Tuesdays with Dorie: Almond Tea Cake

This week Carmen of Carmen Cooks chose Dorie's Coconut Tea Cake. I know a few weeks ago I raved about the toasted coconut custard tart but in reality, that was enough coconut to last me about a year. So, rather than skip a week I simply skipped the coconut!

I opted to make an almond tea cake instead and it was wonderful.

All I did was use regular milk instead of the coconut and flaked almonds both in and on top of my little cake. And I do mean little - the photos are quite deceptive because I made just 1/4 of the recipe in a baby loaf pan, about the size of a muffin!

The taste test ...

I love 'plain' cakes like this. To me they are so satisfying and comforting and like Dorie says, they are something you can cut a slice from every time you walk through the kitchen. I was a little worried how it would turn out because the cake mix was like a runny pancake batter but it baked up beautifully and was fabulously moist.

While it was still warm I brushed the top with melted butter and dusted over some cinnamon sugar. It really doesn't get much better than that!

Thanks for a great pick Carmen!

And also my apologies to Jody of Beansy Loves Cake for skipping the Dulce de Leche Duos. My grandmother passed away last week, aged 84, and my heart just wasn't into baking.

I really have to credit my grandma for my love of cooking. While my mum was a pretty good cook she never really enjoyed it. Grandma, on the other hand, seemed to find it therapeutic rather than a chore and turned out some wonderful meals. I took Oscar to see her in hospital a few days before she died and she was thrilled to see him. She will be missed :-(

Mango Frozen Yoghurt Dessert with Rosewater and Cardamom

I was inspired by Kim's blog to try out some frozen yoghurt. All of us love our icecreams, but Kay's on a healthy kick so we are trying to cut down on the fat. I didn't like the frozen yoghurts I got from the supermarket, so when Kim blogged about the strawberry yoghurt icecream, it was a kick to try my own version instead of just moaning about the supermarket ones.

I love mangoes, but find that fresh ones here are brutally expensive, plus they have not got the real mangoey flavour that I am used to. So I decided to use tinned alphonso mango puree that is available at most Indian grocers. I found mine at the Indian House of Spices in Edmonton (there's a story about how I found the store, but more on that in a later post) and bought two big tins. Most of these tins will already have been sweetened and will have citric acid, so you don't need to use lemon juice or very much sugar. I tend to use pineapple juice to give the yoghurt a tropical flavour (as if the mangoes were'nt enough!). This would taste amazing with fresh mango puree though, so if you happen to have some ripe mangoes around, I do suggest you try using those instead. The rosewater and powdered cardamom give the yoghurt a lovely fragrant aroma, along with a slight spiciness, which I like.

I don't have an icecream maker, so the method I use is detailed below. The texture of the dessert is almost sorbet like, but creamier. I will put up more pics tomorrow, as I am serving this up as a dessert for a dinner party. The pic today is the batch I made to test the recipe out, and it got the thumbs up from Kay and Aditi (who scoffed a whole bowl up and wanted more!)

This would work with a lot of other fruits as well as with flavours like chai, which is my next project.

Mango Frozen Yoghurt

2 cups pureed mango (use tinned for an easy out-of-season treat) 500 ml

1 cup greek style yoghurt or plain natural yoghurt - 250 ml

1 tsp rosewater

2 tbsp orange or pineapple juice

1 cardamom pod, seeds removed and crushed to a fine powder (optional)

4 tsp white caster sugar

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp roughly chopped unsalted pistachios (opt)

Mint leaves to garnish

Hang the yoghurt up at least 2 hours in a muslin or thin cotton cloth, if you are able (and don’t have a curious cat!), as it drains the water out of the yoghurt and makes for a much creamier dessert. To hang, spread the cloth out into a bowl, put the yoghurt into the middle and bring together the edges of the cloth. Wrap a rubber band around the fold and tie the cloth over a sink or somewhere, with a bowl under it to catch the drained water.

Mix together the mango puree, rosewater, orange/ pineapple juice, sugar and crushed cardamom seeds.

Whisk the yoghurt into the mango mixture until it’s all well mixed together and creamy.

As I don’t have an icecream maker (are you reading this, husband?) I used the ‘take-out and beat every hour for four hours’ method. Basically, put the yoghurt into a freezable bowl, freeze for an hour, take out and whisk well, put back, freeze another hour, take out and whisk well... you get it! At the fourth whisk, swirl in the honey, don’t over mix, you want streaks of it through the dessert.

