Little "Triple Coconut Cream Pie" Thingies

Michelle told me that she heard about this recipe while listening to the radio one day and had wanted to try it. After hearing the name of the recipe, I knew it had to be pretty incredible. I've eaten at several of Tom Douglas's restaurants and have never been disappointed. Daliah's Lounge is probably my favorites, although I really enjoy Etta's too.

This was the first recipe of Tom's that I have ever made. It's a bit elaborate and time consuming, but it wasn't too scary. Since I was making it for Sugar Shock Friday and needed to share it with folks at work, I wanted to be able to serve it easily. My first goal was to try and "mini-fy" (is that a word?) the recipe as so as to make it more practical for feeding a crowd. That's where the mini-tart idea came from....that and I just really seem to be into tiny, bite sized food. :-)

I bought a silicone baking pan (my first one!) because I thought a traditional metal pan would be too difficult to work with. Although the silicon pan worked perfectly fine (and removal of the tarts was super easy), the metal pan actually worked just as well.

Note: The crust recipe yields 1 (9") pie crust or about 12-16 mini-pie crusts. I doubled the crust recipe recipe and ended up with 35. The cream filling and whipped cream yields enough to generously fill one 9" pie or 35+ tarts. If you decide to only make one batch of mini-pie crusts, I would half the coconut cream and whipped cream.

Triple Coconut Cream Pie
Adapted from a recipe that I found at CottageLiving.com

Coconut Crust
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, packed
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Coconut Cream Filling
2 cups whole milk
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, packed
1 vanilla bean
2 large eggs
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, chilled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar

Garnish
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut “chips” (large-shred coconut) or 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I use Let's Go Organic brand)
1 (4- to 6-ounce) bar white chocolate, shaved

1. Prepare Crust
Pulse first 5 ingredients in a food processor 6 to 10 times or until mixture is crumbly. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing once after each addition, until dough holds together when pressed between fingers. (Dough will not form a ball or even clump together in processor—it will be loose.)

Turn dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap; press into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour or overnight.

For 9" crust: Roll dough 12- to 13-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming excess to a 1- to 11/2-inch overhang. Turn dough under along rim of pie pan, and flute edges. Chill at least 1 hour before baking.

Preheat oven to 400°. Place a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper in pie crust, extending over edges, and fill with dried beans, rice, or pie weights. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Remove from oven; discard foil and beans, and return pie crust to oven. Bake for 14 to 17 more minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool completely on a wire rack.

For mini tarts: Preheat oven to 400°. Spray a mini muffin tray with Pam. (not Pam with Flour, just plain Pam) Roll dough out to a normal, even thickness. Cut with a round cookie cutter that's slightly larger than the size of the top of the mini muffin cup.

Using a mortar or your fingers, push the dough down into the cup so it's laying flatly at the bottom of the cup. If the dough seems thin, take a small ball of dough and push it down into the bottom of the cup.
Bake one tray at a time in the center of the oven for 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Remove the mini pie shells and cool on wire rack.

2. Prepare Coconut Cream Filling
Combine milk and 2 cups sweetened coconut in a 3 1/2-quart saucepan. Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and scrape seeds into milk mixture. Add pod. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture almost comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

Whisk together eggs, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and flour in a medium bowl until well blended. Gradually whisk about 1/3 cup milk mixture into egg mixture; pour back into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 4-6 minutes or until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Whisk 3 more minutes or until very thick. Remove from heat; add butter, and whisk until melted. Discard vanilla pod. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl, and place entire bowl in a larger bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until mixture cools. Remove medium bowl from ice bath, and place plastic wrap directly on surface of mixture; chill 4 hours or until cold. (Mixture will thicken.)

Fill baked Coconut Pie crust with pastry cream, smoothing surface. For mini tarts, each tart can hold about 3 teaspoons.

3. Prepare Toasted Coconut Topping
Preheat oven to 350°. Spread coconut chips on a baking sheet, and bake at 350° for 7 to 8 minutes or until golden, stirring twice. (Keep an eye on them as they can go from white to burnt quickly!) Cool.

4. Prepare Whipped Topping
Beat whipping cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla extract at medium speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Gradually increase speed to high, and beat until soft peaks form.

5. Pie Assembly - Yey!
Pipe or spoon whipped cream over pie(s). Sprinkle toasted coconut and white chocolate curls over the pie(s). Cover pie and store in the refrigerator.

