Tag Archives: coconut

April 20, 2012 · 3:12 PM

Coconut Friands

It’s interesting how so many of Dorie Greenspan’s recipes (and I’m sure French recipes in general) start with the same basic ingredients (eggs, sugar, flour, and butter), yet proportions and technique transform them into such a variety of delicious treats.

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe starts with the same basic ingredients, then adds coconut and vanilla for a tasty little treat.  Coconut Friands are a moist little cake related to financiers.

These little cakes are quick and easy to make.  You can even make the batter ahead of time and bake the cakes a day or two later.  Egg whites are whisked in a bowl, then the additional ingredients are whisked in one by one.  These are meant to be baked in mini-muffin tins, and luckily I already had one.

I loved these little cakes!  Very moist and coconut-y.  I love vanilla so I enjoyed the vanilla flavor, but I can also imagine these made with almond extract or lemon zest and flavoring.  These would also be very good drizzled with a little bittersweet chocolate.  They are perfect for a tea party or shower.

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, cooking our way through Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.  Join us!

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May 4, 2011 · 9:33 PM

Tag, I’m It!

There’s been a game of tag going on around the blogosphere and last week Elaine, from California Living, tagged me.  It started out as an Easter game:  if you got tagged, you were to put together a virtual Easter menu based on dishes you have previously posted on your blog.  Since Elaine got tagged so close to Easter, she changed the rules so that you can create a meal for any upcoming celebration of your choosing.  After browsing my previous posts and recipes, I decided to create a Father’s Day dinner (I know Father’s Day is a ways off, but really it will be here before we know it!).

To start things off on this virtual meal, here is a lovely Caprese Salad:

Caprese Salad

For the main course, let’s have BBQ Meatballs.  Instead of the potatoes shown below, I would do mashed potatoes, either Yukon Golds or sweet potatoes.

BBQ Meatballs

Finally, to finish off the meal, how about Macaroon Cake:

Macaroon Cake

Since most of the people I would tag in this virtual game have already been tagged, I will not pass this one on.  I hope you enjoyed catching up on some of my older recipes!

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January 3, 2011 · 11:26 AM

Macaroon Cake

Macaroon Cake

For Christmas Dinner this year I made Macaroon Cake.  I normally like to make something a little “grander” for Christmas Dinner, but this year it was just the three of us and I had a lot of other cooking I wanted to do, so I settled on this cake.  It is quick and easy to make and not too big.

One thing I love about this recipe is that it was my great-grandmother’s recipe.  I love the idea of a recipe being enjoyed and passed down from generation to generation.

There are a lot of other things to love about this recipe.  As I mentioned already, it is quick and easy to make.  The cake is nice and moist and keeps for several days.  Although I made it for Christmas, it is a good everyday kind of cake.  I love the crunchy, chewy, sweet macaroon topping and the flavor of the vanilla cake underneath.  Oh, and did I mention the coconut?  This is a cake for coconut lovers only!

Macaroon Cake

Click here to print.

  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar, divided
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 1 cup sifted flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
  • milk, if needed (I always add 1/4 cup)
  • 1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350°.  Prepare an 8×8 inch cake pan by greasing lightly.

Cream butter and sugar together.  Mix in two egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the bowl if necessary.  Mix together the sifted flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.  Add  to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.  Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Add a little milk if the batter is too stiff.  Spread batter in the greased cake pan.

Beat 2 egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Gently stir in 1/2 cup sugar, coconut and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Spread on top of the cake batter.

Bake for 30 minutes.

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