After the fourth hour, leave to freeze overnight or for six hours at least. Take out and rest for 10 minutes or so before serving. Serve with the chopped pistachios and mint leaves as garnish.

Enjoy!

Daring Bakers March - Orange Tian

Have you heard of a tian? I hadn't either but what a lovely dessert this turned out to be!

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

This dessert involved making several components including a citrus caramel, whipped cream filling and biscuit base, but the one that had me really excited was the marmalade. Yep, we had to make our own marmalade for this challenge!

I love jam and making it has been on my to-do list for years. I think the fact you need to sterilise jars and so on has scared me away but really, you can just make a small amount to store in the fridge and eat within a couple of weeks.

Almost everything for the tian came together really easily and I prepared all the components in one day. I opted to make just one small (4") tian as were in dessert overload that week.

In the end the only element I struggled with was the marmalade. I wasn't sure where to get pectin from but I had seen a jam setting sugar at the supermarket in the past so I went hunting for that. Once I had the sugar I needed oranges (obviously) and chose some lovely looking navel oranges. Now I think these were the wrong type to get because the pith was about 1cm thick on all of them. I blanched the oranges 5 times to hopefully remove any bitterness and it turned out fine. My issue was with the final taste. For some reason this tasted like jam that had been sitting around in a cupboard for too long. The sugar was still 1 year within the use-by date but I am not convinced. I still don't know whether it was the sugar or the oranges that gave the marmalade its strange aftertaste BUT I do know I am no longer scared of making jam!

The taste test ...

Surprisingly light! Lovely contrast between the crunchy base, smooth cream filling and fresh orange segments. I did add the citrus caramel after I took the photo but I think it was unnecessary and really dialled up the sweetness into excess.

This would be a wonderful dinner party desssert as not only does it look and taste spectacular, it can be totally prepared in advance.

Thank you Jennifer for a wonderful challenge!

Artichoke Bites

Another recipe from the Best of Bridge, you can get the recipe here.

Its like a heavier version of a quiche. I love artichokes at the best of times, and I love them in any recipe, but particularly in this one. I made mine in a round quiche pan. The next time I make them I plan on putting them in a light shortcrust and leaving out the breadcrumbs (which make the bites heavier)

They are great as appetisers or you could do what we did and eat with a salad which made for a lovely evening meal. They can be eaten hot or cold, which is nice and versatile.

Enjoy!

Baby vaccinations

Baby vaccinations

The vaccinations also called immunizations are very effective and give infants power to resist contagious and serious health conditions. This will protect the babies against many diseases such as tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, mumps, polio virus, hepatitis B and Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.This immunization and vaccination schedule may vary depending upon where you live, your child's health, the type of vaccine, and the vaccines available. Ask your doctor about which vaccines your child should receive. Check with your doctor or nurse to make sure your baby is getting immunized on time. Also make sure you ask your doctor or nurse to give you a record card with all the dates of your baby's shots and be sure to bring it to every visit.

Your baby need vaccinations or immunizations due to the following reasons. Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material in the infant's body. The importance of immunization is that it helps to protect the infant's body against any infectious disease. It offers the life- long protection and security to the infant against deadly diseases which might invade its body any time through out its life.

Your baby's vaccination and immunization schedule may recommend the following vaccines:

* Birth- Hepatitis B
* 1-2 months- hepatitis B
* 2 months- DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine, Hib vaccine, polio vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)
* 4 months- DTaP, Hib vaccine, polio vaccine, PCV.
* 6 months- DTaP, Hib, polio (6-18 months), PCV, hepatitis B (6-18 months)
* 12 months- MMR (12-15 months), Hib (12-15 months), chicken pox (12-18 months), PCV (12-15 months)
* 15 months- DTap (12-18 months)


1. Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccines (DTaP): Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis are serious diseases caused by bacteria. Diphtheria and Pertussis are spread from person to person. Tetanus enters the body through cuts or wounds.

Diphtheria causes a thick covering in the back of the throat and nose. It can lead to breathing problems, paralysis and heart attack.

Tetanus (Lockjaw) Vaccine: Tetanus causes painful tightening of the muscles, usually all over the body. It can lead to locking of the jaw so the baby cannot open his mouth or swallow.

Pertussis (Whooping Cough) vaccine: Pertussis causes coughing spells so bad that is hard for babies to eat, drink, or breathe. These spells can last for weeks. It can lead to pneumonia, seizures and brain damage.

Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DTaP) can help prevent these diseases. Most babies who are vaccinated with DTaP will be protected throughout childhood.

Babies should get 5 doses of DTaP vaccine or immunization, one dose at each of the following ages:

* 2 months
* 4 months
* 6 months
* 15-18 months
* 4-6 years

Baby vaccinations

Baby vaccinations

The vaccinations also called immunizations are very effective and give infants power to resist contagious and serious health conditions. This will protect the babies against many diseases such as tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, mumps, polio virus, hepatitis B and Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.This immunization and vaccination schedule may vary depending upon where you live, your child's health, the type of vaccine, and the vaccines available. Ask your doctor about which vaccines your child should receive. Check with your doctor or nurse to make sure your baby is getting immunized on time. Also make sure you ask your doctor or nurse to give you a record card with all the dates of your baby's shots and be sure to bring it to every visit.

Your baby need vaccinations or immunizations due to the following reasons. Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material in the infant's body. The importance of immunization is that it helps to protect the infant's body against any infectious disease. It offers the life- long protection and security to the infant against deadly diseases which might invade its body any time through out its life.

Your baby's vaccination and immunization schedule may recommend the following vaccines:

* Birth- Hepatitis B
* 1-2 months- hepatitis B
* 2 months- DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine, Hib vaccine, polio vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)
* 4 months- DTaP, Hib vaccine, polio vaccine, PCV.
* 6 months- DTaP, Hib, polio (6-18 months), PCV, hepatitis B (6-18 months)
* 12 months- MMR (12-15 months), Hib (12-15 months), chicken pox (12-18 months), PCV (12-15 months)
* 15 months- DTap (12-18 months)


1. Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccines (DTaP): Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis are serious diseases caused by bacteria. Diphtheria and Pertussis are spread from person to person. Tetanus enters the body through cuts or wounds.

Diphtheria causes a thick covering in the back of the throat and nose. It can lead to breathing problems, paralysis and heart attack.

Tetanus (Lockjaw) Vaccine: Tetanus causes painful tightening of the muscles, usually all over the body. It can lead to locking of the jaw so the baby cannot open his mouth or swallow.

Pertussis (Whooping Cough) vaccine: Pertussis causes coughing spells so bad that is hard for babies to eat, drink, or breathe. These spells can last for weeks. It can lead to pneumonia, seizures and brain damage.

Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DTaP) can help prevent these diseases. Most babies who are vaccinated with DTaP will be protected throughout childhood.

Babies should get 5 doses of DTaP vaccine or immunization, one dose at each of the following ages:

* 2 months
* 4 months
* 6 months
* 15-18 months
* 4-6 years

Crab, Artichoke and Assorted Veggies Dip

This is a very easy, but really tasty dip for everything. You can also use it as a sandwich filler, or to fill canapes. I serve mine with little tortilla chips or, straight on a toasted slice of sourdough. This can be calorific, I get around by using light mayo and fat free soft cheese. Philadelphia Cream Cheese is good, as is Hellman's Light Mayo. You can vary by using different flavours of Philly or replacing veggies with different ones. Leave out the crab, if you wish, to make a veggie version [or make it cheaper :-)] You can either used tinned artichoke hearts or the marinated ones, it won't make a massive difference.

The basis of this recipe is from my 'Best of the Best' Cookbook, which was given to me by MIL as a 'Welcome to Canada' present. I have made several recipes out of it and I will blog them soon, especially as they have almost all turned out exceptionally well.

Here's the recipe:

Around 300 g fat free cream cheese (plain or flavoured)
Around 100 ml light mayo
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp or to taste of lemon juice
About 200 g of artichoke hearts, chopped roughly
1 250 g tub or can of white crabmeat (Marks and Spencer's do a good tub, but its expensive, so you may want to save this for something special!)
1 stalk spring onion, finely sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 red/ yellow/ orange pepper, chopped fine

Whisk the cream cheese and mayonnaise until nice and smooth. Add the salt/ pepper/ Worcester sauce and mix well. Add the lemon juice, taste and adjust seasoning to your taste. Stir in the artichokes, veggies and the crabmeat, folding until well mixed. Taste again and adjust seasoning.

