Chocolate, Raspberry & Coconut Slice

It pays to have your eyes tested before reading a recipe.  Lesson learned after I delivered these with a third of the amount of raspberry jam filling required.  That was after checking the recipe twice (I'm blaming the ratio of distance from eye to cookbook!) and not following my own intuition when it spread as a thin layer on the base. Luckily, after they'd cooled I was able to slice the base horizontally and add more jam to each individual slice. It made all the difference to the balance of tastes.

These slices are based on the Louise slice - a base layer of cake topped with raspberry jam and coconut meringue - and given a twist for chocoholics with a chocolate cake base and coconut and chocolate meringue. 

If the thought of three layers troubles you, don't worry, this was a breeze to make. The only strenuous chore was grating the chocolate. I thought there must be a better way but didn't find anything worthwhile on Google - so if you have any tips, let me know. At least it was cold and didn't melt in my hand as it did in summer.

I added a dusting of freeze-dried powder to give a tart burst of raspberry flavour in contrast to the sweetness, plus it looks rather vibrant.

The recipe comes from Fiona Smith in the Treasury of New Zealand Baking (edited by Lauraine Jacobs). It's a keeper of a cookbook full of delicious and reliable recipes.

Chocolate, Raspberry & Coconut Slice

125g butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups standard flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup raspberry jam
100g dark chocolate, grated
1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Optional: freeze-dried raspberry powder

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Grease and line a 18x28 cm baking tin.

Cream the butter and half the sugar in a cake mixer until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time until incorporated. 

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together and mix into the creamed butter and sugar. As it's quite crumbly, I found the easiest way to do this was to do a short burst on slow whisk to incorporate everything.  Press the mix into the prepared tray. Spread the raspberry jam evenly over the base.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then slowly (about a tablespoonful at a time) beat in the remaining sugar until stiff. Fold in the grated chocolate and coconut. Using a palette knife or spatula, spread the meringue mixture evenly over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until meringue is golden and firm to touch.

Cool in the tin.  Remove from the tin carefully and cut into squares or slices.  Dust a little freeze-dried raspberry powder over the top of the cakes.


Makes about 16 squares.  Keeps for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

Afghan Biscuits

I love these little Afghan biscuits with their rich, crunchy base and chocolate topping. They are a New Zealand favourite and I find it interesting that the longer I live here the less clear I am about what "belongs" to one country as opposed to another and it all becomes just baking without frontiers. If I've only been eating these since I arrived in NZ then I've certainly missed out and have a lot of catching up to do.

Traditionally these would be topped with a walnut half, but the batch I made were being shared with the nut allergy sufferer, so I topped half with pieces of coconut chips (shaved coconut).  The coconut goes well with the chocolate and I think gives a complementary look to the more traditional biscuit. Perhaps I could start a new trend?

I'm a bit fussy about the cornflakes. They have to be crushed just right. Not too crumbly, not too large. For some reason I hate seeing whole flakes jutting out the biscuit but that's just me always trying to be perfect.

I had some leftover chocolate ganache so used that as topping (which I have to say was a particularly luxurious touch and very nice) but I've given the standard chocolate icing recipe below.  

 Makes about 16-18 biscuits depending on size.

Afghan Biscuits

200g butter, softened
90g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
175g (1 1/4 cups) standard flour
35g (1/4 cup) good quality cocoa powder
55g (1 1/2 cups) cornflakes, lightly crushed

Chocolate icing

1 1/2 cups icing sugar
60g butter
4 tbsp boiling water
1/4 cup cocoa

Walnut halves or coconut chips to decorate.


Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease or line a baking tray with baking paper.

In a cake mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and creamy.

Sift in the flour and cocoa and combine thoroughly. Stir in the cornflakes.

Place large tablespoonfuls onto the baking tray (I use a mini ice-cream scoop) and press each biscuit lightly with a fork to flatten slightly.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.  

Icing

In a cake mixer, beat the icing sugar, butter and sifted cocoa together until smooth and ice the biscuits when they are cold. Decorate with a halved walnut or a couple of coconut chips.

Chocolate & Hazelnut Caramel Slice

Chocolate & Hazelnut Caramel Slice 

Well, here I am on my wonderful work-free Friday.  Work, that is, in the paid sense.  The other unpaid kind is what’s eating away at my day today.  That, and the incessant pull of social media just in case I’m missing something interesting. I often wonder how I get more done when I have less time at home but I already know the answer. So I’ll just call it pottering and look upon it as a form of relaxation.

