O.k..so it took me nearly all night but I did some baking. In fact this recipe is out of my cookbook….sort of. I found out something interesting tonight. I can’t even follow my OWN recipes verbatim.

Since I am doing pictures at night the color is a little off, sorry.  Someday I will have a nifty light box.

These are a very rich, sweet bar. You ARE going to want coffee or milk or tea… Be sure to let them cook before cutting (I didn’t) and eating (didn’t) because they WILL crumble. If you want thicker coconut cherry white chocolate bars just use a 9 x9 inch pan.

These would be great for a tea, not so great for a lunch box, and do not try to ship them! IF there are any leftover, which is doubtful, wrap them and put them in the fridge.

Coconut Cherry White Chocolate Bars

• 1 cup of flour
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix the 1 cup of flour and  confectioners sugar. Mix in the butter until the dough is crumbly.
3. Press firmly in a buttered 13x 9 inch pan. Layer will be thin.
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until firm and golden.
5. Mix the 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
6. Beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture, coconut, cherries, and white chocolate chips.
7. Pour over the crust.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until firm.
9. COOL COMPLETELY before cutting.

images Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

These are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, with a buttery combination of flavors that just keep revealing themselves as you eat: lemon, white chocolate, nutmeg, blueberry…

The trick to these, if there is one, is to take them from the oven slightly under-done so that they finish cooking as they cool.  The dried blueberries keep them moist for longer than usual if they last past the first day.  Please, if you do try these? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. I am horridly nervous about the cookbook.

If you want a more decorated cookie you can drizzle melted white chocolate across them, but flavor-wise it is quite unnecessary.

If you use all butter the cookies will be greasy and flat.  If you use all shortening they will be tasteless. Lately I have had more people that usual emailing me and telling me the recipes are not good.  Then they list all the changes they made.

Can I just say that when I develop a recipe it usually is over several bakings? I normally try numerous possibilities before I post the recipe. If you change it you are likely to revert to something I all ready tried and discarded as not being good enough. If you change the recipe and it fails, well there is nothing I can do about operator error, is there?

One thing I have noticed is that flour varies from brand to brand and even bag to bag. You may need to use a little more or a little less to get the perfect texture. Be willing to experiment.

Blueberry White Chocolate Cookies

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup shortening
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dried blueberries
• 1½ cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with
parchment or silpat.
2. Cream together butter, shortening, and both sugars.
Add eggs, vanilla, and lemon peel; beat until well
blended.
3. Mix dry ingredients together; stir into creamed
mixture. Blend well; add dried blueberries and white
chocolate chips.
4. Drop by generous, rounded teaspoonfuls onto
parchment baking sheets. Keep cookies about 2″
apart. Bake 8–10 minutes, removing from oven when
just barely done.
5. Cool on pans 5 minutes; remove to cool

4-5 dozen depending on size and how much dough you eat

Post from: Baking Delights

Not magazine cover beautiful…but delicious.

I don;t think I am done with these yet…I think that I still plan on working with them and seeing if I can come up with the dream recipe.  Taste-wise these were close it was the texture that was off.

Don’t blend the pistachios too much, the oil will cause them to turn into pistachio butter rather than pistachio meal.

The batter is an amazing meon green but the cookies seem to get an edible color by the time they are cooked

Pistachio Macarons

• 1-3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• grated peel from one lemon
• juice from one lemon
  
• 1 cup pistachios
• 3 large egg whites
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 oz white chocolate melted

Grind the confectioner’s and the pistachios up together in the blender until it is a fine powder.  Set aside.

Beat egg whites and salt until frothy, slowly add sugar until medium peaks form.  Slowly add lemon peel and juice, keep beating.  Egg whites should have medium stiff peaks when the beater is lifted.

Fold the pistachio and confectioners mixture into the egg whites.  Try to keep the egg whites from losing volume.

Pipe in small circles on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Allow to stand for 15 minutes.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or until dry looking and done.  Cool.

