Coconut Mocha 'Frapp'

Last week I broke up for the summer and as tradition goes I always treat myself to something yummy on the way home from work.  Last year it was a strawberries and cream frap from Starbucks and this year it was one of their coconut mochas.  I was really in the mood to try one before however at the time I wanted a hot drink and had it in my head that the new drink I had seen on a billboard somewhere was for a hot chocolate with coconut, at the time I really wanted a hot drink not ice cold so I passed on it.  But last week, Wednesday, was super hot and very sunny and an iced drink really hit the spot.

I love coconut and chocolate.  This drink tastes like a bounty bar whizzed up with ice.    I passed on the cream topping but they did sprinkle it with toasted coconut.  It was very yummy!  The coffee hit worked well with the chocolate and the coconut isn't too sweet.  This isn't the same consistency as the strawberry and cream frap though, this one is more liquid than slush.    

After trying it I knew I had to try and make it at home.  I watched as they made my drink and all they put in the blender was coffee shot, a few pumps of coconut syrup, some ice and the all important chocolate frap mix.  So my first task was to locate the correct ingredients.

First I knew where I could get coconut syrup.  I always keep a stock of hazelnut in the house and still have gingerbread left over from Christmas.  My local Makro store sells all the monin range, but you can get it online if you don't have Makro membership.  Ice and espresso, tick done.  The chocolate frap mix can be brought online from specialist coffee shops that sell for industry.  The stuff I came across was a powder that you mix with milk and store ready to use - a bit like Starbucks.  It was rather expensive though so I decided to experiment.

First I tried this with cocoa powder.  It worked but was rather bland.  Next I tried chocolate milkshake mix (Nesquik) and found it far too sweet.  Finally I decided to try ready made chocolate milkshake, the bottle I used is from Sainsbury.  Just like Goldilocks this was just about right.  So my recipe follows...



Coconut Mocha Frap
Makes one large glassful

250ml ready made chocolate milkshake
1 shot espresso (double up if you want it very strong)
1 shot coconut syrup
6 ice cubes

toasted coconut and cream for the top if you wanna be posh

Simply place all the ingredients in a blender and wiz on high for 30 seconds or so.  You want all the ice to be crushed and the drink to be smooth.

 

Dollop on cream and sprinkle with toasted coconut.  Or keep it simple without.

Enjoy.

Simple Lemon Bars

I have always loved lemon flavoured cakes, biscuits and puddings.  Lemon Tart has to be my all time favourite, as I have said before, I can quite easily eat a whole tart to myself over a weekend.  Today's recipe is inspired from my 'Leon' cookbook.  Lemon bars are simple to make and consist of a shortcake like base topped with a lemon tart egg mixture.  Baked in the oven and dusted with icing sugar you end up with a tray of sharp but sweet tasting bars.  Perfect with a cup of coffee eaten outdoors.

I have slightly adapted the Leon recipe to make the tarts a little more sharper, simply reducing the amount of sugar does this.    You do need to make sure you have a tin with high sides or you might struggle to get all the mixture in.  I used my 'Delia Silverware' swiss roll tin as it was the correct measurements for the recipe and the height is good although could have been a little taller.

Best to chill and then dust with icing sugar just before serving.  You will find that the icing sugar is absorbed when these little goodies are left overnight so you may need to dust again before serving if you don't intend to eat them all in one go.




Simple Lemon Bars
makes about 16 depending on how you cut them

for the base
280g plain flour
80g icing sugar
225g salted butter, cold

for the lemon filling
4 large eggs
250g caster sugar
120ml fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
35g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 170C (150C fan)

Make the shortcake base by placing all the ingredients in a food processor and bringing together in to crumbs.

 

Press in to a 30x20cm tin

Bake for 20 minutes until set and lightly browned.

To make the filling, beat the eggs with the sugar. Pour in the lemon juice and zest.  Whisk.

 

Sift over the flour and baking powder.  Whisk.

 

Pour over the shortcake base and bake for another 25 minutes until set. 

Leave to cool before dusting with icing sugar and cutting in to potions.

Enjoy.

Ina's Potato Salad

Its been a while since I posted anything savoury.  In my last post I mentioned that I went to a day at the races and, in my  opinion, the main event wasn't a horse race but instead the picnic.  This potato salad is a recipe I have seen Ina Garten make a couple of times and since I own pretty much all her cookbooks I knew that I had to have it somewhere.  