I’ve been listening to a radio discussion on Retired Husband Syndrome (RHS) that made me laugh out loud. A study has found that many women with a retired husband at home suffered stress related symptoms such as insomnia, headaches and depression (and presumably extra work cleaning up after the husband’s “bright ideas” or projects?).  As I was chortling away (in my defense, it was presented in a humorous tone), a certain thread of trepidation crept in, making me realize I too would find it difficult not to have my cherished “home alone” time. It’s a long way off but I am thankful then to have a large shed where he can mess around until his heart is content and I won’t be setting foot in or cleaning it.  Whew!

One thing I did achieve today was making this slice.  I’d been thinking of driving 20 minutes to experience a similar one at a local café but decided to stay put, brew a good coffee and make this using some leftover chocolate ganache and sweetened condensed milk I had in the fridge.  I’m glad I did.

The recipe comes from the Little & Friday cookbook given to me as a Christmas present last year. Eight months later, I hadn’t baked one single thing from it so it was time to change that. 

It’s a wonderfully gooey, fudgy, chocolate slice.  I expected it to be similar to Millionaire’s Shortbread (my recipe here) but the chocolate base and caramel & hazelnut filling are both different and gorgeous and I love the hazelnuts. Not surprisingly it’s an “in demand” best-seller for Little & Friday.

I'm entering this for Sweet New Zealand, hosted this month by Munch Cooking.

Chocolate & Hazelnut Caramel Slice 

Base

175g butter, softened

2 cups icing sugar

½ tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

½ cup good quality cocoa

1½ cups plain flour

½ tsp salt

Filling

2 x 395g tins sweetened condensed milk

200ml golden syrup

100g butter

1 cup roasted hazelnuts*, chopped

Topping

¾ cup chocolate ganache

*To roast hazelnuts, heat oven to 180°C.  Place hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.  Leave to cool.  Rub hazelnuts briskly in a tea towel to remove the skin and chop into about quarters.

Method 

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Grease and line a 25cm square tin (leave an overlap of baking paper lining for easier removal from tin).

Place the butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a cake mixer and beat until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until well combined. Sift the cocoa, flour and salt together and add to the mix, again until well combined.

Press the mix firmly and evenly into the base of the baking tin.  Bake for 10-15 minutes in the centre of the oven.

While the base is cooking, prepare the filling by combining the condensed milk, golden syrup, butter and hazelnuts into a saucepan.  Heat slowly over a low heat then pour over the cooked base. 

Return the base and filling to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes or until set.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Once cool, spread a thin layer of hot chocolate ganache over the top.  I removed the base and filling from the baking tin before I spread the ganache on top.

Once the ganache has set, use a sharp knife to cut into squares or slices. Dip the knife in hot water and wipe off with paper towel between each cut for easier slicing.

Ganache (makes 1 cup – use ¾ cup for above recipe) 

200g good quality dark chocolate (I use Whittaker’s 72% Dark Ghana)

½ cup cream

Gently melt the chocolate and cream in a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (the water should not touch the bowl).  Stir until melted and smooth.  Leave to cool and thicken. 

Leftover ganache can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks (or eaten by the spoonful if you are so inclined!).

Easter Egg Cupcakes

It’s a given that if you like chocolate you’re going to think you’re in seventh heaven around Easter time.  Chocolate galore and, thanks to Easter starting shortly after Christmas in supermarkets, plenty of time to enjoy it. 

There’s always the usual favourites in this house – a large Cadbury rabbit for daughter (“it’s a tradition, Mum!”) and a cute little Lindt golden bunny bought for me, by me (no point in leaving yourself out of the equation is there?).   And, if Bill’s been good, the Easter Bunny may just bring him something too.  He has to eat his fast though – you snooze, you loose when I’m around chocolate.

In true form, I scoffed the first packet of Cadbury mini-eggs bought to decorate the cupcakes before I’d even got to weekend baking and had to buy another pack. These ones made it safely to the topping and they are rather cute with their speckled coating.

Thanks to Alessandra and Sweet NewZealand, I’d been given some Fresh As freeze-dried raspberry powder and used that to dust the icing.  It gives a nice sharp tang to counteract the sweetness of the cupcake.  I also had a Christmas gift of Vahlrona chocolate pearls.  I originally thought these were pure chocolate balls ready for melting (well, there’s nothing on the pack to say otherwise!). Thankfully I Googled them before making the horrible mistake of melting what were actually crunchy little chocolate-coated biscuit bites.  They added a nice crunchy texture and I was pretty pleased with the end result. 

I’m always a bit apprehensive when it comes to icing cupcakes but after a couple of re-runs of the lovely Lydia Bakes' icing tutorial, I reckon I made an acceptable attempt even if I was lacking in consistency of style.

