Samoa Bars

Every year we look forward to the phone calls and door to door visits of the Girl Scouts in our neighborhood. It seems like we order more boxes each year, thinking that they will last longer, but in a matter of weeks our supply is gone and there is nothing to do but wait. Mimi Jr. found this recipe for homemade Samoa bars and knew it would be a hit with the other coconut lover, Boy Mimi. While nothing is ever quite as good as the original, these will definitely get us through until the next Girl Scout comes knocking at our door.

These bars were the right flavor combination, but we all agreed that the bottom crust needs to be a little bit thinner and crisper.  I would add more coconut to the caramel mixture on top to really get that toasty coconut flavor. Although we usually keep our boxes of Samoas in the freezer, we thought these were best at room temperature.

Homemade Samoa Bars

adapted from baking bites

Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.

To make  the base, in a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. Do not over mix. Pour crumbly dough into prepared pan and press into an even layer. Poke holes in several places throughout the pan of dough using a fork.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping:
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk or cream
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden, about 10-15 minutes. Make sure to check often because coconut burns quickly. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula. (You can also use a double boiler, it just takes a little longer)

Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.

When cooled, cut into bars.
printable recipe

Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper (I skipped this step). Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish. * I just drizzled chocolate on the top*

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

As with most recipes I try to make them as written the first time. I can see that there could be some very tasty variation on this recipe. Ideas that we like were: substitute peanuts or toasted pecans for the coconut or for a German Chocolate Cake bar substitute some cocoa powder for flour in the base and add some toasted pecan  to the coconut in the topping.

We are sending this along to Foodie Fridays  party  at Design by Gollum. You can still enter the CSN give away here.

Sticky Toffee Pudding and Chockablock Cookies

It's Tuesday April 27 and TWD collides with the Daring Bakers, so you get a two-fer. The Daring Bakers April Challenge was a steamed pudding and Tuesday's with Dorie selection was chockablock cookies.

Over at the Daring Bakers the April 2010 challenge was hosted by Esther of  the Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

The Daring Bakers is a group project in our house. I joined the group so that I would have a fun way to teach my children a variety of baking skills that I take for granted. Having made steamed pudding (cakes) before I wanted them to pick a British recipe, something they might eat at a British table. A google search revealed several traditional British recipes: Roly-poly, Hasty, Teacle, Stickey Toffee and Spotted Dick. Since I have teenagers, there was no way Spotted Dick was going to make it to our table as they just couldn't get past the name without minutes of giggling and jokes, so we finally settled on Sticky Toffee Pudding. Since we couldn't find suet, we chose a recipe that didn't require it but this cake still turned out to be a good choice. It was a nice moist cake, mildly flavored with dates and covered in a gooey toffee sauce. Since the recipe made more batter than my mold could hold we baked the remaining batter in a small cake pan in the oven so we could compare baked versus steamed. They both came out delicious and moist, so whatever way is easier for you is the way to go. To the baked one we added chocolate chips, which completely over powered the date flavor, but was delicious with the toffee sauce. If you wanted to make a chocolate pudding, replace about a quarter cup of the flour with cocoa powder, and  add some chocolate chips.

Sticky Date Pudding with Toffee Sauce
adapted from Gourmet May 1998

For pudding
• 1 3/4 cups packed pitted dates (about 10 ounces)
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs

For sauce

• 1 3/4 sticks (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 salt

Make pudding:

1. Butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan or pudding mold , knocking out excess flour.

2. Fill the bottom of a pot large enough to hold you mold with water put a rack in the bottom to hold you mold just above the water and bring to a boil. I used my pasta pot placed the mold in the inner pot.

3. Coarsely chop dates and in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan simmer dates in water, uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in baking soda. (Mixture will foam.) Let mixture stand 20 minutes. Pulse with an immersion blender to puree the dates; there should be some texture to the dates.

4. While mixture is standing, into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, beating after each addition until just combined. Add date mixture and with a wooden spoon stir batter until just combined well.

5. Pour batter into baking pan and cover  tightly with butter aluminum foil. Set the pan in the steamer, cover steamer pan with lid and simmer for 2 hours  (adding water as necessary to prevent the pan from going dry,) or until a tested inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove pan from steamer and cool pudding to warm on a rack.

