TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

Hey! Hey look! I think I got my baking mojo back this weekend! After godknowshowlong, I finally baked bread again, made some fantastic currant scones, baked next week's TWD pick and this week's - coconut tea cake. All before noon on Saturday. Yeah, I'm awesome and you know it. Okay, maybe just flour-sugar-butter-eggs obsessed, but that's pretty awesome too, no? And out of all of these choices, you know the only one I was worried about turning out was this one? And the only one the fiance even cared to try was this one too? No pressure. No pressure for that returning mojo'o'mine.


Lucky for me, he doesn't like the oddly chewy, fibrous, and overly sweet taste of dried coconut, so that was skipped. And because I occasionally get tired of toting three cookbooks, five obscure ingredients, a KA stand mixer and two baking pans to Madison for the weekend (yes, I have done that before), I halved the recipe and baked it in a 9" round pan. Which after 27 minutes turned out quite an adorably squat little tea cake, barely scented with coconut but nicely light and moist. Knowing, however, that the fiance really does like the taste of coconut (he suggested we just buy a coconut, split it, and use the meat and milk in this tea cake - nuff said), I whipped up a coconut glaze to go on top. A couple spoonfuls of leftover coconut milk, a hefty pinch of salt, and enough powdered sugar to make a pourable glaze worked just right. It was oddly sticky and stretchy though, which may have been due to the different consistency of the coconut milk. Whatevs, I had fun gently coaxing it to dribble over the edges. It had to. That's my favorite part of glazed cakes!


Post-glazing, I announced to the fiance that not only was this staying with him, he needed to taste test it for me right then. How could I let him wait a day or two to taste it, during which it could potentially get dry?!? So ignoring the existence of a fantastically catered anniversary party being thrown by his company that very night, I forced him to eat a wedge. Well, I forced him to take a bite, because that was all he promised. Next thing I knew, he had mowed through the entire wedge. The cake was pronounced barely coconutty but very light and moist and sweet, and the glaze was judged to give just the right amount of coconut kick to the entire thing. Success! The baking mojo returneth!


Last Week: Dulce de Leche Cookies
Next Week: Mocha Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake (with a few tweaks...)

TWD: Dulce de Leche Cookies

Can I just mention something? These photos? NATURAL LIGHT. DURING THE WEEK. Now, to be fair, I only managed this feat because I was up at 4:30a and did my workout (swimming) in the morning rather than after work. But what it meant was that I not only managed to whip these cookies up in no time, I also managed to bake them and photograph them while the sun was still up. I think this calls for confetti. And balloons. Maybe a pinata. No cake though, because I'm a bit sugar-ed out at the moment.

The reason for the sugar overload? Well, that can be placed smack dab on these cookies as well. Natural cane sugar, brown sugar, dulce de leche... Forgive me if I go brush my teeth a few times just thinking about it! A friend of mine had already made these and gave me a few tips though - reduce the sugar, up the salt, and add a little somethin' somethin' to distract from all the sugar. As the good rule and advice follower that I am (ha!), I went with just those suggestions. I reduce the white sugar by half, added a teaspoon of cinnamon, and tripled the salt. Yes, I did say tripled.


After baking, I realized I could have done a couple more things - sprinkling salt on top of the cookies would have given a more assertive nudge to go up against the extreme sweetness of the cookies, and reducing the butter so that they were a bit less greasy. Not to say they aren't good. They're amazing, but just a bit overwhelming on the sweet and caramelly front. So below is my adaptation, with the changes I didn't manage to make as well - thanks to Jodie for picking such a wonderful cookie!

Dulce de Leche Cookies
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt, plus more for topping the cookies
1 tsp cinnamon
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup store-bought dulce de leche, plus more for filling
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Getting ready: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed until soft. Add the Dulce de Leche and both sugars and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Don't be concerned if the mixture looks a little curddled, it will smooth out when the flour mixture is added. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter.

Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets, using a heaping teaspoon of dough for each cookie and leaving 2 inches between them. Sprinkle each sparingly with salt, preferably a flaky finishing salt.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be honey brown with a light sugar crust, but they will be soft, so remove the sheets from the oven but don't touch the cookies for another minute or two. Then, using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure you cool the baking sheets before spooning the dough onto them.

