We don't like coconuts, we want 'boules de neige!'

Congolais- Biscuits boules de neige

Again, I've left my blog mute for a while. And I'm sorry. I have to admit, it was a lack of motivation, caused by fatigue, stress and sadness. Apart from the busyness at school, I lost my uncle last Sunday. Anyway, putting aside all the trials we all go through, I've got some wonderful news to share with you.

I baked coconut cookies, aka Congolais with my 3year olds! Actually, I never thought they'd enjoy it so much. The previous day, I brought fresh coconuts for them to taste & they neither liked the coconut milk, nor the flesh. I know some of you would have LOVED to taste some of it, right? Ah Silly kids, they don't know what they're missing.

So, I tried another strategy for them to LIKE coconuts. After all, we live in a tropical island & they better start liking the local nuts! And they literally loved it. They asked for more, they practically lick their fingers. One of them decided to name them Biscuits boules de neige. Aren't they cute? Anyone of you out there who wants to have some fun baking with their kids should try this easy peasy recipe which won't go wasted. 15 3year old kids liked them, I don't see why yours won't!

Ingredients

• 200g dessicated coconut
• 45g flour
• 1pinch of salt
• 17cl sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure

1. Preheat your oven to 350deg F.
2. In a large bowl, sift the flour and the salt. Add the dessicated coconut & mix them with a wooden spoon.
3. Pour in the condensed milk & add the vanilla. Mix all the ingredients together.
4. Prepare your baking sheet. Take a heaped tablespoon of the batter and shape them into balls. Place them on your baking sheet. Drizzle some more condensed milk lightly over the biscuits before baking them for about 15-20mins.
5. Enjoy!

It does get cold & rainy here- Almond crescents

Demi-lunes aux amandes

For a while, I'd thought that I was back to good old UK! The weather was so crap this week. The last thing I'd thought I'd wear was a scarf- in Mauritius. My scarves have been sleeping in my wardrobe for almost 2years & I just had to take them out because of the cold. On the other hand, women are pretty when they wear scarves. They look more professional, smarter and hmm, prettier. :)

And so, I wanted to bake some almond crescents on this cold afternoon. Brr... Baking always warm your heart, the smell of the freshly baked goodies slowly oozing out of the oven & spreading into the entire kitchen & corridor... All you wanna is a cuppa tea, your couch & a blanket. Oh & the pretty biscuits :) Crunchy, chewy, soft, delicately flavoured with almond essence & ground almonds and nicely shaped. Bon appetit :)

Recipe from the cookbook: Biscuits et Gâteaux by Linda Collister
Ingredients

• 120g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2-3 drops of almond essence
• 60g icing sugar-sifted
• 1 pinch of salt
• 90g flour- sifted
• 120g ground almonds
• 30g whole almonds, lightly reduced to chunks
• icing sugar for sprinkling

Procedure

1. Preheat your oven at 350deg F.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and add the almond extract. With a wooden spoon, stir in the icing sugar. Beat the mixture with the electric mixer.
3. Mix in the salt, followed by the flour an almonds with your spoon. Do not overwork the dough.
4. Make balls about the size of table-tennis balls out of the dough and roll them like a sausage. Shape them like crescents. Place them on your baking sheet spacing them well in between.
5. Bake them for about 15mins, they have to look barely golden brown.
6. Allow them to cool on a wire rack and sprinkle icing sugar over the biscuits.

Breakthrough

Sablés aux noix de coco et aux amandes

You've all been so encouraging & loving. Actually, it's not me who keeps this blog alive, but YOU! I don't have much to say today, except that I had fun making these tasty, crunchy and addictive Sables in the shape of the Ictus. Ictus always reminds me of this beautiful phrase: When life gets you down, keep looking up!

Plus, these Sables are not the classic ones. They have a special taste and texture. So if you happen to have the cookbook Larousse des desserts by Pierre Herme, then you gotta love the great French patissier's recipe:

Ingredients

• 325g unsalted butter
• 150g icing sugar
• 3 pinches of salt
• 1tsp almond essence
• 75g ground almonds
• 75g dessicated coconut
• 1 egg
• 325g flour- sieved

Procedure

1. Beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar, followed by the salt, almond essence, ground almonds, dessicated coconut and finally the egg.
2. Add a third of the flour to the batter and mix with a wooden spoon. Add the rest of the flour and mix smoothly until you obtain a thick batter. Let the dough rest in the fridge for about 2hours.
3. Preheat your oven to 375 deg F and prepare your baking sheet.
4. You can roll the dough and cut out shapes from it or use your pastry bag to pipe out the dough. Bake for about 5mins until the Sables turned golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Dear All

Kids impatiently grabbing for shortbread cookies

I'd like to apologise for turning my food blog on the mute mode for more than 1 1/2months. I won't lie to you, but I've even thought about closing it down. It's not that I'm bored with blogging but as one says, life's not always rosy. These past few months, I've had to struggle with family and health issues- which are not always 'fair' and easy to deal with, when they come at the same time. My heart ached to see my blog so neglected, but I felt too 'low' to even look for a good recipe to try out.

