Blast From The Past - RR 9 , Part 1.

This month, for Random Recipes 9, Dom paired us all up and we had to choose a recipe for our "other half" to cook.  I was very lucky to get paired with the very lovely BrownievilleGirl.  I didn't need any introduction; I have been following her blog since I discovered the world of food blogs.  I had to tell her the number of cookbooks I own.  It was 53 at that point.  We had done a major cookbook cull before moving house so it's fairly manageable at the moment.  BVG randomly chose number 33 for me which happened to be Tempted; 150 Very Wicked Desserts.  This happens to be one of Steve's books.

I then told BVG how many pages there were and she chose page 357 for me and the recipe on that page is Creamy Coconut Ice.

Now, this is something I have made before and my Mum made it for me when I was a little girl so I am quite familiar with it.  Here is the recipe.

Makes 30 pieces.

Ingredients - 

250g icing sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

395g tin condensed milk

315g desiccated coconut

pink food colouring

Method - 

1. Grease a 20cm square cake tin and line the base and two opposite sides with baking paper, extending the paper over the sides for easy removal later.

2. Sift the icing sugar and cream of tartar into a bowl.  Make a well in the centre and add the condensed milk.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in half the coconut, then the remaining coconut.  Mix well, using your hands.  Divide the mixture in half and tint one half pink.  Using your hands, knead the colour through evenly.

3. Press the pink mixture evenly over the base of the tin, then cover with the white mixture and press down firmly. (The mixture is VERY thick and so actually spreading it out in the tin needs a lot of patience!) 

4. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or until firm.  Remove from the tin, remove the paper and cut into pieces.  Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 3 weeks.

So, who can resist taking a spoonful of condensed milk from the tin before you do anything else with it?  And licking the spoon afterwards like a thing possessed?  Well, my 4 year old, it seems.  Whoever heard of a child who doesn't go crazy for condensed milk?

My 54th cookbook arrived the following day.  As a Guardian Weekend fan, I couldn't resist Dan Lepard's new book Short and Sweet.  Especially after seeing all of Vanessa's enthusiastic Tweets.  (I'm trying to master the art of Twitter.)

It looks amazing and I can't wait to get started baking from it.  While flicking through it I noticed a recipe for coconut ice, would you believe?  He uses mascarpone instead of condensed milk and he makes the pink layer by substituting half the mascarpone for fresh raspberries.  Now doesn't that just sound wonderful?  I will certainly be trying this method and doing a compare and contrast but it may be some time before I do this as I have half a ton of coconut ice waiting to be eaten up and I'm sure we'll all be sick of it by the end.

Thanks BrownievilleGirl for being my better half this month.  I can't wait to see what she makes - she has given me a slight clue and I really can't wait.  Will be right up my street!

And thanks Dom for continuing to run this wonderful challenge and for keeping it fresh and exciting. 

Doesn't this just look like a plate of dainty ham sandwiches?