Yield: 1 (9-inch) pie crust or about 12-16 mini-pie crusts (I doubled this recipe and ended up with 32)
Would I Make This Again? Overall, this was a pretty good recipe. I could see this being the star of an Easter dessert menu. 4 out of 5 stars.

And the Oscar goes to....Mexican Chocolate Cake!

This evening my husband and I hosted a little Oscar's viewing party for a few friends and of course I had to make something special for dessert. This time I asked my husband to decide what I should make and he requested Mexican Chocolate cake. He picked this specific cake because not only is it one of his favorite cake flavors at Simply Desserts in Fremont (my hands down favorite cake shop in the greater Seattle area), but because he rarely gets to have any of the cakes I make.

When I started researching recipes, I quickly found that Mexican Chocolate cake contain not only cinnamon but cayenne pepper too. Apparently the act of mixing chocolate and hot chilies started with the Aztecs back to the early 1500s. I wouldn't think that these flavors would go together, but they do! The recipe I used called for 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, but I thought it best to go easy and only used 1/4. I think this was the right amount as anymore would have just completely stolen the show.

I eventually settled upon this recipe from VegCooking.com by way of "Yeah, That 'Vegan' Shit" blog (yes, that's really the name of the blog!). The author wasn't kidding! This is a wonderfully moist and just darn yummy chocolate cake. I didn't taste the cinnamon though and I wonder how the cake would taste without it. The cayenne was a really wonderful little surprise. After each bite, a parade of little firecrackers would dance across my tongue. The chocolate glaze added just the right amount of sweetness to the cake. And although it's not vegan, I added a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream on the side, just as a fire extinguisher.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups flour, sifted (I used cake flour instead of all purpose. If you decide to use cake flour, add an additional 4 tablespoons of flour to the recipe.)
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1/2 will be very spicy!)
1 teaspoon. vanilla extract
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup cold water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 8 to 9-inch cake pan or spring form pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Stir in the cinnamon, cayenne, vanilla, vinegar, oil, and water. Mix until just combined.

Pour into the prepared cake pan and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool.

Chocolate Sauce

2 ounces dark chocolate
1/4 cup water or soy milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/2 tespoons vanilla
1 to 2 pinches cayenne pepper

Melt dark chocolate with water or soy milk in a saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in margarine, vanilla, and cayenne pepper, to taste. (I added an extra 1/2 cup of powdered sugar because I wanted the sauce to be thicker, however I'm not sure if powdered sugar is considered vegan.)

Cinnamon Whipped Cream

1/2 pint of whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar (depending on your taste)
1/2 to 1 teaspoons of cinnamon (depending on yoru taste)

Chill mixer bowl and beaters/wisk attachment in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Set up mixer and add whipping cream to the bowl and beat on super high speed,just until cream starts to get thick (when cream sticks to the back of a wooden spoon without dripping). Add sugar, mix for about 20 seconds and scrape down bowl. Add vanilla and half of the cinnamon. Mix another 20-40 seconds. Add remaining cinnamon (if desired) Chill until ready to serve.

Yield: 8 generous slices.
Would I Make This Again? Yes! This dessert was really great. If you take the cinnamon and cayenne pepper out, it would be a great basic chocolate cake recipe. Really yummy! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

My Mother in Law's Delightfully Simple Sour Cream Coffee Cake

So a few months ago I was asked to bake a little something for meeting we were having at work. Since the meeting was going to be at nine in the morning, I knew coffee cake would be the perfect choice.

At first I considered making my mother-in-law's tried and true Coffee Cake recipe but being me, I decided I would try something new and quickly set to work searching for something different. I went to every recipe website I could think of, read a few cookbooks, and eventually settled on a recipe that had over a hundred rave reviews. It was humble but looked to be a sure fire hit.

After the cake was in the oven, for fun, I took a peek at my mother-in-law's recipe to see how it would compare to the one I had settled upon. It compared alright! It was the same exact recipe! Go figure!


Although both recipes called for all purpose flour, I tempted the gods and used cake flour instead. I wanted the cake to have a delicate, light mouth-feel and changing the flour did the trick. The texture was exactly the way I wanted it.

Marilyn's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups + 4 tablespoons cake flour (If you prefer a denser, more pound cake like texture use 2 cups all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Nut Topping:
1/2 cup chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (If you can find Vietnamese Cinnamon, I highly recommend it.)
1/4 cup melted butter tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour (or use Pam with Flour - this stuff has completely changed my life! I *love* it!) a bundt or angel food cake pan.

