A Perfect Time for Pumpkin Pancakes

A friend sent me a nice note recently that his wife had made these pumpkin pancakes for dinner, and that they were thoroughly enjoyed by all. I always appreciate those kinds of messages, especially since they often serve as a reminder for doing seasonally appropriate recipe re-posts.

This was the week pumpkin made its yearly appearance into my life. On restaurant menus, on television, in store windows, on neighbors’ steps, and all over our living room…and dining room…and kitchen…and, well, you get the idea. So, to celebrate the beloved American gourd, I decided to rerun this tasty winter treat. Enjoy!

Click here to read the original post, and to get the ingredient amounts.

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You Can Count on Monte Cristo Benedict for Mother’s Day Brunch

I always get a ton of food wishes this time of year for creative brunch ideas, and I was thinking about doing some new type of eggs Benedict, when I happened to see a photo of a Monte Cristo sandwich. At first, it just made me want a Monte Cristo sandwich, but after that wore off, I started thinking about how I’d seen these topped with fried eggs before.

Long story short, I decided to simply make an open-faced version of the famous stuffed sandwich, and top it with poached eggs, and hopefully a new American brunch classic was born. Of course, Ill let you decide, but there was nothing I didn’t love about this plate of food. Okay, the salad was kind of phoned in, but the rest was awesome.

The base is a variation of our famous Restaurant Style French Toast recipe, which marries perfectly with the ham, cheddar and havarti. It was so tasty you really don’t even need the poached eggs. Actually, forget I said that. Do the eggs. If only so you can pop those yolks, and watch them run. Besides the eating, that has to be the best part.

I’ve also re-posted a poached eggs demo below, since poaching your eggs ahead of time is the only way to go, especially if you have a larger group. By the way, you can hold the Monte Cristo bases in a warm oven while you pull the rest of the meal together. I hope you give this new Benedict a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

For the batter:

2 large eggs

1/4 cup cream

1 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp allspice

4 thick slices of French bread
1 tbsp butter

8 slices ham

4 slices cheddar cheese

4 slices havarti cheese

8 poached eggs

chive to garnish

How to Poach Eggs 

 

View the complete Poached Eggs recipe

View the complete Monte Cristo Benedict recipe

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“BBQ” Broiled Red Snapper – This One’s For the Haters

There’s a fairly large population of folks who just don’t like fish. I’m not talking about people with allergies, but those poor souls who’s worst nightmare is arriving at a dinner party, only to find out the main course is fish. Their reasons are as diverse as they are unfortunate.

Well, this broiled red snapper recipe may be just what the doctor ordered. Normally we don’t want to cover up the delicate flavors of the seafood, but in this case, we have no choice. It’s not like you can’t tell you’re eating fish, but close enough.

By the way, the last time I made red snapper, a few people wondered out loud if that was a wise choice, sustainability-wise. I believe the variety I used was local and not in danger, but I know it’s on some no-eat lists. However, things may be looking up for red snapper in the Gulf.

I just read that there appears to be an abundant red snapper population there, and fishermen are anxiously waiting for the bureaucratic powers that be to raise the limits. You can read more about that here. Of course, this will work with any white fish, so I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 (7-oz) red snapper filets

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp bbq sauce

salt and cayenne pepper to taste 

View the complete recipe

Bonus Red Snapper Info

I have no way to verify whether this info is accurate, but I found it compelling and wanted to share. 

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Chocolate Soufflés with Nougat Whip Warning Intended for Mature Audiences

Chocolate Soufflés with Nougat Whip Photo (c) SmithBites.com

My friend, Linda from Salty Seattle, called this Chocolate Soufflés with Nougat Whip video, “porn without people,” and I couldn’t agree more. The term “food porn” gets thrown around way too easily these days. Sorry, that picture of your red velvet cupcakes was nice, but it wasn’t really pornographic. This, however, could make you blush. By the way, the surface temperature of a blushing face is the exact temperature at which chocolate melts. Coincidence?

