Tag Archives: coconut

A new spin on classic lemon bars

12 August 2012

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My mom has had a well-loved copy of the red-and-white checkered Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book on her shelf for as long as I can remember. It sits beside her small, handwritten cookbook full of some of her — and my — favorite recipes. While Joy is usually my go-to book for American classics, its recipe for lemon bars leaves much to be desired — that’s where The Better Homes and Gardens book comes in.

Once in a while I’ll be in the mood to experiment with a classic recipe, and lemon bars is a great one to modify. I’ve found that the recipes I make well are the best to play with.

On a recent trip to Trader Joe’s, I purchased a bottle of blueberry juice. As I was looking at the lemon bars recipe, it occurred to me that some of the lemon juice could easily be substituted. I also had leftover toasted coconut and coconut milk from the coconut-rum ice cream I made last week that needed to be used.

I set to work and broke up the toasted coconut and added it to the crust, and substituted the coconut milk for the milk called for in the filling. The final product was exactly what I’d hoped it would be. The blueberry flavor mellowed the tartness of the lemon, but both flavors were still prominent in the result. The bits of toasted coconut added a nice bit of texture to the crust. Substituting all of the lemon juice with blueberry juice would likely work, too, should anyone be so inclined to make an entirely blueberry version.

This kitchen experiment definitely goes down as a success.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup toasted coconut
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup lemon juice (if using fresh lemons, squeeze about 4)
1/4 cup blueberry juice
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 13-inch-by-9-inch pan.

In a bowl, combine the 2 cups flour, powdered sugar, toasted coconut, cornstarch and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake 18-20 minutes or until edges are golden.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together eggs, granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, lemon and blueberry juices, coconut milk and vanilla sugar.

Pour filling over hot crust. Bake for 15-20 minutes more or until center is set.

Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

A taste of Tahiti

5 August 2012

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Until Saturday, I had never attempted to make ice cream. Every recipe I’d ever seen required an ice cream maker, and I never felt that was worth the investment. When I turned on the Food Network on Saturday morning, Giada De Laurentiis was doing a show on foods inspired by her Tahitian vacation. One of the things she was making was Tahitian Ice Cream. Her recipe didn’t require an ice cream maker, so I decided to try it.

The process of making the ice cream was a lot simpler and quicker than I had anticipated. Once the cream is whipped to the proper consistency, just mix in the rest of the ingredients, put it in the dish and freeze it.

Toasting the coconut proved to be more difficult. The first time I tried toasting it in the oven, as Giada’s recipe instructed, it burned. I checked it and stirred it after four minutes and put it in for another two, but it was completely black after those two minutes. The second time I tried doing it in a pan and pulled it off the burner when it turned golden brown, but I didn’t consider that it would keep cooking in the pan after I took it off the burner. It burned again. The third time I watched it more carefully and took it off the burner when it was light brown. It cooked until it was golden brown. Third time’s a charm.

The recipe calls for light rum, but all I had was dark rum, so the flavor dominated the ice cream. Next time I’ll reduce the amount of dark rum or use light rum, as the recipe says. The consistency was not as thick as store-bought ice cream, but it was still good. The toasted coconut added a nice contrast to the texture of the ice cream. I bet this would also be good served with fresh pineapple as a topping.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon gelatin
1 vanilla bean, preferably Tahitian
2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup light rum
1/2 cup toasted coconut, see Cook’s Notes

Place 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and allow softening, about 2 minutes. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the water mixture using a paring knife. Add the empty vanilla pods. Stir the water mixture over medium heat until the gelatin has dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly. Remove and discard the vanilla pods.

Beat the cream until thick using an electric hand mixer in a medium bowl. Add the sugar and continue to beat until the cream holds soft peaks. Add the water mixture, coconut milk and rum. Beat until thick and light.

Pour the mixture into an 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish. Freeze until the mixture is the texture of soft-serve ice cream, about 2 1/2 hours.

Scoop the mixture into small glasses using an ice cream scoop. Garnish with toasted coconut and serve. Freeze any unused ice cream in an airtight container.

Cook’s note: To toast coconut, place sweetened or unsweetened, shredded or flaked coconut in a single layer in a small frying pan over medium heat. Stir the coconut every couple minutes. Remove from heat when it is just starting to turn light brown. If you leave it in the pan, watch the coconut and continue to stir it until golden brown.

If freezing the ice cream for longer than 2 1/2 hours, allow the ice cream to stand at room temperature until softened, about 30 minutes before serving. Whisk the ice cream until smooth and serve.