Serve with crisps, tortilla chips, toasted bread, or pretty much anything that takes your fancy :-)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

My husband has had his eye on this recipe since day one so was very excited it was picked for March. Big thanks to Rachelle of Mommy? I'm hungry! for making his day!

I made a half recipe which fit perfectly in a 6" pan. I used all dark chocolate with frozen raspberries and it worked perfectly. Not so the sweet tart dough with nuts which I tried for the first time. The consistency was just plain weird, almost like a coconut macaroon and very crumbly.

The taste test ...

Chocolate and raspberry is a classic combination so I knew we would all love this. But what really sold me was the texture of the filling. At room temperature it was smooth and oh so silky. Straight out of the fridge it was like chocolate fudge. Absolutely delicious! I didn't love the crust though and probably won't make the tart dough with nuts again, especially when I know how good the original version is.

Thanks for a great pick Rachelle! You can find the recipe on her blog under today's date.

Daring Cooks March - Risotto

This month's Daring Cooks challenge was all about comfort food. The meal? Risotto!

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

I adore risotto so we tend to have it quite regularly. I do admit to cheating though and using premade stock. Not this time though.

The recipe in the MasterChef cookbook (which I happened to receive for Christmas) was for a pumpkin risotto. Hubby hates pumpkin with a passion so I chose to do a roast chicken and garlic risotto instead.

You don't really need a recipe for stock. I roasted 2kg of chicken drumsticks with 2 whole heads of garlic at 200 degrees for a couple of hours. I sauteed a couple of leeks in olive oil then added the chicken and garlic. Covered the whole lot with water, brought to the boil then simmered for 2 1/2 hours. Removed the meat from the bones and stored separately. Refrigerated the stock overnight then removed the fat on the surface. Bring the stock back up to the boil then strain and you are ready to go.

The verdict? Yum! The homemade stock really takes this dish from easy weeknight meal to dinner party showstopper. Absolutely delish and very easy to do.

Thanks for a great challenge girls! You can find the challenge recipe on MelbournefoodGeek or Jessthebaker.

Teeth brushing and care -Baby

Teeth brushing and care

As soon as your baby has teeth, they’re going to need care and attention to keep them in good condition. Well cared for milk teeth play an important role in determining the health of permanent teeth, so it’s vital to look after that first set of twenty baby teeth.

Make brushing more fun

It’s natural for your baby to want to resist having his teeth brushed. To make it more enjoyable for you both, try cleaning your teeth first to show him that it’s something normal. Use a colourful brand of toothpaste and a novelty toothbrush if it helps.

If you’re in front of a bathroom mirror, try and get your baby interested in their reflection to keep him entertained. You can also try cradling your baby in your arms to make it easier for you to reach to his teeth and create a more comfortable experience for you both

Your baby may be experiencing growth spurts at this time and will demand more frequent feeding. This is when you’ll be thinking about starting solids. Everyone from your mum, to your friends and family, will have an opinion – which is why we’ll give you straightforward advice from our experienced nutritionists.

Teeth brushing and care -Baby

Teeth brushing and care

As soon as your baby has teeth, they’re going to need care and attention to keep them in good condition. Well cared for milk teeth play an important role in determining the health of permanent teeth, so it’s vital to look after that first set of twenty baby teeth.

Make brushing more fun

It’s natural for your baby to want to resist having his teeth brushed. To make it more enjoyable for you both, try cleaning your teeth first to show him that it’s something normal. Use a colourful brand of toothpaste and a novelty toothbrush if it helps.

If you’re in front of a bathroom mirror, try and get your baby interested in their reflection to keep him entertained. You can also try cradling your baby in your arms to make it easier for you to reach to his teeth and create a more comfortable experience for you both

Your baby may be experiencing growth spurts at this time and will demand more frequent feeding. This is when you’ll be thinking about starting solids. Everyone from your mum, to your friends and family, will have an opinion – which is why we’ll give you straightforward advice from our experienced nutritionists.

Healthy Babyfood is Simple, Pure and Natural

Healthy Babyfood Matters!

Healthy babyfood sets the template for lifelong eating habits and affects a baby's health
and relationship with food for the rest of its life. During babyhood, babies develop their taste for good food, they lay down fat cells, and go through important stages of physical development in a very short space of time.

It is vitally important that we feed babies what is good and natural to their metabolisms during this formative period.
When you have a baby, you should start as you mean to go on, in order to set down an early pattern of good food habits for your child. If you want your child to grow up liking good, healthy food, you need to start her off with healthy babyfood.