This semi-sweet tour-de-force is from Debra and Rod “The Professor” Smith, from SmithBites.com. I’m relatively new to their work, but quite impressed to say the least. I’m very proud Food Wishes helped pioneer the chef-less recipe video, but this is taking that idea to a whole other place – surreal and viscerally sensual, yet still comforting and familiar. Please follow this link to check out the original post, and see more of their fine work. Enjoy!

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Chef Sleeve For iPad

Few weeks ago, I received a box of this Chef Sleeve for iPad/iPad2 to review and since sometime I love to reference to some of my online recipe collections instead of the big and heavy cookbooks, I guess this sleeve will be in great help to keep my iPad protected in the kitchen.

Friendly speaking tablets are not cheap and they can be easily crack or break if you are not careful in handling them. Moreover using tablet in the kitchen might be a bit messy with the splat, spill and spread of ingredients during cooking process especially baking where flour mixtures and egg might get a bit tricky if you place the tablet nearer to your access.

CHEF SLEEVE

(iPad Protector)

Each box consists of 25 sleeves which cost about S$1.00+ each and when you take out a sleeve from the box, there is a flap on one side where you can slide your iPad into the sleeve. To secure it, just remove the thin white strip to expose a sticky part on a flap, fold the flap back over the iPad and it is ready for use. Even though your iPad is protected by the sleeve, you can still use all your favorite Apps while making a mess and its touch screen works perfectly under the thin protective film.

Although the sleeve is not water-proof but it is certainly makes to water-resistant till some extend to withstand spill of coffee, drinks or water by accident.

If you are looking for quick and easy protection for your iPad in the kitchen or outdoor where there is a risk that it might get dirty or wet, Chef Sleeve definitely works very well. For those who is interested to get this product you can refer to the following:-

~ From SINGAPORE:- Their online ordering site HERE;

~ From OVERSEAS:- Amazon.com HERE;

~ Chef Sleeve Facebook Page(Singapore) HERE.

Each Chef Sleeve box consists of 25 sleeves that fits both iPad and iPad 2.

GIVEAWAY!

Here I would like to share some of these sleeves with 2 Lucky Winners, each will received a gift pack that comes with 5 sleeves in order for your use or share with friends to try out this new iPad protector. If you are interested, please participate the Giveaway through Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page HERE.

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Fresh Peach Chutney – A Sunny Sauce for Summer

I cant think of many cold sauces that are as versatile as this fresh peach chutney. Whether its used to top a ham and cheese snack cracker, as seen in the video, or brushed on grilled pork chops, or used as a topping for vanilla ice cream (true story), this easy fresh peach sauce will help make your summer entertaining a little sunnier.

This recipe is part of a series of eight snack videos I did for Kelloggs Snackpicks.com. When you click on the video player below, youll be taken to their website to view the videos and get the written instructions. If you have questions or comments, please come on back and post them here. Thanks, and enjoy!

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Help! Lookin for a fluffy yellow cup cake recipe!

A very close friend, E., is getting married in 10 days. Im in charge of cooking most of the food and baking the wedding cupcakes. *gulp* Luckily for me, someone with no catering experience whatsoever, the wedding is small so I won’t be cooking for tons of people for the first time, when the most I’ve cooked for is a grand total of five. And don’t worry, she knows this. I would be a craptastic friend if I volunteered for this job and said “by the way...” a few days before the wedding.

Im trying to keep my cool for as long as possible and not flip out-verrryyyy important at this point. I finished testing all of the food last weekend (thank goodness for the 3 day weekend) and finished the yellow cake last night (there will be both chocolate and yellow cake). At least I thought I finished it. First attempt went in the compost bin because I did my math wrong, sad realization that mental math is not like riding a bike. Major fail. With the second attempt, the flavor is good, but the texture didnt meet my standards. Finals are T minus 5 days and as much as I love experimenting with recipes, I’m obviously running out of time! So dear readers, I’m going to do some thinking out loud, or rather, on this blog and please let me know what you think!