When the cookies are completely cool, spread the flat bottoms of half the cookies with a small amount of dulce de leche, and sandwich with the flat sides of the remaining cookies.

Last Week: Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart
Next Week: Coconut Tea Cake

TWD: Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

Chocolate. Raspberry. Soft, pudding-like baked ganache, surrounding fresh juicy raspberries. This recipe was one of those that has been bookmarked for two years. And after the first time I made the sweet tart dough (seriously my favorite tart dough ever), I knew this was a tart that I needed someone to pick. High stakes, huh? Yeah - doesn't quite explain why there's only one little tart, does it?

This is where life makes my baking come to a screeching halt. Because, you see, I was heading to Chicago for a three day weekend just after making this tart. And so having a full raspberry + chocolate tart would be a bad idea for a couple reasons. One, I'd probably feel required to finish it all, myself, in the two days before leaving. Result? Tummy ache followed by complete inability to fit into cute clothes for traipsing about the city. Two, if I had the willpower to bring it into work, do you really think that my coworkers (those of the cake + frosting sandwiches) would appreciate the hideously overpriced and out-of-season raspberries that I had liberally strewn onto the bottom of the tart? Yeah, um, notsomuch.


Thus, my solution - one mini tart, quickly assembled over two evenings. Never more than 30 minutes of active time meant I could fit it in even with a couple long days at work. I also was able to stuff the tart as full of raspberries as possible, since that was a comment I saw relatively often about this tart - big on chocolate, needed to be bigger on raspberries. Come to think of it, it'd probably be fantastic if you spread a thin-ish layer of raspberry preserves on the bottom of the crust before scattering the raspberries on and pouring in the chocolate. But in the end, even I was thwarted - I ended up bringing it into work and handing it off to a friend. That's right - not a single bite for me, thanks to a churning stomach post-swim workout.


Unfortunately, her reaction was decidedly meh on this little tart. Not entirely sure what happened, but it just didn't seem to come together the way the idea worked in my head. Not to mention that the end result looks unpleasantly wart-y thanks to the raspberries sticking up outside the ganache - I'd rather have smooshed them down a bit pre-chocolate so I wouldn't have that, but didn't think about it while I was assembling. Live and learn, eh? And I guess now I have to move on to the next thing I can't wait for someone to pick - Dorie's cream scones! While I've made them dozens of times, they're still my ultimate favorite recipe in the entire book. A true winner.


Last Week: Jam Thumbprints
Next Week: Dulce de Leche Duos (I was told by a friend these were slightly one-dimensional, so I'm scheming up ways to spice them up. Any ideas, feel free to share!)

TWD: Jam Thumbprints

NOW WITH 500% MORE PICTURES!!
*achem*

Just last weekend, the fiance and I were in South Bend for wedding planning stuffs. Yeah, it's pretty exciting - since we have to have six pre-marital counseling sessions with the priest who will be officiating, the trips back to my parents' house have increased in frequency by quite a bit. Not that I'm really going to complain, since my dad cooks amazing food and I get to play with their seven-month-old beagle puppy. And we got to try the pulled pork that we'll be having at the reception. It was awesome, in case you were wondering. And yes, if we had gone with a summer wedding, I would have been all over the hog roast idea.


But it also means tests. Yeah. Fr. Michael had us taking a 164 question test over those really exciting common points of conflict - money, family, sex, work. Evidently I test too quickly though (he told me not to think too long about my answers!), because I was done in seven minutes. Oops. But hey - in the end, we aced it. Out of 164 questions, we were in agreement on all but 17. Go us, right?! Even better was when the priest left the room to score them, and we started talking through the questions. Questions like: Does your future spouse's use of alcohol worry you? The fiance looked at me and said, "If I didn't know we needed to take this seriously, my answer would have been yes." My response? "Yes, I need to drink more, right?" And we just broke down laughing. Then there was the "Do you expect your future spouse to change once you are married?" Evidently, he almost put down yes - that I would need to bake less!


