Cakes & Bakes: Almond and coconut macaroon nests

I bought a bag of Cadbury’s mini eggs in the supermarket this week with the being to use them to make some kind of Easter recipe. Rather than a cake or cookies, I decided to make some almond and coconut macaroon nests.

It’s a simple macaroon recipe; and, if you prefer, you can use all dessicated coconut or all ground almonds. Simply use an equal weight to the caster sugar. Whisking the egg whites aren’t absolutely necessary, I just think that it gives the nests a light and airy consistency.

A tablespoonful of macaroon mixture should be enough to make a nest that can easily hold 3 mini eggs. If you’d like to ‘glue’ your eggs into the cooked nests, pour a teaspoon of melted chocolate (white, milk or dark) or fruit jam inside the nest before you put the eggs inside.

They’re a lovely Easter teatime treat to have with either tea or coffee. Two per person should be ample. If there are any left over, they will keep for a few days inside an airtight, lidded container.

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Almond coconut macaroon nests

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Cook Time 15

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Servings 12

Ingredients

100 g caster sugar
50 g dessicated coconut
50 g ground almonds I used 30g of ground almonds and 20g of flaked almonds for some added texture
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 x 80g bags chocolate mini eggs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 150ºC/300ºF/Gas mark 2
Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the sugar, coconut, almonds and salt
In a large sized bowl, whisk the egg whites to the soft peak stage. Fold them into the dry ingredients
Add in the vanilla extract
Take tablespoonfuls of the mixture and gently roll them into balls in the palm of your hands. Place them on the lined baking tray
Form each ball into a nest shape by pressing down on the centre using the back of a measuring spoon (the desert spoon sized one works best for me) or a finger
Bake in the centre of the oven for 15 minutes, or until the macaroons begin to turn golden brown
If they have spread a bit, you can reshape them with your fingers while they're still warm
Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack
Once cool, add 2 or 3 eggs to each basket

If you'd like to stabilise the eggs in the baskets, you could always use a dollop of fruit jam or melted chocolate inside each nest

Keyword almond, coconut, Easter, macaroons

Cakes & Bakes: Almond & lemon scones

In the past, we’ve published a round up of our best scone recipes – and these almond & lemon scones need to be added to the top of that list.

The recipe produces scones that are delicious, light and airy. Perfect as part of an afternoon tea.

Also, I think I’ve nailed the method for achieving scones with maximum lift. Make sure you’re using self-raising flour that hasn’t been hanging around for ages, getting a little stale. Chance would be a fine thing, in these Covid times! In addition, don’t overwork the pastry; it needs to just about hold together.

And another thing, don’t press the dough down too firmly or thinly before you begin cutting the circles; you want it to be about 5cm tall. When pressing the (floured) cutter down into the pastry, don’t twist it side to side; you want a clean, even cut.

Follow all these steps and you’ll have tall, well-risen scones!

Our serving suggestion: butter, clotted cream and a fruit preserve such as a blueberry conserve or mixed berry jelly. Of course, lemon curd would be absolutely perfect too!

Click here or on the image below to save this almond & lemon scones recipe to Pinterest

Almond & lemon scone with butter, jam and mug of tea

Almond & lemon scones

Waitrose Food

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Cook Time 12

Course Tea

Cuisine British

Servings 6 scones

Ingredients

30 g/1oz golden caster sugar
grated zest of a lemon
310 g/11oz self-raising flour plus extra for dusting
¼ tsp fine salt
40 g/1½oz ground almonds
100 g/3½oz unsalted butter diced
120-130 ml/4-4½ fl oz whole milk plus 2 tbsp to glaze

