Gingerbread Men (Gluten-, Dairy-, Yeast-, Egg Free)

From now on, I'm going to include a legend in my blog for what each recipe is free from and contains. I think it'll make communicating how dietarily friendly each recipe is for each person's individual needs. Here's what it looks like. This recipe is:

FREE FROM
☑ Soya
☑ Dairy
☑ Egg
☑ Gluten
☑ Yeast

CONTAINS
☒ Nuts (almonds)
☒ Refined sugar products (golden syrup)

Having a friend with a very strict diet has recently brought out my experimental streak for another airing. I missed being this fearless with my cookery!

INGREDIMENTS

For about 20 or so biscuits, depending on size

• 1 ounce (30 grammes) ground almonds
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) cornflour
• 5 ounces (140 grammes) rice flour
• ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) vegetable margarine, at room temperature
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) brown sugar
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) golden syrup, or treacle
• 2 teaspoons of water
• Pinch of salt

For icing:

• 5 ounces (115 grammes) icing sugar, sifted
• Juice of half a lemon, roughly 1½ tablespoons (20 millilitres)

HOW TO

• Preheat your oven to 170°C (325°F, Gas Mk.3, or very moderate). Lightly oil your baking tray(s).
• Sieve the flours, xanthan gum, ground almonds, spices and salt together into a large bowl to mix together consistently; set aside.
• In another bowl, cream the margarine, sugar, and syrup or treacle until pale and fluffy with a wooden spoon, spatula or electric hand mixer. Add the water and beat again until smooth.
• Add in half of the dry ingredients and beat until fully mixed but still soft, then add in the remaining dry ingredients. You might need to use your hands to mix in the remaining dry ingredients.
• Sprinkle the work surface with flour and roll out the dough to your desired thickness. For me, about 1/4 inch (6 millimeters) works well for soft, cakey biscuits, and 1/8 inch (3 millimeters) makes nice crispy biscuits.
• Cut out the biscuits and put on the trays. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until set on the outside and ever so lightly browned around the edges.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
• Mix the icing sugar and lemon together to get a thick, pipeable icing and decorate as you wish.

And there they are! And they taste and feel pretty much exactly like normal gingerbread... who'd have thought it?

Variations on a Theme: Chocolate Chip Cookies

As much as I love chocolate chip cookies, sometimes the same old recipe cooked over and over again can get a little tired, no matter how tasty. Knowing what I'm like, I like to give old favourites a new edge by adding something a little unusual or unexpected, and these are no exception.

The other day I experimented with some new ideas for the American classic by adding some flavours to my standard recipe.

Coffee and Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

Both these batches followed my American Style chocolate chip cookie recipe, but had a few little twists. I used caster and light brown sugar, instead of dark brown sugar, and used milk chocolate chips (which I made by chopping up a milk chocolate bar).

For the coffee and cinnamon ones, I added 2 tablespoons of coffee grinds, 1 teaspoon of malted drink powder and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients and sieved them all together. The malted drink powder isn't necessary, but I think it makes them taste a little more rich and full. If you are including it, however, be careful of the brand you buy and always check the label: some brands of malted drink powder contain wheat flour, so if you're wheat intolerant that just won't do.

Also, at the risk of sounding completely obvious, malted drink powder isn't gluten free. But then again, neither is spelt flour.

And for the orange ones, I simply creamed the grated rind of half an orange into the butter and sugars. That's all!

The above amounts apply to the ingredient quantities outlined in the original recipe, that is, 2 tablespoons of coffee grinds or the grated rind of half an orange to every 4 ounces (115 grammes) of butter and associated ingredients. If you were halving or doubling the original recipe, you would obviously have to halve or double the amount of extra ingredients.

Another variation I'd love to try when I next have the opportunity to bake up another batch of chocolate chip lovelies is replacing some of the chocolate chips with some dried banana chips. I love dried banana, and I've been told that banana and chocolate go really well together, and I'm willing to give it a go. The only time in my life that I've experienced chocolate and banana together is in a Chupa-Chup lolly, and it was a truly nasty synthetic experience which I wish never to repeat.

So, in the spirit of experimentation, what kinds of combinations would you like to try?

Gluten-, Egg- and Dairy-free Adventures (plus 2 Biscuit Recipes!)

