.  Besides, I hate getting a cupcake with a greasy liner!  Yuck!

So, I made some modifications, such as reducing the eggs, replacing some of the oil with applesauce, and adding some buttermilk to thin the batter and to add a slightly tangy note to the cakes.   Adding the coconut helped add moisture along with the grated carrots, so in the moistness department I figured I was good.

The original cake calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda for a 9″x13″ cake which is quite dense.  I wanted fluffy cupcakes that would dome proudly inside the liners so I added an additional 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder.

My modifications resulted in tender, moist, flavorful cupcakes with a slightly chewy texture from the shredded coconut.  Even my husband, who avoids coconut like the plague, said they were pretty tasty ... coconut aside. 

Carrot Coconut Cupcake   Yield 24

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded coconut

Heat the oven to 350F and line your cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Blend until smooth and well incorporated.

In a smaller bowl sift the dry ingredients, then pour the dry onto the wet and whisk until the dry ingredients just moisten.

Add the shredded carrots and coconut and fold gently, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/3 of the way full.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the center of the cupcake springs back when lightly pressed. 

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for three minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.

I frosted my cupcakes with a simple cream cheese frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting   Enough to decorate 24 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 - 8 oz bar of cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Blend the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until well mixed, about five minutes.  Add the vanilla and blend to combine.

Add the powdered sugar and blend on low until the powdered sugar is moist, then blend on high for thirty seconds to remove any lumps.

Store frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy! 

Posted on www.evilshenanigans.com - 3/17/2009