Here’s the recipe I used last night, which I adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated yellow cupcake recipe. I really respect Cook’s Illustrated, they usually never fail me so their recipe could be solid and the texture could have been compromised by the changes I made. I hate to be that person that rags on a perfectly good recipe even though I made x, y, and z changes.

(Almond) Yellow Cupcake
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1/2 C granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 C buttermilk
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp amaretto

My Adaptations:
- Original recipe called for 8 Tbsp butter, but I switched 2 Tbsp of that with 2 Tbsp of oil because I read somewhere that oil will make cakes taste moister at slightly chilled or room temp? Not sure how true this is.
- Decreased the sugar from 1 C (way too sweet) to 1/2 C
- Subbed 1/2 C sour cream for 1/2 C buttermilk
- Added almond extract and amaretto and took out vanilla extract

General idea: cream butter and sugar, add an egg at a time, beat throrougly, add oil and buttermilk. Sift in dry ingredients, and fold gently. Bake at 350F for 20 – 24 minutes.
The problem is the cake I made with all purpose flour turned out like a pound cake, which is good for breakfast, bad for wedding cake, or wedding cupcake in this case. I hate to say this, but boxed cake mix had a better, cakey texture. *hangs head in shame*

One thing I tried to avoid from the beginning is cake flour. Don’t get me wrong, I heart cake flour, it certainly makes cakes magical (called cake flour for a reason!) but it’s also more expensive compared to all-purpose flour. E. and I are trying to keep costs as low as possible.

Right now I have a few options:
- Mix of all purpose flour + cornstarch: I found a recipe in my Martha Stewart book that calls for 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of cornstarch (6 eggs beaten to ribbon stage, yadda yadda...).
- Another option is to mix parts all purpose flour and cake flour (again saw a few recipes in Martha Stewart’s book that did that).
- And the third option, one I have been trying to avoid, is to just use all cake flour.

Comments?

Also:
- Should I be using milk instead of buttermilk? I always thought buttermilk was superior and we rarely have milk in the house because neither Steven nor I drink it, but Im having a hard time finding a reliable fluffy, buttermilk, yellow cake recipe. Dories party cake calls for buttermilk, but thats a white cake with cake flour (see cake flour above).
- Is it redundant to use both almond extract and amaretto? I had both so I just used both but I wasn’t sure if there was a taste difference or if it’s better to use one or the other.
- If I do a Genoise style cake, then Ill have to use oil, or melted butter, or a combo of both. I usually learn towards a combo of both for flavor and moistness.

What do you think? Any suggestions?

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Shrimp Jalapeno Nachos for Cinco de Mayo or Cinco de Anytime

These simple and addictive shrimp and jalapeno nachos are not only a nice alternative to more common versions, but a great reminder of how this iconic snack was actually intended to be served. Contrary to current fashion, nachos didn’t start out as a giant pile of chips drenched in ladles of florescent gold cheese sauce.

The earliest versions were made by simply broiling a single layer of cheese-topped chips, which were then garnished with jalapeno peppers – simple and elegant, with every chip genetically identical to the next. Over time we’ve added hundreds of toppings, as well as replaced the broiled (real) cheese with something that you can also use to grease an axel.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the aforementioned version just as much as the next guy wearing pajama jeans, but once in a while it’s good to revisit a simpler time in American snacking. If you’re planning to party, I wish you a fun and safe Cinco de Mayo, and hope you give these very tasty chips a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 Portions:

1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (I used 50-60 per pounds size, which are ideal for this)

1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil

pinch of cayenne

1/4 tsp ground chipotle pepper

salt and pepper to taste

50-60 large tortilla chips, or as needed
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced very thin

about 3 1/2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese

avocado creama (1 avocado, 1 cup sour cream, and juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes; liquefied in a blender)

sliced cherry tomatoes and freshly chopped cilantro to garnish

View the complete recipe

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Endomela ice cream shop in Akko Israel and a recipe for a wonderful apricot sorbet

 
Youll find the recipe for this wonderfully aromatic and flavoursome apricot sorbet at the end of this post.  