I am not a massive fan of potato salad.  The thick gloopy stuff I have tried from supermarkets has always put me off.  Cold mushy potato and lots of mayo isn't really my thing.  This recipe however is so much better and once I made one batch for the picnic it wasn't long (two days later) I was boiling up another pan full of potatoes to make some more to keep in the fridge as my daily side to whatever I decide to put with it. 

The dressing is so good I even found myself pouring it over gem lettuce and adding a few baby tomatoes as a quick snack salad.

In the recipe Ina suggests buttermilk or white wine.  I have only ever used buttermilk but I guess the wine would add an extra dimension and is something I would try another time.

Ina's Potato Salad

1 bag of new potatoes (as many as you think you need)

240ml full fat mayo

60ml buttermilk (or white wine)

2 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp whole grain mustard

60g fresh dill, chopped

2 sticks celery

1/2 small red onion

salt/pepper

Place the potatoes in a pan and cover with cold water.  Add 1 tbsp sea salt.  Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.

 

Drain and place the potatoes back in the hot pan, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to steam for another 15 minutes - this is OFF the heat.

In a jug place the mayo, buttermilk, both mustards and dill.  Add 1 tsp pepper. Mix.

 

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle chop in half, and half again if necessary and place in a large bowl.

Pour over the dressing.  

Remove the strings from the celery with a peeler.  Dice into small pieces.  

Dice the red onion, a similar size to the celery.

Add both to the potato and mix carefully, try not to break them up too much.

Nice warm or cold from the fridge.  

Enjoy.

Cherry Chocolate Brownie Tarts

Hopefully this summer will be filled with plenty of baking, lots of gym and days of sunshine.  I hope to finally get my back garden sorted out, it currently looks like a scene from 'Lost', and host lots of alfresco dinner parties.  

On Friday I went to the races, horse races, at Uttoxeter for a friends birthday.  Although I don't gamble it was an excuse to put together a cracking picnic and bake something yummy for dessert.  This recipe is slightly adapted from 'Smart Tart' by Tamasin Day-Lewis.  I say slightly adapted, basically I baked it as mini tarts instead of the large one she presents.  I have halved the amount of brownie mixture however due to there being far too much for 8 mini tarts - I could have filled at least 16!  The recipe does require cherry brandy, 2 tablespoons, and it can be costly but I managed to get a bottle half price (think it cost me £6)  or Tamasin states using any brandy and adding a teaspoon of almond extract to 'cherry it up'.

It is a bit of a pain to stone the cherries but actually it does not take long.  I didn't bother with any fancy cherry stoner gadgets and just used a sharp knife to cut round the stone, I was done in less then 10 minutes.

Make the pastry in the processor, it takes seconds, and rest it well in the fridge.  I found it much easier to cut it in to 8 equal sized pieces and then rolling out, instead of rolling out the whole lot and cutting to fit the mini cases.  If necessary warm the pastry in the hands before rolling out.

These tarts are great warm from the oven, or chilled (expect more fudge brownie)  I found that they warmed up in the picnic basket and when served where just about right!  I ate them without cream but maybe whipping up some cream with a dash of cherry brandy would really make these special.

Please note that in my photographs I made the original amount of batter - far too much!  So I have scaled it back.  Please ignore the amounts in the photographs.

Cherry Chocolate Brownie Tarts

Makes 8 small tarts

For the pastry

180g '00' plain flour

90g cold unsalted butter

1 egg yolk (save the white)

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 tbsp ice cold water

For the brownie mix

1 punnet of cherries (or a jar of morello cherries if not in season)

2 tbsp cherry brandy (or brandy with 1 tsp almond extract added)

100g dark 70% or greater chocolate

175g unsalted butter

2 large eggs

75g muscovado sugar

75g caster sugar 

1 tsp vanilla extract

60g plain '00' flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp cocoa powder

To make the pasty, place the flour, egg, butter and icing sugar in a food processor.  Pulse until the butter is cut up.  Add the water and process for seconds until the mixture starts to come together (until it starts to come together, not turn in to a ball!)  

 

Tip on to a piece of plastic wrap and bring the pastry together with your hands.  Flatten out, wrap up and place in the fridge for a few hours or better still over night.

Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan)  Place a large baking sheet in the oven to heat up.

Cut the pastry in to eight equal sized pieces and roll out each one to just larger than the tart tin.  Press in and cut of the excess.  

Line the cases with foil and weight down with baking beans (or any dried beans)  

Bake for 20 minutes on top of the hot baking sheet (go to *).  Then remove the oven, lift off the baking beans and foil and dock with a fork.  Brush with the left over egg white and return to the oven for 10 more minutes to dry out.