The other day, I got a phone call from a friend who has been suffering a lot with a large variety of medical complaints for a few years now. Having endured countless tests, retests and arsing around from the HSE, she finally received some manner of positive step forward on the route to recovery: she had a food allergy test done, and tested positive for intolerances to dairy, egg, gluten, soya and a plethora of other things, including potatoes and tomatoes. Basically, the poor girl can eat nothing that traditionally appears in baking.

Despite the extent of her food allergies, she was happy to have some closure on at least a few of her difficulties, and asked me to help her out with shopping and cooking for her new diet. Meals on a free-from diet are pretty straight forward, but baking is a different story altogether.

Now, for years I've been developing wheat-free recipes to cater for my own intolerance, and occasionally dabbled in completely gluten-free baking with varied results, but now I was faced with a whole new challenge: baking with no gluten, dairy, or eggs. To further complicate matters, I couldn't use potato flour or anything containing soya lecithin.

Because her new diet is basically that of a coeliac vegan, I checked out a bunch of vegan recipes and found a few recipes, varying from promising to frighteningly awful. But after a few hours of researching I thought screw this, let's experiment!

I made up two different recipes (not writing them down, of course, which would have been clever) by just throwing stuff together until it looked right, and the results were pretty tasty! Such is the genius of xanthan gum.

LEMON SHORTBREAD

INGREDIMENTS

• 2 ounces (55 grammes) rice flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) cornflour
• ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum
• Pinch of salt
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) vegetable margarine (check for soya lecithin)
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons of grated lemon zest.

HOW-TO

• Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F, Gas Mk.2½, or very moderate).
• Sieve together the flours, salt and xanthan gum onto a piece of grease-proof paper. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the living daylights out of the vegetable margarine until soft and creamy. Use a wooden spoon: it needs more elbow grease, but you have much more control over how soft you make your margarine.
• Pour in the icing sugar, and cream until light and fluffy. Then add the dry ingredients and mix until the flour is combined; you may need to use your hands as the dough gets very stiff.
• Lightly sprinkle the work surface with rice flour and roll out the dough to a ¼ inch (about 5 millimeters) thickness. Cut into little shapes and transfer carefully onto an un-greased baking tray.
• Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until dry but still pale. Cool on a wire rack.

GINGERNUTS

INGREDIMENTS

• 2 ounces (55 grammes) ground almonds
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) rice flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) cornflour
• 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) soft brown sugar
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) golden syrup
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) vegetable margarine
• Caster sugar, for rolling

HOW-TO

• Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4, or moderate), and brush ½ teaspoon of sunflower oil on a baking tray.
• Sieve the ground almonds, flours, spices and salt into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
• In a small saucepan, melt together the margarine, sugar and golden syrup. If you can't find golden syrup, use maple syrup or honey.
• Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the melted mixture. Combine with a wooden spoon.
• Take teaspoons of the mixture and roll into balls, then roll each ball in caster sugar. Place on the baking tray 2 inches (5 centimeters) apart and flatten out with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern.
• Bake in the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until set and firm around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool on the trays until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack, about 5 or so minutes.

My friend and mother told me that these tasted very good, and there almost indistinguishable from normal biscuits. So, it seems throwing things from around the kitchen together with gay abandon worked pretty well! Now to tackle gluten-and-soya-free-vegan-friendly cake!

Shooting a Music Video Today! Back Thursday

I think the title pretty much says it all.

A local band have called upon my directorial skills to make them a music video, and as such I'll be gone all day. I won't have a chance to bake anything so I'll have to wait until Thursday, as usual.

Happy baking!

Minty Millionaire's Shortbread (Wheat Free)

This is post number 40, woo! If anyone has any ideas for post number 50, I'd be happy to know...

Here in Ireland, we have something that is mysteriously yet appropriately named 'Millionaire's Shortbread'. I understand that in other countries it is called caramel shortbread, but it's basically a shortbread base topped with a caramel layer then glazed with chocolate; a far cry from the usual shortbread, which is traditionally associated with poor Scottish folk who couldn't afford fancy ingredients.

It's quite a simple recipe, ingredients and cooking wise, but it's not so easy when it comes to cutting it up as all those three layers have different levels of cutting tolerance. I've found the best way around this is to take the shortbread out of the tin and turn it all upside down - chocolate side facing the cutting surface - on a piece of non-stick paper. This is also made a million times (pardon the pun) easier if the shortbread is pre-cut before layering with the soft caramel layer and chocolate glaze.