Endomela is a play of three Hebrew words, Ein-Dome-La. The meaning? "Similar to none" or "Unlike no other". This is the name of a small ice cream parlour in Akko (known as Acre in English), a small town in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel. Akko was first mentioned on the tribute-lists of pharaoh Thutmose III in the 16th century BC, and is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in this part of the world. A place with history indeed.

We visited Akko in the midday heat in the middle of the hot Israeli summer, so it was hard to grasp that the city is a home to some 45 thousand inhabitants. I guess that most of them were hiding in the safety of their cool and possibly air-conditioned homes and not wandering around the streets.

We were in Akko for a reason, of course. As we were exploring the culinary delicacies Israel has to offer, we had arrived to have a light lunch at a famous seafood restaurant URI BURI, meet the man behind the restaurant, Uri (Jeremias) Buri (pictured just below), visit his ice cream shop and enjoy a private tour of his recently opened beautiful boutique hotel Efendi and finish with a "light" tapas-style lunch at the hotel restaurant. Ill write about the fish restaurant and the hotel another time, today Ill give you a peek into his ice cream shop, the smartly-named Endomela.



Heres Uri Jeremias aka Uri Buri and me in front of his ice cream shop in Akko. American journalist Eric Westervelt described Uri Jeremias in his article for NPR.org as having stepped out of a Tolkien novel, with "his thick, long, elfish beard, ample paunch and mischievous smile". My 3,5 year old daughter is convinced that I was served ice cream by Santa Claus/Father Christmas himself :)

Uri (Jeremias) Buri had been making and serving ice cream at this fish & seafood restaurant for years, but as the restaurants kitchen is tiny, he had to move out his ice cream business into separate premises. He opened Endomela within a short walking distance from his restaurant just over a year ago. In addition to a number of sweet sorbets, ice creams and frozen yoghurts, he also makes some intriguing savoury combinations. We had a taste of this wasabi-sorbet, served with smoked salmon, as well of arak-flavoured sorbet destined as a palate-cleanser between various fish courses at his restaurant. 



Uri scooping some of his lovely ice cream for us. (Photo by Noa Magger). We got to sample pretty much all the available flavours.


Endomelas ice cream selection. (Photo by Noa Magger).

All ice cream is made at the premises and in small batches. At the time of our visit, they were churning a very refreshing pineapple sorbet. My very favourite one was Endomelas mint ice cream - so fresh and minty, definitely not your regular beach-front chocolate and mint concoction (you can see it on the right on the photo above). Uri told us he uses a combination of spearmint "Nana" (Mentha spicata, Israelis call it sweet mint or nana) and the highly aromatic Emperors mint or Roman mint (Micromeria sp)  to achieve the immensely refreshing and bright minty flavour.

The runner-up was Endomelas apricot sorbet. Yet pretty much everything else we tried was wonderful as well - cardamom ice cream, passionfruit sorbet, halva ice cream, lime and poppyseed frozen yoghurt - you name it.

Ive made apricot ice cream before, but not apricot sorbet, and thats what I decided to replicate at home first. As the reigning king of all things ice cream and sorbet, David Lebovitz, was also taking part in our trip to Endomela, I decided to use his recipe as a base. I know David provides his recipes both in Imperial and Metric, but his starting point is still the pound and not a kilo, so I did some minor revisions (if Id ask for 900 grams of apricots or 110 grams of chocolate chips in a store, Id get very weird looks. While these amounts would make perfect sense to someone whos grown up with pounds and ounces, then 900 grams (2 pounds) of apricots and 110 grams (1/4 of a pound) of chocolate would make perfect sense. For us, its a weird 100 grams less than a kilo and a funny 10 grams more than 100 grams, if you know what I mean). I also reduced the amount of sugar just a tiny bit, as the apricots I was using were very sweet and very ripe (ripeness and the amount of fruit sugar are related, you see).