Looking on the bright side of life, work has kept me very busy- so busy that I've lost weight (my boss calls me a bean-pod, but I don't think I look like one). Working with fifteen three year olds is a very active and demanding job but it's always a joy. I remember I once told you that I was planning to bake cookies with them- indeed we did, and they LOVED this experience! They loved it so much that they asked for more! Well, being such a loving teacher (ahem), I'm planning to make milkshakes and Mauritian coconut cookies in the next few weeks to come, never mind the mess!

Till then, I promise I'll do my best to keep you more updated. I have a lot to catch up! And a special thank you to those who've encouraged me to be back on track.

Love you! xxx

TGIF!

Vanilla Pecan squares

Thank God It's Friday! Yes, thank you Lord that you have provided teachers two days of rest each week. We need them. I'm sooo grateful for that. Because it means we are finally able to kick back & relax for two whole days, i.e, if we don't have any other important commitments. With time, I've realised that because I sometimes feel burnt out at the end of the week, I do my best to spend some quiet time alone. It feels like a weekly premature retirement :P

It does me good, though some of my surroundings tell me I'm being antisocial. But believe me or not, after spending 5days with screaming kids, all you want to do is to crawl into a shell where all's peaceful, still and calm. And this precious time is either spent gazing at the stars (Yes, I love dreaming big dreams!) or baking. They are my therapy.

As part of my quiet time, I've baked these delicious vanilla pecan squares. These goodies are soft at the bottom and have a crumbly & crunchy top. They are deliciously flavoured, and you can vary the flavour by replacing the vanilla extract with cinnamon or ginger powder. But I prefer mine this was and they're perfect as such. Oh, and they taste better than they look!

Recipe adapted from Biscuits et Gâteaux by Linda Collister (of which I tried most of her recipes: Lemon Squares; Almond and white chocolate cookies; Almond biscottis with dark chocolate; Biscuits au whisky et au chocolat blanc; Sables au chocolat.

Ingredients

• 100g butter- at room temperature
• 3 tbs honey
• 1 large egg
• 180g self raising flour
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 90g pecan, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp milk
• pinch of salt

For the crumble:

• 2 tbs flour
• 2 tbs Demerara sugar
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 30g butter at room temperature
• 30g pecan

Procedure

1. Beat the butter until it turns light and fluffy. Add in the honey, followed by the egg & vanilla extract. In another bowl, sieve the flour & salt.
2. Mix them together with the butter mixture. Finally add the pecan and the milk, merging them well altogether.
3. Spread the dough evenly over your prepared baking pan (lightly greased).
4. Make the crumble by mixing the flour with the sugar. Add in the butter & mix with the tip of your fingers. Pour in the vanilla extract. Lastly, add the pecan to the dough & mix well.
5. Spread the crumble over the dough & bake for 25-30mins in a preheated oven at 350deg F, until the cake is baked & firm to the touch.
6. Remove it from the pan, allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Facing it with full force

Brown spaghetti with smoked marlin and portobello mushrooms

School has resumed. I was excited to see my 3 yr olds again, even after 3 weeks of holidays. I truly missed them. I missed their constant bickering, their nonsense conversations & stories, their sudden screeching & screaming, the way they smear paint all over themselves... etc... etc... That's when I realise how boring life is without them. I think Mums out there know what I'm talking about. My colleagues & I have planned eggciting stuffs for them this term. I'm planning to make the kids bake cookies *in the hope that they won't eat their playdough after that experience!!* & I have faith that they'll love baking as much as their teacher.

And since I've got 14 brats to educate & take care of, I need some slow released energy food. Like brown pasta. Oh yes, I saw it at the shop & I wanted to give it a try. But beware, this pasta should be cooked for quite a long time *20-25mins depending on the quantity*, or you won't enjoy it. I wouldn't cook it until al dente but until it's soft.

I combined some pretty good flavours together. When the spaghetti's done after boiling, throw in some sprigs of fresh parsley & thyme, along with a dash of olive oil. Also, chuck in some pieces of smoked marlin. Next, I stir fried some portobello mushroom with onions, red & yellow pepper. Finally, I garnished the pasta with freshly grated Emmental cheese. The spaghetti's enough to satisfy my palate & hungry body after my first day at school, and of course, to face the second day fully energized.