For this particular one also, keeping with the minty theme, I marbled the chocolate: milk chocolate and green tinted white chocolate. Remember, though, when colouring chocolate you must not use a water based colour: use an alcohol- or oil-based colour so the chocolate doesn't seize up and go all lumpy and disgusting. I use Sugarflair paste/gel food colours, and they work perfectly.

So, onto the making of said delight!

INGREDIMENTS

Makes 1 8 inch (20 centimeter) round biscuit

For the biscuit base

• 4 ounces (115 grammes) white or wholemeal spelt flour
• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) cornflour or rice flour
• Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
• ½ ounce (15 grammes) cocoa powder
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter, at room temperature
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar

For the caramel topping

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) caster sugar
• 2 fluid ounces (55 millilitres) cream (or just use milk if you don't have any cream)
• 2 fluid ounces (55 millilitres) milk
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) butter
• ½ teaspoon (2½ millilitres)  vanilla essence
• ½ teaspoon (2½ millilitres)  peppermint essence
• A few drops green colour

For chocolate topping

• One 3½ ounce bar (100 grammes) milk chocolate
• Half a 3½ ounce bar (100 grammes) white chocolate
• 1¼ ounces in weight (35 grammes) sunflower oil
• Green paste/gel food colouring

HOW-TO

• Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F, Gas Mk.2½, or very moderate) and line the bottom of an 8 inch (20 centimeter) round sandwich tin, preferably with a loose bottom.
• Sieve together the flours, cocoa and salt, if using, onto a piece of grease-proof paper. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the living daylights out of the butter until soft and creamy. Use a wooden spoon: it needs more elbow grease, but you have much more control over how soft you make your butter.
• Pour in the caster sugar, and cream until light and fluffy. Then add the dry ingredients and mix until the flour is combined; you may need to use your hands as the dough gets very stiff.
• Press the dough evenly into the sandwich tin and prick all over with a fork or skewer, making sure the holes go right to the bottom of the tin. Score into 12 or 16 equal wedges, depending on how big you want them.
• Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until thoroughly cooked and dry. It seems like a ridiculous amount of time, but shortbread isn't so much baked as it is cured.
• On removing from the oven, cut the shortbread in the tin along the score lines to make it easier to cut later. Allow to cool in the tin for about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely before breaking into wedges.

Now, to reassemble the shortbread

• Clean the sandwich tin and re-line, bottom and sides, with non-stick baking paper. If your tin doesn't have a loose bottom, make two thin strips of paper and run them along the bottom and up the sides of the tin, underneath the lining. This will give you handles to lift out your biscuit with once you've caramelled and chocolated it.
• Reassemble the shortbread in the tin, butting it all in and making sure the wedges are in the correct order.
• Prepare the caramel layer using this recipe (yes, it's technically a fudge layer) and the above ingredients. Once you have beaten the caramel mixture, pour in on top of the shortbread. Allow to cool to room temperature before setting for at least 3 hours in the fridge, preferably overnight.
• Once set, prepare the chocolate glaze. Put the chocolates in separate bowls, and add about 1 ounce (25 grammes) of the oil to the milk chocolate, then the rest to the white chocolate. Melt the chocolates either in the microwave or conventionally. Mix a little green into the white chocolate to get a delicate minty shade.
• Using a tablespoon, drizzle a spoonful of each chocolate alternately on top of the caramel layer, not worrying to much about how they land. When all the chocolate is used up, gently tilt the tin all around to level out the surface and get the topping over the whole biscuit. Allow to set completely in the fridge.

To cut, as I mentioned before, turn the whole lot out chocolate side down and cut along the pre-cut wedges. It's much easier this way! This will keep best at room temperature in an airtight tin, but you can keep it also in said airtight tin in the fridge.

Variations on a Theme: Neapolitan Coconut Ice

Yes, yes: I know I'm going on a little coconut ice trip recently, but it's totally delicious! This recipe is a little different from the traditional kind, as it uses a little cocoa powder, too. Introducing Neapolitan coconut ice!

Once I saw the usually white and pink coconut ice, it instantly made me think of the white, pink and brown striped appearance of Neapolitan ice-cream. Here in Ireland, Neapolitan ice-cream is actually vanilla, strawberry and lemon, making a white-pink-yellow appearance, but lemon doesn't go so well with coconut in my opinion; lime, yes, but lemon not so much.

