Lemon and Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroons.

I absolutely adore macroons and this is a great twist on your plain ones. The lemon is subtle, yet delicious and the dark chocolate drizzled on top complements it really well. I was so surprised how quick these are to make, they're great for a snack!

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

80g desiccated coconut

1tsp cornflour

50g caster sugar

1tbsp lemon juice

40g dark chocolate.

 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180º.

2. Beat the egg whites until light and fluffy but not stiff.

3. Fold in the desiccated coconut, cornflour, caster sugar and lemon juice into the beaten egg white.

4. Use a tablespoon to make mounds of the mixture on a greased and lined baking tray, making sure they are well spread out.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until light golden.

6. Whilst they are cooling, melt your dark chocolate.

7. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the macaroons.

An alternative to drizzling the chocolate over, you could dip half of it in the melted chocolate such as these...

Image courtesy of The City Sage.

This makes 12 average-sized macaroons. Enjoy!

Cakesfordorothy xoxo

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Queen Cakes/Raisin Cupcakes.

Queen cakes are possibly the first homemade cakes I ever ate. My grandad's neighbour used to make some for every time he would collect me from school (which was at least once a week) so these played a significant part in my childhood. For years I completely forgot about them until recently when I saw them whilst browsing through a recipe book. I knew their unique shape looked familiar and then it clicked. I was surprised at how easy they were to make and how quickly they bake. They have a slightly crunchy outside with a soft and fluffy centre and the chewy raisins/currants bring the textures together very well. There is also a hint of lemon which complements the raisins/currants nicely.

Ingredients:

115g butter

115g caster sugar

2 eggs

6 tsps lemon juice

175g self-raising flour

115g raisins/currants

5 tbsps milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190º.

2. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the eggs, one by one.

4. Beat in the lemon juice with 1 tablespoon of the flour.

5. Fold in the remaining flour using a metal spoon.

6. Stir in the raisins/currants. If you don't like either, you could always use chocolate chips!

7. Gradually mix in up to 5 tablespoons until the mixture is reluctant to fall of the spoon but will do so after a few seconds (this is called a soft dropping consistency).

8. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases and bake for 25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.

9. Allow to cool before eating.

Enjoy!

Cakesfordorothy xoxo

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Microwave Meringues.

I just love microwave baking. Yes, the great taste of oven-baked food may be compromised but you can have so much fun with it, without baking very much (usually). I was inspired by Ruth at The Pink Whisk to have a go at these crazy creations in the microwave. They looked so easy and fun that I just could not resist!

Check the recipe out here! I didn't want to commit to 16 meringues straight away, so I instead used half an egg white and 150g icing sugar. I think added a few drops of vanilla essence for a flavour before splitting the paste into 3 bowls and adding red food colouring to one bowl and blue to another. These would be great for a British-themed tea party or the forthcoming 2nd anniversary of the Duke and Duchess' wedding!

Enjoy!

Cakesfordorothy xoxo

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