Coconut toffee bark (recipe).

The Get Your Chef On (GYCO) challenge is back for round two, and this time the secret ingredient is coconut! I was so excited to see that Julie and Jen chose coconut this go around, because it is one of my favorite sweet treats. I'm excited to collect some new wonderful coconut recipes from my fellow participants. You can also check out the lemon souffle I made for the last GYCO challenge.

I was scrolling through my Pinterest boards looking for inspiration for a new coconut recipe when I found Red Couch Recipes' recipe for Grandma Utahna Felix's English Toffee. I love toffee (maybe even more than coconut - blasphemy, I know), so I knew I had to give this a try. I substituted toasted coconut for the toasted pecans, and dark chocolate for the milk chocolate. I didn't change the toffee itself at all though.

My first attempt at this was less than successful. I poured the hot toffee over the coconut (as you would with the nuts), and the mixture did not set up at all. I think this was a combination of the sugar on the coconut causing the mixture to sugar and crystalize, and of me not cooking the mixture for long enough. I went back to the kitchen and started a second batch; this time I layered the chocolate in between the toffee and the coconut, and all was well again.

Making candy can be intimidating (at least it is to me), and this was my first time making toffee. I was surprised at how quick it was to make this (not counting the cooling time). It is a recipe that requires some finesse and a great deal of attention while the toffee is cooking, but it is not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

Coconut chocolate tarts with caramel (recipe).

Yum! These are so delicious that I'm making another batch as I write this. You only need five ingredients to make these! The first batch disappeared very quickly at our book club last weekend, and left me craving more chocolate-coconutty goodness. 

I based this recipe on this one from Martha Stewart; how can you go wrong with chocolate, cream, coconut, and butter?! I picked up some Kraft Caramel Bits on clearance the other day, so I decided to add caramel to the top, but they taste great without it too. 

This recipe makes about three dozen mini tarts. Since it's easier to let them cool completely before removing from the mini muffin tins, you'll need three tins to bake them all in (I only have two, so I used small ramekins for the rest). You can also use a regular muffin tin, which makes about a dozen tarts. I also highly recommend using cupcake wrappers - getting these out of the tin in one piece was tricky business. 

Ingredients
14 oz (1 bag) shredded sweetened coconut
5 tbs butter, softened
1 cup heavy cream
1.5 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 tbs caramel bits (optional)

Instructions
For the crust:
1) Turn oven on to 350 degrees F.
2) Combine one third of the coconut with the butter in a food processor. Process on medium for about a minute, until it forms a uniform sticky mixture.
3) In a mixing bowl, combine the rest of the coconut with the butter-coconut mixture.
4) Add two tablespoons of the coconut mixture to each muffin cup (lined w/ cupcake wrapper!). Use your fingers to press the mixture into the bottom & sides (2 tbs looks like a lot, but the coconut mixture is very fluffy, & compacts a lot when you press it down).
5) Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. If necessary, press down the coconut again (I used the handle of a butter knife to do this).
6) Let cool (at least 30 minutes).

Toasted coconut cups; stirring the ganache; filled cups cooling

For the filling:

1) Heat the heavy cream in a sauce pot until almost boiling.

2) In a large mixing bowl, pour the cream over the chocolate. Let sit for 10 minutes.

3) Stir mixture until chocolate is completely combined, and the ganache is smooth and uniform.

4) Pour the ganache into the coconut cups. Transfer to the refrigerator to cool (at least 30 minutes again). Remove tarts from the tin.

5) Optional: Melt the caramels in a small pot (add a few drops of water if the caramel is too thick). Drizzle caramel over the tarts. 

6) Refrigerate until serving.

While I was making these, my friend Adriane was busy making quiche for the book club (we always eat very well at our meetings!). I love cooking with Adriane, even though my kitchen is tiny, we never seem to get in each others way, and we have so much fun! She made two delicious quiches; a bacon, broccoli, cheddar one, and a spinach, feta, sun dried tomato one. Yum!

Cheesy bacon & broccoli goodness

Shared at:
Mom on Timeout: Iron Chef Chocolate
WhipperBerry Friday Flare linky party