Simple Coconut Biscuits

This is a delicious coconut biscuit, which pairs wonderfully with the previous two desserts, but could also be a gluten free and fancy take an on Anzac biscuit. These are perfect to serve with any tropical dessert, like my passion fruit posset and my passion fruit granita. They would also be perfect with any tropical sorbet or ice cream, in place of the the typical boring and bland wafer.

These are quite obviously no lookers, but if you like coconut then there one of the best coconut biscuits you'll have (as its basically just all coconut).They also seem really healthy as its just egg white which is high in protein, and sugar... errr......maybe not! but at least they don't have butter!!

The only downside is that you have to do the Great British Bake Off pose by constantly staring into the oven until it's baked, as they can quite easily go from a lovely golden colour, to a super dark brown colour, which makes the coconut taste bitter.

These are super fragile, so be careful when you handle them. Along with either of the passion fruit desserts from my previous posts, these can be made up to 3 days ahead just kept in a airtight container, to make dinner party hosting, that little bit easier and less stressful.

Ingredients 

1 egg white 
100g desiccated coconut
1 tsp sesame seeds 
50g caster sugar

1. preheat the oven to 180c 
2. beat the egg whites until fluffy 
3. stir in the sesame seeds, sugar and coconut 
4. lay out teaspoonfuls of mixture onto a non stick lined baking trays, lightly press the mixture in rounds
5. bake for 8 mins, or until golden brown at the edges
6. take out and leave to cool slightly and "set" before moving to a cooling rack and leaving to cool completely

Ginger, Lime and Coconut Crunch

Yes, I do realise that I've made something similar before, but the best recipes are the ones you keep going back to. This twist to a classic ginger crunch, is my new favourite. You could even go wild and combine my other recipe with a twist, to create the ultimate hybrid. Here's the first with added stem ginger, for an extra ginger hit.

If you didn't know already I love citrus, especially limes and lemons. I also love coconut, and have coconut milk on my porridge every morning, but I especially love it in baking, like Anzac biscuits or adding it to granola. So paring, some of my two favourite things, with ginger is obviously going to be super tasty, and I won't lie, the inspiration behind the pairing of the lime and ginger, is from ginger mojito( recipe coming soon!!). 

The icing I did to taste, but this is a rough guide, it will depend on the size of your limes, and strength of your ginger will also alter, depending on the freshness. Feel free to double the base mixture, if you prefer it a bit thicker and a 1:1 ratio, I like a slightly thinner base than icing, as its a bit easier to eat. If making this in advance, leave the base in the oven for a few extra minutes, for it can really crisp up like a biscuit, as it will soften slightly when you put the icing on top. 

Ingredients
for the base:
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup desiccated coconut 
1/2 cup sugar
125g butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

for the icing:
150g butter
90g golden syrup
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
zest of 1 lime
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp ginger syrup

1. preheat the oven to 180c
2. for the base beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy 
3. add in the rest of the ingredients, and mix until evenly combined(it's a quite dry mixture)
4. press into a large tin, bake for 20 mins or until golden and firm to touch
5. leave to cool. meanwhile make the icing
6. melt the butter, both syrups and ginger until smooth, then add in the icing sugar and zest. add in the lime juice to taste. Adjust the lime and ginger to taste
7. pour over the base, and smooth to the edges.
8. sprinkle of extra lime zest if wished, and leave to set before slicing.

Ginger and Lime Drizzle Cake

 If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you know i love a drizzle cake, or any cake that contains some form of citrus fruit. Oh, and that I'm not very good at doing seasonal baking, but here you have a combination, with the freshness of the lime, and the warmth from the ginger, so is great if you want a light and fresher alternative to a Christmas cake or ginger cake, to serve at Christmas; handy if you have a warm weather Christmas. And as promised more Christmas food is coming super soon.

Fresh and citrus cakes always perk me up, and I love making them when the suns shining, but to be honest when its grey and miserable, and considering its the 1st of December, nothing has quote hit the spot, like my filo pastry mince pies and may, or may not, have had two yesterday(just eating my mums and sisters for them, since they can't, obviously). 

I personally love coconut, and thought it added something different, but if you don't like coconut, replace it with ground almond, or if your allergic just replace with more plain flour. I also had an extra lime, so added the zest the the drizzle mixture, as i think the speckles of green look pretty. If your serving it for someone special, top with chopped crystallised ginger for an extra ginger hit.

 Ingredients


200g butter
175g caster sugar
4 limes
3 large eggs
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
50g dessicated coconut
4 balls of stem ginger, chopped
2 tbsp milk
35g granulated sugar
3 tbsp stem ginger syrup

1. preheat the oven to 180°/gas 4, and line and grease a loaf tin 
2. beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
3. gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition.add in the zest of the limes
4. gently fold in the sifted flour, ginger and baking powder, along with the coconut and stem ginger.
5. add in the juice of 2 limes and the milk. spoon the mixture into a prepared tin (don't worry if the mixture looks slightly curdled mine did this and was absolutely fine).
6. bake for 1hr or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean
7. meanwhile mix the juice of the remaining 2 limes, granulated sugar and the ginger syrup
8. once the cake has cooked immediately spoon over the drizzle. cool fully in the tin

Sticky Gingerbread Loaf

With the weather slowly getting warmer, and the first day of spring a few days ago; i thought i would say farewell to the cold, and perhaps rain? Who am i kidding! i live in England. To say "goodbye",I made a sticky gingerbread loaf, with all the wintry spices, that warm you from the inside out( I'm talking about the ginger, btw).

 

I made this for my dads birthday,(yes, i know it was in May, i just haven't got round to posting this yet. Sorry.) it kept well, so is a great choice if you know someone doesn't eat allot of cake, but you still want to give them something.

Serve it with butter, which is what we had it with, as it was quite dense like a malt loaf. or if you wanted to turn it into a dessert, warm it up and serve with hot custard. If your going to serve it as a pudding, or eat it on its own with a fork, to make it even more gingery and delicious, when its still warm pour over stem ginger syrup with chopped stem ginger pieces. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
350g flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 whole nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 tbsp milk
175g black treacle
175g golden syrup
175g dark brown soft sugar
175g butter
2 eggs, beaten

1. preheat oven 170°
2. sift flour and spices( incl the pepper) together
3. mix the bicarb and milk together, set aside
4. melt the treacle, golden syrup, sugar and butter with  150ml water, until blended
5. add the syrup mixture to the flour, beat vigorously with a wooden spoon
6. when the mixture is smooth beat in the eggs, a little at a time
7. then beat in the milk and bicarb mixture
8. pour into a prepared tin and bake for 1 1/4- 1 1/2 hrs, until well risen, firm to the touch and has slightly shrunk away from the sides
9. remove,allow to cool. 
10. best eaten when matured for a few days. enjoy