Needless to say, I threatened pre-marital divorce for that one. (Is that even possible? Whatever, just roll with it, k?) Because really? Me stop baking? Yeah, notsomuch sweetie. I mean, that and running are my stress relievers, and you so do not want to see me without my stress relievers. Luckily, he was joking, so no pre-marital divorce necessary. Which brings me not so neatly to this week's TWD selection by Mike: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys. This cookie? It strikes me as a bit of a twee wittle name for cookies meant for grownups, so I'm shortening it to Jam Thumbprints. Not to be confused with the Best Cookie Ever, my family's jam thimble cookies. Let's just say Dorie had some stiff competition, because I adore my current thimble cookie recipe. It's wonderful, barely sweet, sturdy, and delicious when filled with jam.


So how did Dorie do? Well, she didn't unseat my current recipe, but it was an admirable showing. Her cookies are more delicate, thanks to the almond meal I used instead of the hazelnuts she calls for. I really enjoyed the addition of almond extract to the dough - that's one thing I might include in my current recipe now that I've tried it. They do puff a bit more than mine do, so much so that I had to re-thumbprint each and every cookie when they came out of the oven. These are dainty cookies, meant to have alongside a cup of tea, so it isn't Dorie's fault that I like my cookies a bit sturdier, alongside a big mug of tea. I have no doubt that they will quickly disappear when I bring them into work tomorrow though, and to me, there is no higher compliment.


Last Week: Toasted Coconut Custard Tart
Next Week: Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart (to splurge or not to splurge on fresh raspberries...)

TWD: Toasted Coconut Custard Tart

I know not everyone will agree with me, but there are just some times when I realize how accurate some religious stereotypes are.* For instance, us Catholics. After 13 years of Catholic school, in which I went to Mass 4-5 times a week, every week, a couple things stick with me from the whole experience. One of those is entirely positive - when the fiance and I became, well, the fiance and I, I realized that the only way the wedding would feel right would be to have it in a Catholic church. With a priest. And a full Catholic mass. It felt right. It feels more official that way. But the other thing that came out of this whole Catholic education thing? Guilt.

Yes, guilt. We Catholics are good at it. If you type "Catholic g" into Google, one of the first choices Google gives you is "Catholic guilt." For serious. How does this relate to this week's TWD pick, Toasted Coconut Custard Tart? WELL. Let me tell you, I will eat just about anything. I love sweets, tarts, cakes, and everything sweet and sugary. Things I'd choose not to eat if they're presented to me though? Anything with coconut. Anything with pastry cream. Anything with meringue topping. Yeah. Wanna guess what this tart is like? Sweet tart crust. Coconut pastry cream. Meringue topping. Toasted coconut on top. Um yeah, thanks but no thanks.

Even when I was talking to Shanna and Jacqui about my plans for the next day (BABKA!), I wasn't sure if I'd get around to making this tart. I joked with them that I'd probably guilt myself into it and make it on Monday. Another guessing game for you - wanna guess if I made this? Because I did. On Sunday afternoon, while watching the US-Canana hockey game. *sigh* I just can't help myself, can I? I mean, it's full of things I don't like. But guilt got in the way, big time. I've been in TWD for over two years now, and no coconut, pastry cream, or meringue topping was going to get in the way of me making this week's choice!

So make it I did. In my coconut-disliking defense, I sixthed the recipe and left out the coconut on top. And then I left the mini tart that I had made for the fiance to polish off, since he actually likes coconut, the weirdo.

Nikon Note: Yep, the final one - I received my camera back in perfect working condition yesterday! So starting with the next post on this here blog, there shall be pictures! Needless to say, I'm excited.

* Yes, I am Catholic. I'm Irish Catholic. I still go to Mass. Consider this post to be me making fun of me, not anything against all other Catholics. Please, take it in fun. I'm not a reliable source anyway, right?

Last Week: Honey Wheat Cookies (upon further review, could be improved by less sugar and the addition of some fruit)
Next Week: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys (they'll have stiff competition - I do adore my thimble cookie recipe...)