Breastfeeding is unequivocally the best possible start you can give to your baby in terms of her future health and eating habits. It is simply the best, the healthiest babyfood and should always be the first option to consider.

If you are pregnant, or are currently a breastfeeding mother, I would highly recommend this specialist breastfeeding site, www.breastfeeding-magazine.com where you will find a wealth of helpful information and resources and an online community of like-minded people, which is so important.

Introducing Solids
Around six months of age, is the recommended time to start introducing solid foods to your baby. You can begin at four months, but it is generally believed that this increases the risk of your child developing food allergies
. Waiting that little bit longer gives a baby that little bit of extra protection, as its digestive system has had a little more time to develop.

When the time is right to start your baby on solids, start introducing well-chosen, healthy babyfood, one at a time. Certain foods are not suitable at this stage and should be avoided

Healthy Babyfood is Simple, Pure and Natural

In general, the food you give to a baby should be as natural and unprocessed as possible. Choosing organic food for your baby is hugely beneficial to a baby's health. This is because your baby has a less developed blood-barrier system to protect it from food chemicals.

And, a baby's body, being smaller than an adult's, gets a proportionately higher dose of whatever chemicals are present in food. The so-called 'safe levels' of agri-chemicals have been tested as safe for adults, not for babies, or children.

Also, a baby has all of its physical development to go through until it reaches adult maturity. This entire developmental process comes under the influence of whatever chemicals a baby consumes in food.

Healthy Babyfood is Simple, Pure and Natural

Healthy Babyfood Matters!

Healthy babyfood sets the template for lifelong eating habits and affects a baby's health
and relationship with food for the rest of its life. During babyhood, babies develop their taste for good food, they lay down fat cells, and go through important stages of physical development in a very short space of time.

It is vitally important that we feed babies what is good and natural to their metabolisms during this formative period.
When you have a baby, you should start as you mean to go on, in order to set down an early pattern of good food habits for your child. If you want your child to grow up liking good, healthy food, you need to start her off with healthy babyfood.

Breastfeeding is unequivocally the best possible start you can give to your baby in terms of her future health and eating habits. It is simply the best, the healthiest babyfood and should always be the first option to consider.

If you are pregnant, or are currently a breastfeeding mother, I would highly recommend this specialist breastfeeding site, www.breastfeeding-magazine.com where you will find a wealth of helpful information and resources and an online community of like-minded people, which is so important.

Introducing Solids
Around six months of age, is the recommended time to start introducing solid foods to your baby. You can begin at four months, but it is generally believed that this increases the risk of your child developing food allergies
. Waiting that little bit longer gives a baby that little bit of extra protection, as its digestive system has had a little more time to develop.

When the time is right to start your baby on solids, start introducing well-chosen, healthy babyfood, one at a time. Certain foods are not suitable at this stage and should be avoided

Healthy Babyfood is Simple, Pure and Natural

In general, the food you give to a baby should be as natural and unprocessed as possible. Choosing organic food for your baby is hugely beneficial to a baby's health. This is because your baby has a less developed blood-barrier system to protect it from food chemicals.

And, a baby's body, being smaller than an adult's, gets a proportionately higher dose of whatever chemicals are present in food. The so-called 'safe levels' of agri-chemicals have been tested as safe for adults, not for babies, or children.

Also, a baby has all of its physical development to go through until it reaches adult maturity. This entire developmental process comes under the influence of whatever chemicals a baby consumes in food.

The MasterChef Cookbook

Just wanted to let you all know that I am in the Masterchef Cookbook, by the way. I have three recipes, the curried butternut squash soup, the chicken sukka and the bafat pork :-) Bad pic, sorry!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys

I do love recipes with jam. My grandmother used to make the BEST jam tarts with beautiful homemade shortcrust pastry. I would always get the leftover scraps of pastry shaped into a cookie with a big dollop of jam in the middle.

Here in Australia we'd call these jam drops, not thumbprints, but whatever you call them they rock! Buttery, nutty, jammy and just plain delicious.

I tweaked the recipe slightly using ground pistachios instead of hazelnuts, so my cookies had a lovely green tint. I also thought it was the perfect opportunity to open my jar of Maggie Beer's Burnt Fig Jam. This stuff is thick and as black as tar but the flavour? Out of this world. Burning the jam really intensifies the fig flavour and takes the edge off the sticky sweetness. Because it is so thick I didn't heat it as per the recipe, just scooped straight onto each cookie. Messy but good.

