TWD: Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie assignment was Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie, chosen by Spike (of Spike Bakes). And it was perfect timing. This week, we'll experience the first of many hot, humid Kentucky summer days. Ice cream pie was a perfect reward after working in the gardne tonight with David's grandmother.
But I'm not so sure that everyone was quite as excited about this ice cream pie. In fact, I'm sure there was lots of gnashing of teeth among the other TWD participants over this pick. This recipe includes two polarizing ingredients...coconut and banana. Before I joined TWD, I had no idea that people had such strong aversions to those two foods. I love bananas, and I don't mind coconut, so I wasn't too concerned about this week's flavor combo. And I hope that lots of people baked along, because this is one tasty pie!

I think it ranks right up there as one of our most simple (and quick!) recipes. The crust was the most time-consuming part, but it only took about 10 minutes to put together (but there was very little real effort involved: crushing cookies into crumbs, melting butter, and stirring coconut until toasted). From there, you slice bananas, whir some bananas, ice cream, and rum in the food processor, and stick it all in the freezer. Easy peasy!
David, Mama, and I really enjoyed this one. After the first bite, I wasn't sure about it, but then I was hooked. Yum! But the very best part? The crust. I could just eat the crust plain. I have a feeling I'll be using it for other pies in the near future. It's so crunchy and flavorful...not too sweet, and not too coconuty. Just perfect crispy perfection.

If you're looking for the perfect summertime dessert, please visit Spike Bakes for the recipe.

Florida Pie

Last weekend, I made dinner for my father-in-law's birthday. Last year, I gave him a choice about his birthday dessert, and he chose banana cream pie. This year, I didn't really give him a choice. But Earl loves Florida, so I thought I'd make Dorie's "Florida Pie."
It was delicious, as are most things I bake from Baking: From My Home to Yours. The pie starts out with a simple graham cracker crust (which is delicious on its own!), and then it gets a little fancy. It's a double-decker pie. The bottom layer is a coconut cream, and the middle layer is lime filling. Dorie's recipe calls for Key limes, but I had no intention of juicing a bazillion little limes to get 1/2 cup of juice. I used regular limes, and they were delicious. I took the recommendation of several TWDers who made this in the past and I included the zest of one lemon in the lime filling. It was tart and limey and incredible! Of course, the top of the pie is covered in meringue.

I got a little over zealous and let my meringue whip a little too long. It was awfully stiff and not so pretty. Not anywhere near as pretty as the meringue on David's grandmother's (Mama) pies, but I guess I don't have quite as much practice as she does, either! All in all, this was a wonderful pie. It was perfect for a springtime birthday, but it would also be a welcome treat during the hot and humid Kentucky summers we'll be experiencing before too long. If you'd like to try the Florida Pie sometime soon, just click the link above, or you can find it on page 340 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

Here I am again...doing my Tuesdays With Dorie "assignments" out of sequence. This beautiful cake was supposed to be last week's post, but I wanted to make it for the Klingenfus Easter dinner.

Lots of people have an aversion to coconut, and I guess I do too...in some ways. I wouldn't touch an Almond Joy or Mounds candy bar with a 10-foot pole. I'd rather have a Butterfinger Crisp or Snickers. But I like lots of other coconut-flavored things (pina coladas? yes.), and I don't mind sweetened dried coconut, either. I can add this to a yummy coconut dessert that's very well received by groups, too! I had never used coconut milk before, and when I opened the can, it reminded me a lot of wallpaper paste. I'm glad Dorie's recipe said to stir up the coconut milk, because I wouldn't have thought of that. I wish I had kept the tiny bit that was left...it would have made a much better glaze than the one I threw together at the last minute. Even with the coconut milk and the sweetened dried coconut, the coconut flavor wasn't overwhelming. I also added some lemon juice (although most TWDers used lime, I think), and it was a nice addition. There was rum in there too, but I couldn't taste it at all.

When I made last week's Mocha Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake, my pan stuck and ripped away chunks of the cake. As I turned this cake out of the pan, I prayed over and over, "Please don't stick. Please don't stick. Please don't stick." And look at it. Honestly, it's the most beautiful bundt I've ever made. I love how it's lightly browned at the top and gets darker toward the bottom. I couldn't get over how pretty it was!

This week's pretty Coconut Tea Cake was chosen by Carmen, of Carmen Cooks. If you're in the mood for a tasty coconut cake, visit her blog for the recipe.

TWD: Cran-Apple Crisps

I had planned on making these little Cran-Apple Crisps last week for TWD, but life just got in the way, as it is wont to do these days. I finally got around to making them late tonight, just in time for David to have a little snack during the UK game. These were the perfect warm-up for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast.
These little crisps are the perfect fall dessert. The apples, cranberries, and raisins are perfect complements to one another. The crisps aren't too sweet; in fact, it's the tart cranberries that make it work, I think. The crumble on top is wonderful...David said it was his favorite part. With brown sugar, oats, and sweetened shredded coconut, what's not to like?!
Dorie's recipe makes 8 individual crisps, but tonight, I just made two...one for me and one for David. But I made the whole recipe of the crumble topping. I thought it would freeze well and be very handy to have for future impromptu crisps this winter!
Em, of The Repressed Pastry Chef, chose these tasty little desserts as her TWD selection. And her blog is actually right above mine in the TWD blogroll, so we're neighbors! You can check out her blog for the recipe. These came together very quickly and easily, which is always a plus, especially this time of year. Great choice, Em!

