Lemon, Coconut and Ginger Energy Bars

The recipe and full details of these lemon, coconut and ginger energy bars are over at Taste As You Go:
Enjoy!

Coconut Macadamia Cake

I love coconut, and I love making cakes:

This elaborate recipe seemed to be just the ticket for a recent celebration.

The first step was to melt sugar in a skillet and coat the macadamia nuts:

Once those were cooling, I moved on:

The pastry cream was next. I cooked together egg yolks, sugar, milk and cornstarch until it was thickened, and then whisked in vanilla and set it in the fridge to chill. To the side, you can see the egg whites, soon to be beaten into the cake batter, and behind that, a covered bowl where butter is softening, ready to be creamed:

The next step was the cake batter. This mixture below was almost ready...

Once it was lightened with stiffly beaten egg whites, off to the oven:

I chopped my macadamia praline rather than grind it while my cake layer cooled:

I was all set for the most fun part...

Construction!

Matt's Almond Joy Birthday Cupcakes

Happy Birthday Matt!
My brother's birthday is today, so I made him some cupcakes (and a miniature cake) from this recipe, per his request to use chocolate, coconut, nuts and a seven-minute frosting.

The cake recipe uses both cocoa powder and melted unsweetened chocolate, being mixed into the creamed butter and eggs below, to make an intense yet light cake:

And instead of making two final cupcakes I made use of my mini cake pans (about 4 inches across) to make a little celebration cake:

The cupcakes baked beautifully:

And once they were done I mixed up a seven-minute (or boiled) frosting. Here is the final step, vanilla being added to the beaten egg whites, sugar, water and cream of tartar:

The final product, topped with a little bit more coconut:

Lemon-Coconut Layer Cake

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Pops!
My parents celebrated 39 years of marriage this past Saturday, June 20th, and to help them start their 40th year, I made a Lemon-Coconut Layer Cake.

The start of many good cakes has nothing to do with the batter, and everything to do with preparing the pans. For this cake, I buttered my three cake pans, then placed a circle of parchment paper in each and buttered that parchment:
After the parchment paper was well-buttered, I lightly floured the pans and set them aside until my batter was ready.

The cake layers were just plain vanilla, made by creaming the butter and sugar, adding eggs, and then alternately adding flour and milk:

In between the cake layers I spread homemade lemon curd and sprinkled a bit of sweet flaked coconut:

Then, on to the frosting. I used a seven minute frosting, which is a sweet, light meringue. The frosting gets its name from the process of making it - you combine your ingredients (egg white, sugar, corn syrup and here, a bit of lemon juice and zest) and beat it while cooking over a double boiler for about seven minutes:

Once the frosting was cooled, I spread a thick layer over the cake layers:
I also added a bit more flaked coconut to the sides of the cake for a garnish. Yum!

Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting

I knew I had to make coconut cupcakes sometime this spring:

This recipe, from Bon Appétit, gets all of the coconut flavor from reduced coconut milk. Here is the coconut milk as it began to bubble:

And once it hit a boil - this is why you trust recipes when they say to use a tall pot!

The cake itself is pretty standard: dry ingredients, wet ingredients (the reduced and chilled coconut milk) and the butter, creamed with sugar:

Blend it all together and fill your muffin tins:

The frosting portion of the recipe itself is fairly straightforward - just blend together softened butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and more reduced coconut milk. I decided, though, to attempt a fancier topping. Here, the cupcakes have a thin layer of frosting and have been dipped in lavender sanding sugar:

I then added a bit more frosting and dipped into flaked coconut to finish:
...and the true measure of a good recipe? Almost everyone came back for seconds.