The Bergeron apricots @ Marche de Saint-Antoine, Lyon, France. August 2009
 
My favourite apricots for making all kinds of desserts are the French Bergeron ones. This time I used a lovely Spanish alternative - dark orange, very sweet and just a perfectly slightly acidic. You may add more sugar or a dash of lemon juice to the sorbet mix, depending on the type of apricots youre using.

Apricot Sorbet
Slightly adapted from David Lebovitzs excellent book The Perfect Scoop
Makes about 1 litre



1 kg very ripe apricots (thats just over 2 lbs)
250 ml/1 cup water
200 ml/170 grams caster sugar (thats 1 cup minus 3 level Tbsp)
0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Split the apricots in half, remove the stones, and cut each half into thirds.
Place the apricot pieces and water in a medium saucepan, cover. Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apricots are softened and begin to fall apart.
Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
Once cool, pureé the mixture in a food processor or blender until smooth. Season with vanilla. Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.
Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Similar posts:
Erin Zimmer of Serious Eats writes about Endomela: Snapshots from Israel: Uri Buri and his ice cream.
Other posts about my trip to Israel.
Other ice cream and sorbet recipes here on Nami-Nami.
More ice cream and sorbet recipes on David Lebovitzs blog.

* Disclaimer: I spent six days in Israel in late June/early July as a guest of a non-profit social start-up Kinetis, more specifically their Vibe Israel programme. This particular trip hosted five international food bloggers and writers, introducing them to the multifaceted and pluralist Israeli culture and cuisine. Visit to Uri Buri restaurant, the Efendi Hotel and the adjacent ice cream parlour Endomela in Akko/Acre in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel was part of that trip.

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Recipe for Mozzarella Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are a handy supper dish, but many of the traditional versions (i.e. filled with minced meat and rice) are too heavy for me. Recently Ive tried couple of lighter versions, and this one was well received at a recent dinner with friends. The recipe is adapted from an old issue of British Tesco Recipe Magazine (March 2003, I believe). The dish contains very few ingredients, but had surprisingly plenty of flavour, so Ill definitely try this again.

PS Sorry for the small hiatus - I was participating at a workshop in Finland, spending most of the last week in Tampere and Helsinki. It wasnt all work, however, as my dear K. joined me for the weekend of special shopping and delicious eating in Helsinki.

Mozzarella-stuffed Peppers
(Mozzarellaga täidetud paprikad)
Serves 3 as a main course or 6 as a starter



3 bell peppers (a red, yellow and orange one, perhaps?)
1 Tbsp olive oil
150 g fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
8-12 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
half of a red onion, thinly sliced
a generous handful of fresh basil leaves
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Halve the peppers, remove the seeds. Brush the pepper halves with oil, both inside and out, and place snugly next to each other in an oven dish.
Divide mozzarella cubes, halved or quartered cherry tomatoes, onion slices and half of the basil leaves between the pepper halves.
Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake in the middle of a 180 C/350 F for 30-40 minutes, until mozzarella has melted.
Sprinkle the rest of basil leaves on top, drizzle with some more olive oil and serve with a crusty bread.

Other stuffed peppers recipes @ Nami-Nami:
Red peppers with cumin-scented halloumi cubes
Pointed red peppers stuffed with spinach & mushrooms

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Beet deviled eggs aka Beetroot devilled eggs for Easter brunch

Beet-pickled eggs have made quite a few appearances here on Nami-Nami. First in April 2007, then again in March 2008, but in a marbled form. The ruby eggs were present on our Easter brunch in 2009, and ruby-red quail eggs were present on our Easter brunch in 2012. Probably in 2010 and 2011 as well, I just forgot to take a photo of them. If you read Estonian, then you saw them in my recipe column in the March 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed ("Home and Garden") magazine as well:


Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the March 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed

Yet it had never occurred to me to make deviled beet eggs until I came across this post on The Kitchn (well, I actually first spotted the recipe on Pinterest, where I promptly pinned this to my Beautiful Beet Recipes board). I had to make them.