This is made in three layers, like the usual two layers but with an extra chocolatey stripe. Because cocoa powder overpowers any already present colour, it can go into the pink mixture so you don't have to make another batch of ice. Just one third kept white, remaining two thirds coloured pink, pink third poured out, and remaining third coloured and flavoured with cocoa powder and set into the tin. Simples!

This is a little more fiddly than the usual coconut ice, but it's totally worth it!

HOW-TO

• Make a quantity of coconut ice mixture according to this recipe, and stop before you do any pouring into tins or colouring of any kind.
• Now, it's time for a little bit of maths. Overall, the weight of the entire mixture will be 24 ounces (680 grammes), so each coloured layer will be roughly 8 ounces (225 grammes). However, the chocolate layer will need to be a little thicker for two reasons: a) because most tins widen out as they get taller, so the chocolate layer will be thinner as a result, and b) there will be two layers of straight out coconut versus one layer of chocolate flavoured, so if it's a little thicker you'll get a little more chocolatiness.
• So, set your 8 inch square tin (20 centimetre) on a weighing scales and set to zero. Take the raw, white coconut mixture and pour in 7 ounces (200 grammes) of the mixture into the tin and flatten out with a spoon.
• Return the rest of the mixture to a low heat (just to keep it soft) and add in a few drops of food colouring to make it a delicate pink colour. Pour in another 7 or 8 ounces (200 or 225 grammes) of the pink mixture on top of the white. Flatten out with a spoon.
• Once again, return the mixture to a low heat and add 2 tablespoons (60 millilitres) of sieved cocoa powder; mix well but gently to thoroughly combine, then pour this remaining mixture out onto the pink layer, flattening out with the spoon.
• Leave to set as directed in the recipe.

And there you have it! Stripy coconut ice with an added cocoa flavoured layer. The texture of the chocolate layer is a little crumblier than the other two layers, due to the added cocoa powder and also the prolonged mixing, but it still holds up and has a delicate melt-in-the-mouth texture. I could eat a whole batch by myself, but I don't recommend that course of action!

Chewy Caramel

I promised in my post about the homemade chocolate box that I'd give you all the recipe for chewy caramels, and here she is!

(Sorry for crap picture: did it in a hurry)

These are a little trickier than the fudge and coconut ice recipes that I've uploaded as it's a little more fiddly. However, it's not very complicated: it just needs to have an eye kept on it a lot of the time. This recipe I arrived at via many a ruined batch so you don't have to!

The chewiness of these caramels can be altered by what temperature you let the final mixture cook to (if you aren't familiar with cooking sugar and the different sugar boiling stages, check out the Exploratorium's explanation of sugar cooking):

• 115 to 118°C (240 to 245°F) for soft caramels
• 119 to 124°C (245 to 255°F) for firm caramels (which is the temperature used for the pictured caramels)
• 125 to 130°C (255 to 265°F) for quite hard caramels
• 131 to 135°C (265 to 275°F) for tooth-breaking caramels that need an angle grinder to eat 

Keep this in mind for when you're making them and choose which kind of caramel you want before cooking: it's impossible to uncook the mixture if you go too far.

INGREDIMENTS

This is a large quantity that will make about 1¼ pounds (570 grammes) of caramels, but I've found it can be easily halved or even quartered. Just be really careful when making small batches because it can burn or crystallise easily.

• 4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) cream
• 4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) milk
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) butter
• 14 ounces (400 grammes) caster sugar
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 fluid ounces (60 milliltres) water