 

 

*  While the pastry is baking, cut up the cherries, removing the stones.  Place in a bowl and cover with the cherry brandy.  Leave to rest while you continue with the pastry.

 

To make the brownie mix, place the sugar, eggs and vanilla in the bowl of a food mixer fitted with the whisk and turn on high.  Whisk for 3 minutes until very light and pale.

 


While this is mixing, heat 75g of the chocolate and all  the butter in a small pan over a very low heat.  When the chocolate is about melted remove from the heat and mix, allow to cool.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and cocoa.  Whisk on low to beat in.

Pour in the chocolate mixture and whisk again.

Remove the bowl from the machine and tip in the cherries and soaking liquid.  Mix with a large spoon.

 

Transfer spoonfuls in to the pastry cases.  Return to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the tops are slightly firm but still give a little.  Remember you want the mix to be slightly undercooked.

Melt the remaining chocolate in the microwave and pour over the top of the tarts.  If you like you can dip some whole cherries in chocolate and place them on top - just remember to warn people they still contain the stone!  I dusted with a little cocoa.

Enjoy.

Lime and Coconut Cake

I was given a coconut last week...I know, not the sort of thing that gets given as a present often.  Along with the nut was a post-it setting me a challenge to cook something with it.  I flicked through a couple of my cookbooks - thai curry? ice cream? I wasn't sure.  Then I came across 'Fresh Lime and Coconut Cake' in Delia Smith's Cake book.  

I remember watching her make it on her 'Summer Collection' TV series.  

In the recipe she uses desiccated coconut and soaks it in lime juice for an hour to soften.  I thought I would give it a go with fresh coconut and it works!

My first challenge was cracking open the nut.  I wasn't too bothered about saving the water inside (I tried it once in Thailand and didn't really like it).  So I just took the nut outside and gave it a good whack with a rolling pin.  SMACK! It broke perfectly in two.  I was half expecting a crumbled mess on the floor but a perfect split I got.  Then it was just a task of running a sharp knife around the white of the coconut to loosen and remove it.  I cut off any bits of shell still attached.  A quick whizz in the processor and I had tiny pieces of fresh coconut ready to make the cake with.  

This cake uses the 'all in one' method that Delia seems to like in almost all her cake recipes.  Personally I enjoy the process of making a cake and simply putting it all in a bowl and mixing does not cut it for me.  There is something about creaming the butter and sugar for ages, adding the egg a bit at a time, the risk of splitting and all rest that goes with it.  However, this recipe did give me an excuse to use my handheld mixer again!

This cake does not rise that much, its rather flat.  However its very moist and looks fresh and inviting.    The icing is simply lime juice and icing sugar mixed with some coconut milk powder.  

I brought the milk powder from Tesco, but I am sure you can get it cheaper from smaller Chinese supermarkets.  In the brief to the recipe Delia does suggest that nothing else worked and the coconut milk powder is very much required - I would advise getting some if your going to make this recipe, don't try and sub for something else.









Fresh Lime and Coconut Cake
by Delia Smith

For the cake
2 small limes
50g desiccated coconut (or fresh coconut like I did)
115g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
115g caster sugar
115g spreadable butter (I used lurpak spreadable)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tbsp coconut milk powder

For the icing and filling
zest and juice 1 small lime
150g to 175g icing sugar, sifted
3 tbsp coconut milk powder
1 extra lime

IF USING DESICCATED COCONUT - zest the limes, squeeze juice over the coconut and add the zest. Mix and leave for an hour, then continue with the cake.

FRESH COCONUT - zest the limes and juice over the fresh coconut.  You can then continue with the cake straight away.

 

 

Preheat the oven to 170C.  Grease and line two 18cm tins.

Sift the flour and baking powder in to a large bowl.  Add the butter, sugar, eggs and coconut powder.

Using an electric hand whisk (or wooden spoon) mix for a minute until smooth.

Add the soaked coconut mixture and mix again for 30 seconds.

 


Transfer to tins and bake for 25 minutes.  Check for doneness by lightly pressing the tops, if they spring back the cake is ready.

 

Turn on to a cooling rack and leave to cool.

Make the icing by mixing the sifted icing sugar (150g) and lime juice together.  Add the coconut milk powder and mix again.  

 

Zest the extra lime and then remove all the skin (using a sharp knife).  Cut out the little lime segments and add to the icing.  If you think its too runny add the reminding icing sugar (up to 25g)

Pour over the cake and sandwich together.  Pour reminder over the top and allow it to drip.  

Enjoy.