Deviled beet eggs/Beet deviled eggs/Ruby eggs/Beetroot devilled eggs

Step 1: Simple beetroot eggs:
free range and/or organic eggs
beetroot juice/beet juice
salt

First you need to hard-boil some eggs. There are several "schools" of boiling eggs, but heres what I do. Place the required number of eggs in a single layer in your saucepan. Pour over boiling water to cover. Set the timer at 8 minutes (I use large eggs, 7 is enough for smaller eggs) and simmer over moderate heat.  Once the timer goes off, rinse the eggs under a cold running water for a few minutes to cool them down.

Note that you dont want  to overcook your eggs, as this results in those unsightly green-blue rings around the egg yolk, caused by sulphur compounds. You can avoid those by not overcooking your eggs in the first place and quickly cooling them down in cold water after cooking. 

When cool enough to handle, peel the eggs carefully. Place in a single layer in a bowl, pour over the beetroot juice, season with a bit of salt. Cover, place into the fridge and leave to marinate for about 3 hours. (Longer, if you want, but I wanted just a thin ruby-red beetroot effect this time).

If you wish, you can serve the eggs just like this, halved - look at that gorgeous yellow yolk! I cut off a thin slice from the base of each egg half - this way they sit neatly on the plate and dont slide all over the place or fall over.


Hey, I still have that chicken!

Step 2: Stuffed beetroot eggs/Deviled beet eggs:

If you want to make devilled beetroot eggs, then halve the eggs and gently scoop out the egg yolks. Make your favourite devilled egg mixture. My regular "Estonian deviled eggs" include some mustard, butter and mayonnaise. However, knowing the affinity of beets and horseradish, I used egg yolks, butter, mayonnaise, some strong horseradish and finely chopped dill for the filling. Worked like a treat!



To be more precise, then thats what I did. Mash the egg yolks and butter (I grate the butter and egg yolks finely, but you can also press them both through a sieve). Stir in the mayonnaise and season with salt and horseradish. Mix in the dill.
Spoon onto the egg halves or use an icing bag with a serrated tip and fill the eggs.

Enjoy! You can make these a few hours in advance, but keep them in the fridge until serving then.

More ruby egg/beetroot egg/beet egg recipes:
Perfect hard-boiled ruby eggs by Alanna @ A Veggie Venture
Beet-pickled deviled eggs by Leela @ The Kitchn
Beetroot-pickled eggs by Allegra McEvedy @ The Guardian
Beet pickled eggs with fennel @ Not Without Salt
Beet pickled deviled eggs by Paula @ BellAlimento
Pink deviled eggs by Denise @ Chez Us
Beet deviled eggs by Angie @ Eclectic Recipes
Pickled deviled eggs by Kelly @ Just A Taste
Beet-pickled eggs @ Cookistry

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Recipe for DIY Bounty bites aka homemade Mounds candy bars

Some home-made candy bars for a change. If you live in the US, then youd think of these as Mounds, the candy bar produced by Hersheys. Everywhere else - including UK and Canada - youd recognise these as Bounty, the candy bar produced by Mars Inc. A dense and sweet coconut centre, enrobed with either dark or milk chocolate.

I used milk chocolate (the American equivalent would be Almond Joy without the almonds :)), and made small cubes instead of the traditional oblong bar shape. I must admit we ate half of the coconut cubes before we even dipped them into chocolate :)

There are links to several homemade Bounty/Mounds recipes at the end of this post - do check these out as well.