Upside Down German Chocolate Cake

What does the first weekend in September bring? Labor Day, you say? Nope, not around here. I mean, we do celebrate Labor Day, but that's not the thing that gets my husband and his family excited. No...it's the opening of dove season! Every year, during the first weekend in September, David's Uncle Bobby and Aunt Angie host a dove shoot and dinner at their house. The menfolk all get together in the early afternoon to shoot doves, and then the rest of the family arrives in the evening for the dinner. We all pitch in and usually have tons of delicious food! This year, I decided to take Upside Down German Chocolate Cake, which is a recipe from my mom's friend, Sue. It's absolutely delicious, and it couldn't be easier to make!

First, you sprinkle some pecans and dried coconut on the bottom of your pan:

Then, you pour your prepared German Chocolate Cake batter over the pecans and coconut:

Then, you drop dollops of cream cheese frosting all over the top:

Let's get an aerial view, just so you get the idea...

Finally, you pop it in the oven and bake. When it comes out, it'll look like this:

But then, when you cut the slices and flip them over, your finished cake looks like this:
Sue's cake got tons of compliments last night, but that was no surprise...it always gets tons of compliments! Everyone loves this cake. Even people who don't like coconut. It's a great cake to take to potlucks or pitch-ins at work. But be prepared to give out the recipe...everyone will ask for it!

Upside Down German Chocolate Cake

Sue Nelson

1 pkg. German chocolate cake mix (plus ingredients to make cake according to package)

1 cup sweetened dried coconut flakes

1 cup chopped pecans

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 lb. powdered sugar

Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Sprinkle coconut and pecans evenly over teh bottom of the prepared pan. Prepare the cake mix, following the package directions.

Pour the cake batter over the coconut and pecans. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, and confectioner's sugar. Drop by spoonfuls over the top of the cake batter.

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake portion.

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack. To serve, cut inot individual serving-sized pieces and, using a spatula or cake server, remove from the pan and turn upside-down onto dessert plates.

Double Tuesdays with Dorie!

Coconut Butter Thins

Well, I'm finally a member of Tuesdays with Dorie! For those of you who aren't sure what that means, we're an online group of bakers who are working our way through Dorie Greenspan's awesome cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours. This week's assignment was Coconut Butter Thins, a shortbread-type cookie full of lime zest, coconut, and macadamia nuts. Jayne, The Barefoot Kitchen Witch made this week's pick.

I made my dough day before yesterday and kept it in the fridge overnight. I really liked Dorie's suggestion of putting the dough in a big 'ol Ziploc bag and rolling it out. It worked like a charm! I made my cookies in two batches. The first batch was made last night at about 9:30...not prime time for cookie baking in my house! I made them from the dough straight out of the fridge. I felt pretty ridiculous measuring the cookies with a ruler (and I was made fun of by my husband), so I quickly let that go by the wayside and just went after them with a pizza cutter. I made about 15 from that batch, and I was concerned! I never got that lacy look that Dorie said we'd see, but they did get awfully brown! David and I had a couple after they cooled a little, and David said he really liked them. I was honestly underwhelmed, but wasn't too concerned because I put the remaining dough in the fridge for today. I got up this morning, preheated my oven, and got busy cutting more shortbread squares (sans ruler!). Eighteen minutes later...PERFECTION!

How about that! Little browning (like Dorie said!), minimal spreading. And they weren't crunchy like last night's cookies, so I liked these much better. They're no "World Peace Cookie," but pretty good all the same. These cookies came out of the oven at about 9:30 this morning, before I had breakfast. (Now is the perfect time for me to introduce you to someone...her name is Hogatha. She is my alter ego and loves to eat. Especially baked goods. Especially in obscene quantities. She makes regular appearances, but I try to beat her down by feeding her instead with fruits and vegetables and making her run 3 or 4 miles. She doesn't like it.) This is the breakfast that Hogatha wanted this morning:

She really wanted five Coconut Butter Thins and a big cup of coffee. Instead, she got a bowl of Honey Kix and a cup of coffee.

Black and White Banana Loaf

Here's where the "double" Tuesday with Dorie comes in! I had the day off today, had some pretty ripe bananas, and some rum. So I decided to make Dorie's Black and White Banana Loaf. YUM! The picture in the book looks incredible! For this recipe, I decided to do what Dorie suggests, and do the whole mise en place thing. It just means getting all your ingredients measured out and in one place before you begin. This is something I just don't do. Instead, I wander around my kitchen getting out ingredients and cursing the fact that I can't find the 1/2 cup measure. Then I wonder "how many cups of sugar did I put in?" and then cursing again the fact that I am one egg short. So today, I set everything up before I started. I quickly realized that this was A) taking a long time and B) making more dishes for me to hand wash. But as I moved easily (and without cursing even once!) through the recipe with everything right there at my fingertips, I realized I have been converted. Extra time and dishes to wash aside...mise en place is the place to be! Let's have a look-see:

I haven't cut into my beautiful Black and White Banana Loaf yet (because I'm waiting for David to get home), but I do have a picture of it 30 minutes into its 1 hour 30 minute baking time (right before tenting it with foil):

Pretty, huh? Once we dig in, I'll post a picture to show the (hopefully!) beautiful marbling inside!