Beware The Eggs of March

My favourite thing about Spring is not the warming temperature nor the blossoming daffodils or even the fact that it's my birthday. No, dear reader(s) my favourite thing about Spring is that it means I can make and (over)indulge in one of my favourite seasonal Easter treats: Cadbury Crack. This is not your average annual Easter cookie or cupcake, this is the mother of all Easter treats and it combines pretzels, toffee, chocolate, coconut and mini eggs and it's so delicious you will eat it until you feel sick and then keep going. It's the mini eggs that make it Easter otherwise you could eat it all year round but then I'd probably have diabetes and weight about a thousand pounds.

Cadbury Crack

1 bag salted pretzels (if you can find the stick ones their easier to lay flat)
1 1/4 cup salted butter
1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
250 g baking chocolate
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 family sized bag of mini eggs (300g)

-Preheat oven to 200ºC.
-Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and evenly spread the pretzels across the pan.
-In a medium sized pot melt the butter and sugar and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Add the vanilla and stir.
-Pour the mixture evenly over the pretzels and bake for approximately 6 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate.
-Remove the toffee and pretzels from the oven and allow to cool until no longer bubbling. Then pour the chocolate over the top. Sprinkle with coconut and crushed mini eggs and refrigerate for at least one hour before breaking into small pieces and binging.

Don't eat in bed if you're not willing to wash chocolate out of your sheets!

Hoppy Easter!

  -Holly

Based off of a recipe by HoneyBear lane available here

No Pudge Fudge

I'm having to eat my words these days, but I'm actually alright with it as they taste like fudge! I've never bought into this whole gluten, dairy, sugar, fat, free dessert thing, banana oatmeal cookies just aren't as good as oatmeal chocolate chip. If you were going to eat the calories you might as well just have the chocolate chip cookie because at least you'll enjoy it more! But when Lauren was faced with balancing an elimination diet with her sweet tooth I figured the universe had sent me to live in her house for three weeks to solve this conundrum. Really, I lucked out because this was the first recipe I tried so it wasn't like I had thirty different awful cardboard brownies in the garbage before I found a winner but I guess I picked a pretty safe bet with coconut and chocolate.


If you like coconut and chocolate then you will love this fudge, period. Doesn't matter if you're trying to be healthy or not the bottom line is it's really, really good

COCONUT OIL CHOCOLATE FUDGE

1/2 c. coconut oil, melted
2 1/2 tbsp coconut or almond milk
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt the coconut oil over low heat.
2. Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth.
3. Pour into either a parchment line 4x4 (small) dish or an ice cube tray.
4. Put in freezer until solid.
5. Keep refrigerated or frozen.

Obviously the whole "No pudge" thing isn't really true but hey if it's delicious and healthier than the alternatives what's not to enjoy!?

Happy (healthy) indulging!

-Holly

Lemon Coconut Cake

  This is another round of "what's about to go bad that I can turn into something delicious" baking. I discovered some lemons that were about to turn hanging out in the fruit basket here so I found this recipe for Lemon Coconut Bread that looked like it could be a winner. The recipe called it a bread, but let's be honest it's a bread in the same way that a Big Mac is an appetizer. As far as I'm concerned calling banana bread a bread is a bit of a stretch, it doesn't require yeast or kneading, it's sweet and cakey, it's cake. Although whatever you call it, it's damn good. 

   This particular cake is a moist and fluffy with a lovely crunch on the outside. It's full of lemon flavour with just a hint of coconut. Not enough that you feel like you're eating a Pina Colada (or sunscreen) but enough that you can feel the warm breeze of the Pacific Ocean as you stuff your face and feel grateful that this hint of the tropics can be enjoyed in your comfy pants without the risk of sunburn. I added some extra coconut and lemon to my version for the extra boost. Assembly is quick and painless (with the exception of zesting the lemons which can either be a breeze or a pain depending on the day) and the real test is waiting patiently while it's in the oven for 40 minutes. It's worth the wait though, I assure you.

                                                                                             Lemon Coconut Cake

-1/2 c butter, softened
-1 c sugar
-2 eggs
-3 tbsp lemon juice
-grated peel of 3 lemons
-1 1/2 c flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 c coconut milk
-1/2 c shredded coconut

For the glaze:
-icing sugar
-lemon juice
-shredded coconut for sprinkling

• Line a loaf pan with greaseproof paper. You can also just grease and flour the pan but it makes clean up a little more tricky. 
• Preheat oven to 180ºC(350ºF).
• Cream butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs, lemon juice and peel and mix well. 
• In a separate bowl combine flour and baking powder. Slowly add to the butter mixture and mix until well blended. 
• Mix in the coconut milk and shredded coconut and then pour into the prepared pan. 
• Bake for 40-50 minutes depending on your oven until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (If the top starts to get a bit too brown for comfort throw some tin foil over the top to stop it from burning)
• Let cool completely on a wire rack before glazing. 
• For the glaze simply mix icing sugar and lemon juice until you reach a desirable drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake and sprinkle with extra shredded coconut. 

Enjoy!
-Holly 

Coconut Crunch Cookies

      Cookie week is drawing to a close. It's a short week, let's just pretend that tomorrow is a holiday because Papa Bear has about 11 bags of cookies in the freezer and believe it or not, I'm tired of baking. Really I'm more tired of doing the dishes after baking so it looks like this may be it for me and the KitchenAid mixer until Christmas and I will miss him. But I leave Vancouver on a (sugar)high note with these amazing Coconut Crunch Cookies. The cookies themselves aren't crunchy, they're nice and moist and cakey, the crunch comes from the almonds and the coconut. In a limited study of my family and the people I worked with when I made them last they were rated very highly. 

Coconut Crunch Cookies

make a lot (3 dozen maybe?)

1 c butter, softened

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 c flaked coconut

1 package milk chocolate chips

1-1/2 c chopped toasted almonds

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs and extracts.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to butter and mix until combined. 

Stir in coconut, chocolate chips and almonds.

Drop in 1-1/2 inch scoops onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes at 350ºF (180ºC) until lightly browned.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Share with people who you want to like you. 

Until London, Happy eating!

-Holly