DIY Bounty bites aka home-made Mounds candy bars
(Kodune Bounty)
Makes about 3 dozen



Coconut filling:
300 g desiccated unsweetened coconut flakes
300 g sweetened condensed milk
150 g butter, at room temperature

Chocolate glaze:
300 g dark or milk chocolate

I used the mixing bowl of my standing mixer, but you could also simply use your hand muscles to prepare the coconut mixture.

Place the butter and coconut into the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly - about 1-2 minutes. Add the condensed milk and mix for another 2-3 minutes, until thoroughly combined.

Line a small baking sheet/tray/tin with a parchment/baking paper. Transfer the coconut mixture into the tin and press into a block about 2 cm/0.8 inches high. Cover and put into the fridge for about 3 hours or freezer for about 1 hour.

Remove from the fridge/freezer, transfer the coconut block onto a cutting board and cut into 2x2 cm (0.8 x 0.8 inch) cubes. Like this:



Now there are two ways to proceed. First, cover a small tray with parchment paper and put aside.

If you prefer your candy bars at room temperature, then melt and temper your chocolate (heres a good article about tempering the chocolate or see my instructions below), dip each coconut cube into the melted chocolate until coated, then place onto the prepared tray. Cool completely, then keep in a cool place until ready to serve.

If you want to avoid tempering the chocolate - or simply like your sweets cold - then you can simply dip these into melted chocolate to coat, then place onto the prepared tray and put into the freezer. The butter and sweetened condensed milk keep these blocks from freezing completely, so you can always just grab one candy bar and enjoy straight from frozen. (This is how I enjoyed them, but then I also like my brownie bites straight from the freezer).

Why and how to temper the chocolate? The Internet - and food blogs - are full of detailed instructions on how to temper chocolate - and why. The latter is easy - unless you temper the chocolate, the chocolate-glazed candy bars/bites will lack the shine and the snap, both very desirable elements. "How" is trickier and indeed, tempering can be a hit-and-miss. Ive followed this simplified seed-technique for tempering. Place about 2/3 of your chopped up chocolate (or, indeed, chocolate pellets - and NOT compound chocolate!) into a heat-proof bowl and place the bowl on top of a small saucepan, where youve brought about 5 cm/2 inches of water into simmer. Let the chocolate melt slowly, stirring as you go along. Remove from the heat, stick a chocolate thermometer into the bowl. Now add the "seed chocolate" or the chocolate you put aside at the beginning in two or three installments and keep stirring the chocolate and cooling it. Once all the added chocolate pellets have melted, you must continue stirring the chocolate, until it registers 28 C on the thermometer - that will probably take about 15-20 minutes of active stirring, so be patient! You can then gently re-heat the chocolate - either over the waterbath, on top of a hot water bottle or by hovering your hair-drier over the chocolate - until its about 30-31 C (best temperature for working with chocolate). 


Other foodbloggers making these:
Batoniki a la Bounty by Ania @ Strawberries from Poland (recipe in Polish)

Similar recipes:
Nourishing and scrumptious "Mounds" candy bars by Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Homemade Bounty by Dagmar @ A Cat in the Kitchen
Homemade coconut Bounty candy bars by Christina @ Scientifically Sweet
Mounds candy bars by Elena @ Elenas Pantry
Homemade Bounty bars by Louise @ Lick that Spoon
Homemade Bounty by Eva @ Made by Eva
Easy homemade Bounty bars aka Mounds by Marie @ Not Enough Cinnamon
DIY Bounty barres by Emilie @ Emilie and Leas Secrets (recipe in French)
Isetehtud Bounty šokolaad by Sandra @ Sentjurin Food Production (recipe in Estonian)
Kookoskommid šokolaadis ehk kodused Bountyd by Teevi @ Ampsukas (recipe in Estonian)
Kookostrühvlid by Silja @ Jagatud rõõm (recipe in Estonian)

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