(On a side note, anyone else out there really miss The Cook & The Chef? Thank goodness for repeats.)

The combination of pistachio and fig was fantastic. I will be making these again.

Thanks to Mike of Ugly Food for an Ugly Dude for this week's pick!

A new addition!

Holden Billie Jones

We also have a new addition to the family! Everyone, meet our cat Holden Billie Jones. I wonder if I have to change the name of the blog to 'Food, Football, Cat and a Toddler' :-)?

Oat and Spice Biscuits (Sorry, M-I-L, Cookies)

First blog post from new home and new kitchen!

We're renting at the moment, but I really hope we'll have a house of our own fairly soon. How exciting!! Plus, we finally have an unfurnished flat, so we actually had to buy our own furniture... oooh, the committment!!

I do have a moving diary to post as well, but I'll do that once our things have finally shipped over. Let's just say Manchester - London - Mumbai - London - Vancouver - Edmonton is a very loooooooong trip :-)

Back to the biscuits (I am stubbornly resisting calling them cookies!!). These are part of my lovely mom-in-law's Christmas baking and I absolutely adore these. They have a lovely hint of spice and are pretty tasty. MIL calls them 'Dad's Cookies', as they are modelled after a biscuit brand here called that. I don't know about 'Dad's Cookies' but these ones are pretty great. They are fairly easy to make and you can add extra things like raisins, nuts etc to make them more substantial, if you wish. The only difference from MIL's original recipe is that I add a touch of ground ginger as I love ginger and I can eat it all day if I have to :-)

Here's the recipe, the measures are Canadian, but 1 cup = 250 ml.

Rolled Oats / Spice Cookies (Dad’s Cookies)

1 cup shortening (or margarine)

1 cup white caster sugar

½ cup soft brown sugar

1 egg

1½ cups plain flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp salt

1 cup dessicated coconut

1½ cups rolled oats

2 tbsp molasses (warmed runny treacle)

1 tsp vanilla

• Cream together shortening, white and brown sugars.
  

• Beat in the egg and vanilla.
  

• Mix in the rest of the ingredients and stir well until it comes together into a powdery dough, it doesn't have to be all pulled together,

• Roll into 1 inch balls or bigger, if you want bigger biscuits.
  

• Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet.

• Bake in a slow oven, 300 F (150 C), for about 20 minutes, until well browned and flattened. The biscuit may still be soft when it comes out of the oven, but it will crisp up on cooling down.

• There is no need to flatten the dough balls before baking – they will flatten during baking.
  

Enjoy!!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart

If I'm 100% honest, my reaction to discovering Beryl of Cinemon Girl had picked the Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart was a groan. I'm not the hugest fan of coconut but really I was picturing hubby's reaction to learning his weekly TWD dessert contained two of his least favourite things, being coconut and rum!

After careful consideration of the recipe (and in light of our newly upheld participation requirements) I decided I would make the smallest possible version, just 1/6th of the recipe. My plans went astray though when I made the full batch of sweet tart dough and automatically pressed it into a 9 inch pan. I figured the universe had spoken so went ahead and made the full recipe hoping I wouldn't have to eat it all myself or worse, throw 90% of it away.

Well, this recipe has been one of the biggest surprises of TWD so far. I actually liked it. To the point of eating spoonful after spoonful of the coconut custard from the fridge while it was supposed to be cooling.

Sweetened shredded coconut is pretty hard to find in Australia. There is one brand that I know of but it contains all kinds of nasties so I went with good-old dessicated coconut which you can find in every supermarket here. This may have changed the texture of the custard quite a bit because after cooling in the fridge it had the consistency of cold porridge. Blech. But still tasty!

I used just 1 tablespoon of rum in the custard and that was plenty. I also left the rum out of the whipped cream topping and sprinkled the top with fresh lime zest.

The taste test ...

Fabulous! I did find it very sweet though the lime zest on top really lifted it. The coconut and rum flavours weren't overpowering and of course the sweet tart pastry was brilliant as always. I think next time I would add even more lime by making a lime and coconut custard. The fact I'm already thinking about next time is amazing! I was able to give a lot of it away and it got a positive reaction from everyone. Guess that makes it a winner!

A big thank you to Beryl for picking this tart, because I would never have made it on my own! You can find the recipe on Cinemon Girl.