Cream butter and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until mixed. Sift dry ingredients together. Mix half the dry mixture into the wet on medium speed and half of the sour cream. Scrape down bowl and repeat.

In a small bowl, combine all the nut topping ingredients together and mix until crumbly.

Add half the cake batter into the pan . Cover with half of the nut topping. Spoon the other half of the remaining cake batter into the pan and top with remaining nut topping. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until knife comes out clean. Let it rest in the pan until cool. Remove from pan and serve as is or with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

Yield: About 10-12 servings. Would I Make This Again? Definitely. It's simple, easy to prepare, and tastes really good. I have yet to find someone who doesn't like it. Plus, it gives me the warm-fuzzies knowing I made one of my mom-in-laws favorite recipes. 4.5 stars out of 5

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip One-Bite Sammies

Okay, so yeah... it's been a few um, months since my last post. But, life has threw me a few curve balls and I didn't feel much like baking. One of the biggest changes has been that I am no longer working for the company that started the whole "Birthday Fairy" thing. I've since started over at a new company in a completely different industry. So far so good! I'm really enjoying the new job and the new folks that I get the pleasure to work with everyday.

Now that I'm settled, I'm really starting to get the itch to bake again. Yippee! I have a lot of awesome stuff lined up too. So get ready!

So on to the good stuff....the cookies!

I selected these because the other day I sent out an email to some friends at work asking them for suggestions on what I should make. My boss and I were talking about it and I told her I was thinking about making something with peanut butter and chocolate. Right when I said that she stopped in her tracks and said, "I was just going to say chocolate and peanut butter! Woah... that's so freaky!" I figured it was a sign. :-)

These cookie sandwiches are really something special. As you eat them, the flavors change and mature. I highly recommend using really good milk chocolate for the filling such as Green and Blacks brand. Also, as much as I try to avoid the cheapo peanut butter with all the sugar, these cookies really need to be made with it. Don't use natural peanut butter as it's just not emulsified or sweet enough for this recipe.

These cookies are an adaptation of this recipe that I found on Epicurious.com

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter like Jiff, NOT all natural
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups (about 8 ounces) of mini milk chocolate chips for small cookies and normal sized chips for larger cookies

Filling
3 ounces high-quality milk chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter like Jiff NOT all natural
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons whipping cream

Preparation
For cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and butter in large bowl to blend. Add peanut butter; beat until creamy. Gradually beat in vegetable oil and vanilla extract, then egg. Add dry ingredients; mix just until blended. Stir in milk chocolate chips.

I used this teaspoon-sized cookie scoop but the size is really up to you. Epicurious's recipe says to use a level tablespoonful of dough. Either way, drop cookies onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing about 1/2 inch apart for the tiny sized cookie and up to 1 1/2 inches apart for the tablesoon size. Honestly, I didn't feel like these cookies spread all that much. They rise up and then fall, that's about it.

Bake cookies until puffed and golden brown, about 8 minutes for the smaller cookie and 12 minutes for the larger. Cool slightly, then transfer cookies to rack to cool completely. Seriously...wait for them to really cool down. Otherwise when you try to fill them, the filling will just ooze out and the two cookies won't stay together.

For filling: Place chocolate, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and kosher salt in medium bowl. Bring whipping cream to boil in heavy small saucepan. Pour hot cream over chocolate mixture; stir until mixture is melted and smooth. Chill until filling is thick and spreadable, about 1 hour. Spread a small dollop for smaller cookies and about 1 rounded teaspoonful of chocolate-peanut butter filling on flat side of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, forming sandwich. Repeat with remaining filling and cookies. (Cookie sandwiches can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator or at room temperature.)

Yield: I made the minis and I lost count after that 6th batch. Each batch was averaging about 30 cookies each...so yeah, it made a lot of cookies! Epicurious says their recipe makes 2 1/2 dozen.
Would I Make This Again? I think so. If I met someone who was a die hard chocolate and peanut butter fanatic, this would be the first thing that would come to mind. These cookies on the crispy side and are not very chewy.... but don't get me wrong, they are good just at bit unexpected. The filling is really something else too. I'd love this in between the layers of chocolate cake. Another plus about this recipe is that it makes so many, so if you need to feed a crowd, this might be a good choice. 3.5 out of 5 stars.