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas mark 7
Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl
Stir in the salt, almonds, 15g/½oz of the sugar and lemon zest
Rub in the diced butter until the mixture resembles soft sand
Use a blunt knife to quickly mix in 120ml/4 fl oz milk, bringing it all together with cool hands once a shaggy dough forms. (Add the extra 10ml/½ fl oz milk, if needed, to form a dough that's soft but not sticky)
Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until uniform. Bring together into a disc and roll out to about 4cm/1½" thick
Flour a 6-7cm/2½" cookie cutter and stamp out 6 rounds, gently reshaping and re-rolling the dough as needed
Brush the scones with milk, scatter with the remaining 15g/½oz caster sugar and swiftly transfer to the hot baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and risen
Cool on a wire rack

Serve with butter, clotted cream and fruit jam or jelly

Keyword almond, lemon, scones

Almond chocolate fudge

I’ve had an opened tin of condensed milk in the fridge for about a month. Thanks to it being so sweet and thick – and that I covered it tightly with a silicone food cover – it was fine to use after all that time.

I wanted to use it up by making something quick, sweet and tasty – almond chocolate fudge! I found the perfect recipe online on the Sweetest Menu blog. I only had half a tin of milk remaining, so I simply halved the amounts.

It was so lovely – just a couple of squares is enough, though – it was very sweet. I think it would also make a delicious icing for the top of a layered sponge; perhaps a chocolate or mocha cake.

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Almond chocolate fudge

2020-05-07 15:10:19

Yields 16

Ingredients

300g/10½oz dark chocolate
35g/1¼oz unsalted butter
300g/10½oz condensed milk
1tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
½tsp baking soda
120g/4¼oz chopped almonds, toasted

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Instructions

Grease and line a 20cm/8" square baking tin with baking or parchment paper
In a large mixing bowl, add your chocolate and butter and then place on top of a saucepan filled with about 5cm/2" of water - ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water beneath
Pop onto a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until completely melted
Gradually stir in your condensed milk, vanilla, salt and baking soda and gently stir until it all comes together
Remove from the heat, throw in your nuts and mix through
Moving quickly as it will begin to set, pour the chocolate mixture into your prepared pan and gently smooth over the top
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm
Cut into small squares and serve

Notes

Store in the fridge

Adapted from Sweetest Menu

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Almond cookies

The stretch of sunny, summery weather we’ve got used to has suddenly disappeared. I was glad to be busying myself in our oven-warm kitchen making a batch of almond cookies. Which brings me to think… how do you pronounce ‘almond’? I say, ‘arh-mond’… Justin says, ‘ol-mond’… which of us is correct?!

Anyway, back to more important matters. These cookies are easy to make, using three types of almond – I should have named them triple almond cookies – almond extract, ground almonds and flaked almonds. You just roll the cookie dough into balls, press the flaked almonds into the top and cook them for 15-20 minutes.

They’re really delicious – they’re soft and chewy in the middle and crispy around the edges. The recipe made 22 cookies for me – however, it will depend on how large or small you like your cookies. If that sounds like too many for you, the excess cookie dough can be frozen until next time; either in a single lump or ready-made into cookies. Simply defrost fully before popping them into the oven.

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Almond cookies

2020-04-28 11:45:31

Yields 22

Cook Time

20 min

Cook Time

20 min

Ingredients

135g butter, melted
150g caster sugar
½ tsp almond extract
1 large egg, beaten
150g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
35g ground almonds
35g flaked almonds

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Instructions

Combine the melted butter and caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy
Add the beaten egg and almond extract and combine well
In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour and bicarbonate of soda
Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture
Fold in the ground almonds
Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour
Grease & line a baking sheet with baking parchment
Preheat the oven to 170°C, fan 150°C/ Gas mark 3
Scoop out about a dessert spoon of dough at a time, roll it between your palms to form a ball
Put the ball on the prepared baking sheet and stud the top with the flaked almonds (only put 4 or 5 balls on the sheet at a time, leaving lots of space between each ball, as the cookies spread quite a bit during cooking)
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and crisp at the edges
Allow to cool and firm up for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring them to a wire rack for a further 10 minutes
Repeat stages 9 through 12 until all the cookie dough has been used

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/