I made these cupcakes on a Saturday morning and, after sampling a couple over the weekend and giving most away, I popped two in the fridge.  Happily, Bill didn’t notice his share (may have been the placing at the back of the fridge? J) and I was able to polish it off for morning tea on Tuesday – and it tasted good.  Just to show I'm not completely selfish, I am sharing this post with We Should Cocoa for the chocolate and Easter special hosted by Rachel and also with Marnelli at Sweets and Brains who is hosting Sweet New Zealand.

Happy Easter everyone.

Easter Egg Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes 

100g standard flour

20g good quality cocoa powder

140g caster sugar

1½ tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

40g butter, at room temperature

120ml whole milk

1 egg

¼ tsp vanilla essence

Cream cheese icing 

300g icing sugar, sifted

50g unsalted butter at room temperature

125g cream cheese
Food colouring of your choice

Topping 

Decorate with chocolate sprinkles or easter themed decorations.  I dusted the Fresh As freeze-dried raspberry powder on top of the icing and sprinkled on a few Vahlrona crunchy pearls (tiny beads of biscuit filled chocolate).  To finish each cupcake, I decorated with Cadbury’s Mini Eggs, which resemble real eggs with their speckled candy shells, and a little fresh flower.

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F).  Place some paper cupcake cases in a cupcake or muffin tin(s).

Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a cake mixing bowl and add the sugar, salt and butter.  Using the paddle attachment, beat on a slow speed until the ingredients are combined and resemble a sandy consistency.

In a jug, whisk the milk, egg and vanilla together.  Slowly pour about half the liquid into the flour mixture with the mixer on a low speed then turn up high for a short burst to get rid of any lumps.

Slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture with the mixer on slow, scraping down the sides of the bowl.  Mix until smooth (do not overmix).

Spoon into the paper cases about half to two-thirds full (this will depend on the size of your cases as there are so many variants). 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave for 5 minutes in the tin then transfer to a wired cake rack to cool. 

Ice and decorate when cool.

Cream Cheese Icing 

Place the icing sugar and butter in a cake mixing bowl with paddle attachment (or use a hand-held electric whisk).  With the cake mixer on a slow to medium speed, beat until the mix comes together and is well mixed.

Add the cream cheese and beat until incorporated.  Turn mixer up to medium-high and beat at least 5 minutes until icing is light and fluffy (do not overbeat).

Add your choice of food colouring and beat until incorporated.  I split the mix into two equal parts then added tiny drops of food colouring to get a lemon and a pink shade.

Recipes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

Fudgy Chocolate Macaroons

Not to be confused with the highly popular macarons (although it can be quite confusing as macarons are also known as macaroons), I'm distinguishing them like this - French macarons for coloured meringue discs sandwiched with filling and macaroons for chewy coconut  confections with a crispy outer.

I never took a liking to the plain coconut macaroons which were usually pyramid shaped morsels with toasted coconut on the outside but these ones are on chocolate overload and are really something. If you can imagine a meringue based brownie you'd be close to the taste and texture of these - fudgy, chewy chocolate and coconut covered with a crisp baked outer shell. Highly addictive.

Fudgy Chocolate Macaroons

Makes 16-18

250g good quality dark chocolate (72% or more cocoa)
2 egg whites
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups coconut (best with long thread coconut but you can substitute desiccated coconut)

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.  Line a large tray with baking paper.

Chop or break the chocolate into small chunks and place in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don't let the water touch the base of the bowl or let it splash onto the chocolate).  Stir frequently until the chocolate is melted.  Put aside to cool.

Place the egg whites, salt and 1/2 cup of the caster sugar into the spotlessly clean (no grease!) mixing bowl of your cake mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whisk until stiff.  Add the remainder of the sugar about a heaped tablespoonful at a time, whisking each addition for a few minutes.

Turn your cake mixer onto lowest setting and briefly mix in the vanilla and melted chocolate. Using a metal spoon, fold in the coconut carefully.

Place small scoops onto the baking tray.   I used a mini ice cream scoop which holds just over a tablespoon of mix, depends on how big you want the macaroons.  I think next time I'd go with just using a spoon to get a more rustic look at these were too rounded for my liking.

Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes until crisp on the outside but soft and chewy in the centre.

I'm sharing these with Sweet New Zealand hosted this month by Frances at Bake Club.

I'm also pleased to be participating in We Should Cocoa as this has been on my food blogging To Do list since, oh I don't know how long.  We Should Cocoa is also a monthly food blogging event all about chocolate and whatever other ingredient the guest hosts come up with.  This month's host I'd Much Rather Bake Than ... has chosen coconut so it seems I am lucky in that all my stars converged (drum roll, please) resulting in my first ever entry.

And if you want more chocolate and coconut loveliness, don't miss this previous post - another favourite of mine!

Chocolate Date Slice