HOW-TO

• Prepare an 8 inch (20 centimeter) square tin by either greasing it lightly or lining it with non-stick baking paper. You could also use a silicone baking tin, which needs no greasing or lining.
• Put the cream, milk and butter into a jug and heat gently in the microwave until the butter melts; set aside.
• Heat the water in a heavy based saucepan on medium-low heat until steaming and then pour the sugar into a pile in the middle of the pan. Using gentle circular motions, stir the sugar into the water without touching the sides of the pan. This prevents the syrup from crystallising later.
• Keeping the syrup on a gentle heat, mix until the sugar has dissolved into the water and you are left with a transparent brown solution. Using a wet pastry brush to wash away any sugar crystals that have formed on the sides of the pan.
• Once all trace of any grittiness and crystaliness is gone, turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the mixture to boil and once boiling clip a sugar thermometer onto the pan and don't stir. As tempting as it may be, just don't do it.
• Cook the mixture to 150°C (300°F). This isn't the temperature that defines the softness/hardness of your caramels, that comes later. However, cooking the syrup to this stage is important for the caramels to set.
• Take off the heat once the temperature is reached and pour in the warm cream and milk mixture. It will bubble up violently and release a lot of steam so take care! Gently stir in the cream mixture and return to the heat.
• Continue to cook without stirring to your desired temperature.
• Fill your sink or wash basin with about 2 inches (5 centimetres) of cold water. This seems batty, but all will be made clear.
• Once the temperature has been reached, take your pan off the heat and dip the bottom in the water to stop cooking immediately. Pour the caramel into your prepared tin without scraping the sides. This is vitally important to prevent your caramels from going all grainy and horrible. Some caramel will be regretably wasted in the process, but you can eat that out of the pan later with a spoon.
• Pour into your prepared tin and allow to cool at room temperature overnight.

Do not even think of setting it in the fridge: you can store it in the fridge once set, but setting the fudge in the fridge will cause crystallisation. Store in an air tight container to avoid it catching any unwanted odours or flavours.

Soft Vanilla Fudge

I promised in my post about the homemade chocolate box that I'd give you all the recipe for fudge, and here she is!

As I mentioned in my post on coconut ice, I have for many years been experimenting with different recipes for all my favourite sweet treats, and I think I've finally found a recipe for fudge I really like. I've tried lots of different cooking temperatures, different ratios of ingredients, adding the ingredients at different times (including once where I added the butter after cooking and it took me 35 minutes to beat to setting consistency; I don't recommend you do that), and now I feel I've cracked it. 

Once again, the trick was leaving about ten minutes between cooking and mixing: the longer you wait to beat the mixture after cooking, the softer it is. Ten minutes is about right, but you can of course wait longer or shorter depending on your taste.

This is beautifully soft and melts in the mouth, and the vanilla flavour is very delicate. I recommend that you use some white sugar and some brown sugar, as suggested in the method: it makes the fudge extra rich and creamy tasting without adding extra cream or butter; but you can use completely white if you prefer. The texture is very supple, due to the high fat content.

INGREDIMENTS

This is a large quantity that will make about 1¼ pounds (570 grammes) of fudge, but I've found it can be easily halved or even quartered. Just be really careful when making small batches because it can burn or crystallise easily.

• 1 pound (450 grammes) light brown sugar
• 4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) cream
• 4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) milk
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) of vanilla essence

HOW-TO

• Prepare an 8 inch (20 centimeter) square tin by either greasing it lightly or lining it with non-stick baking paper. You could also use a silicone baking tin, which needs no greasing or lining.
• In a heavy-based large saucepan, heat the cream, milk and butter until the butter has melted.
• Pour the sugar into the middle of the pan so that it forms a little mountain in the middle, then gently bring in the milk mixture from the edges. Your aim here is to get as little sugar as possible on the edges of the pan, as this can cause your fudge to go grainy.
• Stir the mixture over medium-low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Using a pastry brush dipped in hot water, wash the sugar crystals from the side of the pan. Alternatively, you can just pop the lid on the pan for a minute to allow the steam to wash it all away instead.
• Once the sugar has dissolved and there is no evidence of sugar crystals left, bring the mixture to the boil and once boiling clip a sugar thermometre to the side of the pan. Cook over medium-high heat until the whole thing reaches 118°C (245°F). Please don't stir!
• While the fudge is cooking, fill your sink or wash basin with about 2 inches (5 centimetres) of cold water.
• Once the fudge has reached temperature, take the pan from the heat and dip the bottom in the cold water to stop cooking immediately. Then, leave the mixture to cool for 16 minutes (a minute per ounce (28 grammes) of sugar).
• Add the vanilla essence and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until thick, creamy and opaque. The mixture will slightly lose its shine and become more matte, and the consistency will be like freshly made Mr Whippy ice-cream. 
• Pour into your prepared tin and allow to cool at room temperature overnight.

Do not even think of setting it in the fridge: you can store it in the fridge once set, but setting the fudge in the fridge will cause crystallisation. Store in an air tight container to avoid it catching any unwanted odours or flavours.

