Mini Coconut Macaroons

As my parents and grandparents were visiting over the weekend I decided I wanted to make something that would be small enough to eat before we went out for dinner in The Champion in Notting Hill (if you haven't been, its a lovely pub, great food and lovely atmosphere). It was the first time my family were visiting us in our flat and as we hadn't been all together since February, we were in need of a big catch up! And for for 'catch up's'... baked goods are essential! Also baking for my family proves that I am now a domestic queen... which of course I am not! Had they popped over on a Sunday morning the flat would have been in a very different state! 

Anyway, I was looking for something simple and easy to make that was light and bite-sized! I am in no way ready to make almond macaroons but fancied good, old fashioned coconut macaroons! I got the recipe from BakingMad.com and I am not exaggerating when I say it is the most straight-forward recipe I have ever made! But they were visually quite impressive and tasted really sweet. I made the mistake of making them one night when we had a few friends round for a movie... lets just say I assumed they were pretty good as I had to hide the remaining macaroons! I was happy to see everyone enjoying them! 

Mini Coconut Macaroons

I made chocolate chip short bread to go with them. For these I use my previous short bread recipe.  I would definitely recommend this recipe to anyone looking for an addition to bake sale or for guests as they are perfect with a cup of tea! My family were... well... quite frankly, I think they were surprised I could make anything, as before university I could barely boil an egg! But they thought they were lovely and ate the lot!

I hope you liked this brief blog! I can't stress enough how easy and tasty these were, let me know if you try this recipe out and think the same! Also you can follow my baking shenanigans on twitter if you like @josieroberts88.

Mini Coconut Macaroons

White and Dark Chocolate Cheese Cake

I chose this recipe because I wanted to make something from my brand spanking NEW Merry Berry Cookbook, 'At Home'. This was extra amazeballs because my boyfriend got me a signed copy as a gift! I know, I am a lucky girl.... However, he is really the lucky one as he got to meet Mary Berry!  : O

I discovered on #Skintlondon  (if you are not already following this then do it, so useful!) on twitter that she was doing the book signing whilst I was away with friends and was gutted! ( I know, sad fan). I am very happy with my new book, its great to have lots of new recipes and to have had such a thoughtful gift :) Inside it reads, 'To Josie, Hope to see you next time, Keep on baking. Love Mary' ... It is officially my most prized possession!

This recipe looked decadent and really chocolatey! So I immediately wanted to make it! Also I had never made a cheese cake before. Like all Marry Berry recipes, it was really doable and the ingredients were easy to get hold of. It worked out really well although I REALLY need to work on my marbling technique and just decorating and presentation in general! Something to work on for the next bake. If you feel like a treat or have a dessert to make for some reason, I would highly recommend giving this a go :)

Ingredients 

Base

600g Dark chocolate digestive biscuits, crushed.

50g Butter melted.

Filling

200g Belgian white chocolate, chopped.

300ml Double cream.

300g Full-fat cream cheese.

1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract.

100g Dark chocolate (39 per cent cocoa solids)

Line the base of a 20cm tin with baking parchment.

To make the biscuit base mix the crushed digestives with the melted butter and press into the bottom of the tin using the back of a spoon.

For the filling, melt the chopped white chocolate over a pan of simmering water. Don't let it get too hot and stir occasionally, then set to one side to cool.

Pour the cream into a large mixing bowl, but save aside 3 tablespoons. To the large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and vanilla. Whisk with an electric whisk until smooth. Add the white chocolate and whisk until thick. 

Spoon 6 tablespoons of the mixture into a separate mixing bowl and spoon the remaining into the prepared tin, smooth over and chill for thirty minutes. 

Add the reserved cream to the reserved mixture and mix the two together until smooth and spoon over the set mixture in the tin. 

Melt the dark chocolate as before ans drizzle over the top. Using the blade of a knife swirl the topping together. (I think I added to much chocolate too fast and it has turned out darker than I would have hoped)

Chill for two hours then turn out and try not eat all at once ;) 

Hope someone else has a go at this one, its simple, fun and easy to make and tasted great! I have not had any time to do any blogging lately, but I have a back log of baking experiments that I will post soon and a lot of things I want to try very soon! Feel free to comment on the blog itself or follow me on twitter, would love some feed back, especially on my own recipes to see if anyone has tried them out at home! :) Happy Baking. 

P.S If anyone happened to pick up a copy of Time Out magazine today, there is some great baking related pieces as it is all about the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory show. I particularly liked reading about some of the Willy Wonker esque bakers and chefs! If you like the sound of experimental jelly and chocolate sculpting, check it out! :)