FIll with lemon curd and drizzle with white chocolate

Makes 12.

image:marye audet (c) 2009

Post from: Baking Delights

You read that right. I have been trying to come up with a white french silk recipe that I was happy with for a very long time. VERY long time.

Why?

Well, personally I find that french silk is one of those things that is a baking staple. It makes a great pie, granted, but it also makes a fantastic cake or torte filling, tart filling, rolled sponge cake filling or cookie filling. With a few changes you can create a number of flavors..but white silk eluded me. It was always too sweet, too bland..too buttery…or it didn’t set up right.

Until now.

French Silk Nirvana. French Silk Xanadu. The zen of French Silk. Rich, melt in your mouth, creamy. The mouth feel is silky and smooth…the taste is not too sweet but lingering.

It was durn GOOD, Bubba.

I made a chocolate dribble out of bittersweet chocolate…just for a little extra WOWZA!

16 tart shells of choice (pastry, graham, puff pastry etc.)

1 c unsalted butter

3/4 c sugar

6 ozs good quality white chocolate melted in 1/3 c heavy cream and cooled to room temperature

1 tsp vanilla flavor

1/2 tsp almond flavor

2 TBS sour cream

2 eggs

1/2 pt blackberries, raspberries or both

Bittersweet chocolate for drizzle

Beat butter and sugar until no longer grainy. This can take several minutes.

Add melted chocolate and beat in.

Continue beating while adding flavorings and sour cream.

Add eggs, one at a time. Beat for several minutes after each addition.

Spoon into tart shells.

Top with whole berries, drizzle with melted chocolate. Chill for three hours. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Makes 16 tarts.

Images: Marye Audet

Content:Marye Audet for Baking Delights

Post from: Baking Delights

You can see the other entries in this competition and vote for the one you like best (voting is on October 1) at Royal Foodie Joust

1 box puff pastry sheets, thawed
Cut 12 equal squares from the puff pastry, making 9 on the first sheet, and 3 on the second. Fit the squares into muffin cups and bake at 400 F for about 12 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool.

Lavender Creme Anglaise

2 c half and half
6 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tbs freshly grated lemon peel
2 tbs food grade lavender flowers
1 tbs butter

put half and half in a pan and add lavendar. Bring just to a boil, but not boiling, remove from heat and let steep about 10 minutes. Strain.
In a bowl beat together the yolks and the sugar until mixture is light and forms a ribbon when the beater is lifted. Add the hot half-and-half , in a stream, stirring. Add lemon peel. Transfer the custard to a heavy saucepan, and cook it over moderately low heat, stirring, until it thickens, but do not let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and butter. Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a metal bowl set in a bowl of ice, let it cool, stirring occasionally, and chill it, covered. Can be made one day ahead.

Topping:
3-4 very ripe pears
6 oz premium white chocolate

Core and chop pears in small chunks, leaving peel on. Fill the puff pastry with the creme anglaise, add chopped pear to the top. Melt white chocolate. Drizzle with melted white chocolate. Sprinkle with lavender for color.
12 servings.

Post from: Baking Delights

  Still haveing computer problems, now both of our computers are down, so here I sit at the library! Is that dedication or what?  Unfortunatly I can’t upload photos so most of my blogging will be without illustration..

2 c flour

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c packed brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c milk

1 egg, beaten

1/4 c unsalted butter

1/2 tsp mexican vanilla

1/2 tsp freshly grated lemon peel

1 cup white chocolate chopped in chunks OR white chocolate chips

2 c fresh blueberries

Topping

1/3 c granulated sugar

1/4 c flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ginger

1/4 c unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375. Put paper liners in muffin cups or use the silicon liners that are available ..I LOVE them. Reuseable so they are a frugal choice AND environmentally responsible.   0

  Combine flour, sugars, baking powder, salt in a bowl. Stir in milk, egg, butter,lemon peel and vanilla. Stir in white chocolate and blueberries. Spoon  into muffin cups.

  Prepare topping:

combine dry topping ingredients in a bowl. With cold fingers rub butter into dry ingredients until crumbly and looks like coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle streusel on muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes and then remove to cool (if they last that long)

Post from: Baking Delights