Traditional Coconut Ice

I promised in my post about the homemade chocolate box that I'd give you all the recipe for coconut ice, and here she is!

There are so many variations on the recipe for coconut ice, I've lost count of how many I've read. Some need cooking, some don't, some need a plethora of ingredients, others need only a handful. But through experimentation and learning from recipes for other kinds of sweeties, I've refined a foolproof way to make coconut ice: it's based on the recipe I would've used as a child, which I learnt from my favourite book in the world, Sweet Success by Sackett and Marshall.

I think I may have referenced this book already in a previous entry, but it is probably the best book I have ever read. Filled with some delicious and truly horrifying recipes (it is quite dated), this 1970s tomb of culinary genius has seen me through many a victory and a disaster in the kitchen, and has never been far from my bedside for night time reading. Although this book got me into the world of sugar craft, I now see it as merely a starting point: the measurements of ingredients are all correct, but the methods can be somewhat dubious; some recipes don't even have oven temperatures or baking times in.

As such, I use the coconut ice recipe from this book, but I have altered it slightly, including what I've learnt to be the most vital step in any boiled sugar treat that involves being beaten: leaving the syrup to cool slightly before beating. It makes the sweets gloriously smooth and melt-in-the-mouth. I don't know why leaving the syrup to cool before beating makes it softer, but it works every time.

I will point out, however, this is for traditional coconut ice. I've noticed a lot of Australian cooks on YouTube make coconut ice by mixing icing sugar, condensed milk and desiccated coconut, which is a nice simple no-cook version but I don't really like it. If you aren't familiar with cooking sugar and the different sugar boiling stages, check out the Exploratorium's explanation of sugar cooking.

INGREDIMENTS

This is a large quantity that will make about 1¼ pounds (570 grammes) of coconut ice, but I've found it can be easily halved or even quartered. Just be really careful when making small batches because it can burn or crystallise easily.

• 1 pound (450 grammes) caster sugar
• 5 fluid ounces (140 millilitres) milk
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) desiccated coconut
• A few drops of red or pink food colouring

HOW-TO

• Prepare an 8 inch (20 centimeter) square tin by either greasing it lightly or lining it with non-stick baking paper. You could also use a silicone baking tin, which needs no greasing or lining.
• Pour the milk into a medium sized heavy based saucepan or casserole dish. You want the milk to fill the pan by about half an inch (a centimeter).
• Heat the pan gently on a low heat until starting to steam, and then pour the sugar into a pile in the middle of the milk. Using gentle circular motions, stir the sugar into the milk without touching the sides of the pan. This prevents the syrup from crystallising later.
• Keeping the syrup on a gentle heat, mix until the sugar has dissolved into the milk and you are left with a slightly cloudy liquid. Using a wet pastry brush to wash away any sugar crystals that have formed on the sides of the pan.
• Once all trace of any grittiness and crystaliness is gone, turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the mixture to boil and once boiling clip a sugar thermometer onto the pan and don't stir. As tempting as it may be, just don't do it.
• While the mixture is cooking away, fill your sink or wash basin with about 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) of cold water. This will become clear very soon.
• Boil the mixture to soft-ball stage, which is 115°C (240°F) (or you could boil to 118°C (245°F) for slightly firmer ice). Once the temperature is reached, take away the thermometer, bring the pan and dip the bottom in the cold water in your sink. This instantly stops the sugar from cooking any more and reaching the wrong sugar cooking stage.
• Leave the pan of syrup to sit for about 10 minutes, or until slightly cooled.
• Pour in the desiccated coconut and mix until the mixture is starting to become thick and slightly creamy. Pour half of it into a tin, and then mix a little food colouring into the remaining mixture in the pan to get a delicate pink colour. If it gets a little stiff, just return it to a gentle heat and mix until the right texture. Pour this over the white layer.
• Leave to set for about five minutes, and then score into pieces while still in the tin. This will make your life so much easier later.
• Allow to set completely, preferably overnight, and then turn out and cut where scored. Please, don't set it in the fridge: even thinking about the fridge while touching the coconut ice can cause it to crystallise and have a crunchy texture.

This is delicious on its own, but even nicer when smothered in chocolate... as most things in life are. As you may have noticed the pink is a little red, but you could make it any colour you wanted.