Make sauce while pudding is cooling:

In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan melt butter over moderate heat and add brown sugar. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, and stir in cream and vanilla. Simmer sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Cool sauce to warm.

Unmold and pour 1/4 of the toffee sauce over top of cake. Pour additional sauce over each slice of cake and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

printable recipe

At TWD, Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet decided on Chockablock Cookies.  I was skeptical about these cookies, since they contained practically everything but the kitchen sink.  Butter, sugar, molasses, chocolate chips, coconut, nuts and raisins seemed like a ridiculously long ingredient list. I made 1/2 the recipe and got 18 large cookies, which disappeared fast. All of the flavors came together to make a rich, well balanced, crisp on the outsides and chewy in the middle cookie.

I used walnuts and included the raisins and coconut in our cookies. You could hardly tell the coconut was there, so it's not a deal breaker if you don't use it. Theses cookie are very rich and best enjoyed with a glass of cold milk. They would be equally delicious with cherries or cranberries and maybe white chocolate chips.

If you want the recipe for this flavorful cookie visit Mary. To see what the other bakers cooked up visit our TWD blogroll .

Coconut Ice Cream

Coconut Ice Cream

After the TWD coconut tea cakes I had about a cup of regular coconut milk leftover. Since Mimi Jr. and Boy Mimi are avid coconut fans, coconut ice cream seemed like a good way to used that up. I've never been much of a coconut lover but I am becoming a convert.

Coconut Ice Cream
1 cup regluar coconut milk
1 - 14oz can light coconut milk
1 cup cream
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 to 1  tsp coconut extract (to taste)
*The amount of coconut extract is up to you. The first time I made this I didn't use extract and the coconut flavor was almost too mild. Remember, the flavors will seem to be muted in the frozen final product, so if it tastes a little strong beforehand, it's ok*

 toasted coconut, for serving

Mix together all ingredients except toasted coconut.  Stir to dislove sugar. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to directions. It took me about 45 minutes in my Cuisnart model, resulting in a soft serve ice cream. For a firmer ice cream I put it in a freezer safe container and tossed in in the freezer for an additional hour or so. Serve sprinkled with toasted coconut. 

printable recipe

Even Mr. Mimi and Mini Me who are avowed coconut haters enjoyed this mild flavored ice cream. The crispy toasted coconut on top really picked up the coconut flavor for my two coconut lovers and the added crunch was the perfect contrast to the rich and smooth ice cream. Boy Mimi said next time he is going to mix in some dark chocolate bits or toasted almonds to make an Almond Joy/Mounds ice cream, but as with any ice cream, the possibilities are endless!

This is the cuisinart ice cream maker that my family bought for me.  It's a compressor model (ICE-50BC), so no ice or pre freezing the canister is necessary. It makes most ice creams is 30 to 45 minutes to a soft serve consistency. The only draw back is that it is a bit noisy, but that's a small price to pay for fresh ice cream.

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

Coconut Tea Cake

This week we had the choice of making Mocha -Walnut Marbled Bundt cake selected by Erin of When in Doubt Leave It At 350 or Coconut Tea Cake, chosen by Carmen of Carmen Cooks. For the coming Easter holiday we chose the Coconut Tea Cake.

We made the lime version and used mini bundt pans. Theses easy cakes were moist and tender, but despite doubling the amount of lime zest, the lime flavor was very faint and you wouldn't even know there was coconut in the recipe. Next time I would add citrus oil and/or coconut extract. This is a good basic recipe, and you could really add any number of extracts or oils to make it your own.

 

Coconut Tea Cakes

Baking: from my home to yours Dorie Greenspan

 

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons dark rum
3/4 cup shredded coconut

Pre heat oven to 350F.  Butter and flour  a 9 to 10 inch bundt pan or mini bundts.(I used 1/2 recipe for 6 mini bundts) Don't place on a baking sheet you want the heat to circulate through the inner tube.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Pour coconut milk into a small sauce pan, add the butter and heat until the milk is hot and the butter melted. Remove from heat, but keep warm.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until pale, thick. and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the rum.  Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears..

Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a spatula just to make certain that all the ingredients are fully incorporated.  Pour the batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for 60-65 minutes for regular bundt 20-25 for mini bunts or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Cool on. A wire rack for 10 minutes before unmolding cool to room temperature

This was really perfect served with just a dusting of confectioner's sugar. If you would like the recipe for the fabulous tea cake stop on over at Carmen's and  if you want to see what the other TWD bakers thought just visit our blogroll.

TWD: Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart

This week Beryl of Cinemon Girl  picked Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart. I almost skipped this week since  I had my recipes out of order and hadn't even started on this tart when I sat down to write this post. I'm not much of a coconut fan and neither is Mr. Mimi. However, two of our children love coconut, so I quickly put together this tart for them. There are times I hear them bantering back and forth about how special they are because mom made something just for them.

This is a fairly easy recipe to whip up. The crust is Dorie's stand by press in crust, filled with a thick rum and coconut flavored pastry cream and topped with sweetened whipped cream. It was very creamy and rich with a slight crunch on top from a sprinkle of toasted coconut, and the buttery crust on the bottom was a nice base for the smooth filling. I chose to 1/2 the recipe and it made three mini tarts, one each for my coconut lovers, and one to taste for the rest of us. Although us non-coconut lovers ate just our mandatory taste-test bite, Boy Mimi was licking his plate and "offering" to finish off the rest of these little tarts.

Toasted Coconut Custard Tart
adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours

For the Custard
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
1/3 cup cornstarch
pinch of salt
pinch or coriander
1 tbsp Malibu rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted
1 9-inch sweet tart shell, baked and cooled

For the topping
1 cup cold heavy cream
3 tbsp powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp Malibu rum
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Bring milk to a boil. In a large saucepan, whisk together sugar, yolks, cornstarch, salt and coriander until well blended. Whisk in 1/4 cup of hot milk to temper the yolks, then whisk in the rest of the milk. Continue whisking over medium heat and bring to a boil. Whisk an additional 1 or 2 minutes then remove from heat. Whisk in rum and vanilla and let sit for 5 minutes. Then whisk in the butter, stirring until custard is smooth. Stir in the toasted coconut. Transfer to a container, cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.

To make the topping, use a stand mixture with whisk attachment or a hand mixer to whip the cream to medium peaks. Add the powdered sugar and beat to firm peaks. Whip in rum and vanilla.

To assemble the tart, whisk the custard vigorously to loosen it then scrape into the crust. Spoon the whipped cream over the tart and spread evenly to the edge of the custard. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.
printable recipe

This really was a good tart, I just don't like the stringy coconut in my creamy filling.  Next time I would use coconut milk to make the pastry cream and only put the toasted coconut on the top of the tart.  If you want the recipe for this tart visit Beryl at Cinemon Girl or you can find it in Dorie's book. Visit the TWD  blogroll to see what the other bakers made this week.

Popo Bars

Popo Bars

Each of my children has a favorite Christmas treat.  Popo bars are a favorite of my oldest daughter, Mimi Jr. Not only did she make the Popo bars, but she worte this post as well.

Growing up, we were fortunate enough to live 5 minutes away from my grandparents (Mimi's parents). We spent almost as much time at their house as we did ours. We had tea parties with my Nanny and helped my Popo in the vegetable gardern. Although Nanny, my grandmother, did the most of the cooking, there were a few times my grandfather got in the kitchen. During the holidays we always made these simple 7 layer bars, which we have renamed "Popo Bars" in his honor. He would get out all the ingredients and I would pull up a chair to stand on, and we would go to work. Everyone has their favorite Christmas treat, and these are mine. They are the first thing I make every year, always with a smile and an extra handful of chocolate chips, just like Popo did.

~ Mimi Jr. ~

POPO Bars

4 oz butter or margarine
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
6 oz chocolate chips
6 oz butterscotoch chips
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 can sweetened condensed milk.

In a 9x13 pan melt butter.  Place ingrdients in layers in the pan in the order given.  Bake @ 350 degree F. for 30 minutes.  Cut in bars.

Popo Bars