Lemon and Lime Poppyseed Loaf

Sometimes, the simplest things are the best.

Nothing fancy.

Just something fairly plain, made with love.

Something that sometimes gives back to you in ways you least expect.

But you're probably thinking, this is only a cake, after all.

I should explain. I was surprised by how much Sam enjoyed this cake.
 
Given that he has now launched headfirst, it seems, into his toddler  days, getting him to sit in one place for longer than a minute or two is an achievement in itself.

Yet he was very happy to clamber up and sit snuggled on the sofa with me, sharing a slice.

A few precious moments stolen from an otherwise hurly-burly kind of day.

And that made it really special.
 

Although I have made loaf cakes before, the results have been a bit hit and miss. I don't know why.

The last one I tried (Primrose Bakery's Lemon Drizzle) I simply binned, as although I followed the recipe exactly, something happened and it just didn't turn out right. It sank disastrously in the middle and didn't taste right.

This one was a dream, though. Zingy lemon and lime, in a soft fluffy sponge, with the subtlest crunch from the poppy seeds. The icing glaze on the top added just the right amount of tangy sugariness.

Sometimes, that's all you need.

Lemon and Lime Poppyseed Loaf

Ingredients (for one 2lb loaf)

175g softened unsalted butter
175g golden caster sugar
finely grated zest of one lime and one lemon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbspn lemon juice
175g self raising flour
2 tbspns poppy seeds

For the glaze
1 tbspn lemon juice
1 tbspn lime juice
100g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 Conventional / 350 Fahrenheit / Gas 4. Line the base and sides of a loaf tin (I used a ready made liner).

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the lemon and lime zest and mix in. Beat in the eggs a little at a time until they are incorporated. Then add the lemon juice. Gently sift and then mix in the flour, just until you have a smooth batter. Fold in the poppy seeds, until they are evenly distributed.

Spoon into the liner and smooth the top. Bake for about an hour, until risen and golden, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then remove and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

 

To make the glaze, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, and then add the lime and lemon juice to make a runny icing. Place the wire rack over some greaseproof paper (to catch the drips) and then spoon the icing over the top. Leave to set.

 

 

Enjoy,

 

Susie. 

 

*Adapted from Everday Easy Cakes and Cupcakes by Dorling Kindersley

Simple Focaccia with Rosemary and Flaked Sea Salt

In a fairly off hand way the other day, Mike commented to me that he loved bread and he didn't think he would ever want to give it up. It might've helped that at the time, he was chomping on several squares of this.

But it made me think.

Every so often, Mike and I indulge in one of our favourite little treats: a loaf of freshly baked bread. 

Purely for convenience, and because we tend to fuel this urge as it strikes, we tend to rely on our local supermarket for this (it's a great ploy to have in-store bakeries and while there are a few artisan bakeries in and around Cardiff they're, sadly, not easily accessible for us). 

Sometimes it's a simple Farmhouse loaf, sometimes it's one of those fancy flavoured breads the supermarkets have started to introduce. 

One of my favourites is a Rosemary Focaccia. Freshly baked, it's heady aroma is irresistible. 

It's on the days when I fancy something savoury, rather than sweet.

Perhaps when it's a bit wet, grey and windy, and when you just want to curl up with a bowl of something comforting.

Sometimes that's soup.

Other times (for me anyway) it could be a pasta dish, with a rich, creamy sauce.

Either way, something that's just perfect for mopping up with some ciabatta or focaccia.

I'd never thought of making Focaccia myself though.

In the past I haven't tended to make too much bread at all. But now, since learning how to make Sourdough properly last October, I have a weekend ritual of making my own. 

It's been miles better than anything I have managed to buy locally, after I have tweaked the dough and baking to fit in with my preferences.

So emboldened by this, I decided to try something else. And therefore what better to try than my own Focaccia?

This recipe is easy (especially using a stand mixer) and for bread, (I think) fairly quick. It produced a lovely loaf which disappeared faster than I had anticipated.

I think you can safely anticipate that I'm going to be experimenting some more.

Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia

500g strong white bread flour
7g fast action dried yeast
6 tbspns  extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
300ml warm water
2 tspns fine salt
1 tbspn coarse sea salt [I used Maldon as I love the flaky texture]
2 tbspns fresh rosemary, chopped

You'll need a large bowl and a baking tray, both brushed with a little of the oil.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, place the yeast, flour, salt 3 tbspns of the oil and the water. Turn the mixer onto slow, and gradually, as the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium-slow. Leave to knead for about 5-6 minutes, until you have a soft, smooth dough. If it's really sticky, add just a little extra flour.

Turn out the dough, and fold the edges down on themselves a few times to try and form a smooth, rounded ball. Place, seam side down in the bowl, brush with a little oil and cover the bowl with cling film. Leave to rest in a warm place (not too hot though) until doubled in size (about an hour).

Place the dough on the oiled baking tray and press out gently to flatten to about 3 cm deep, using your fingertips to make little indentations. Brush over a little oil and then cover with cling film.

Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size again (about 45 minutes). Preheat the oven to 200 Fan / 220 conventional / Gas 7.

Remove the cling film, and then using your fingertips again, press some more indentations into the dough. Sprinkle over the rosemary (tucking some small sprigs, if you have them, into the dough gives a nice touch), and then some of the sea salt. Drizzle over the remaining 3 tbspns of oil.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes until golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Serve while still warm and enjoy the simple pleasure of freshly baked, home made bread.

Susie

* Adapted from Italian Home Baking by Gino D'Acampo

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Dark, fudgy icing on a chocolate sponge.

Normally, that would be right up my street.

Yes, I should've loved this cake.

But something is wrong somewhere at the moment. I feel *gasp* as though I have gone off chocolate.

Whether it was the effect of some bright sunshine for a change, whether I'm just a bit jaded at the moment, or the amount of chocolate that I've eaten over the last few months - just because it's an 'easy' snack and therefore all too easy to reach for, tsk, tsk - has taken its toll, it just didn't quite hit the spot.

Instead, I've found myself craving sharpness and light. So much so, that I also baked another of the Limoncello Cakes I've posted recently. Now that really got my tastebuds going and it has kept Mike and I in coffee-time treats all week.

 

And yet, I had been really looking forward to making this cake last weekend, as Chocolate Fudge Cake was by popular request of the boys. I had found a new recipe to try out. So, while it unexpectedly turned out a little disappointing for me, it was still a totally acceptable chocolate cake.
I say 'acceptable', because, you see, we did have slightly mixed reactions to it. 

Mike and I felt as if the sponge was the teensiest bit dry (although the aroma and taste of chocolate was spot on, so I might add a tablespoon of milk to the batter next time). Ben felt it was OK, and definitely acceptable enough to have as an after school snack. Josh, though, absolutely loved it and spent the early part of the week fending off anyone else who showed an interest while he devoured it, crumb by precious crumb. Sam, bless him, after having one little piece which ended up smeared from ear to ear, didn't get a chance to try any more. But judging by his reaction, it went down pretty well.

Anyway, for those chocolate-loving teenagers, and toddlers, this is what I did.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients (makes one 8 inch / 23cm cake)

175g softened unsalted butter
175g golden caster sugar
3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbspns golden syrup
3 tbspns ground almonds
225g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
40g cocoa powder

For the frosting
225g plain chocolate, chopped
110g light muscovado sugar
225g unsalted butter, diced
3 tbspns milk
1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 conventional / 350 Fahrenheit / Gas 4. Grease and base line two 20cm / 8 inch cake tins.

To make the frosting, place the chocolate, sugar, butter, milk and vanilla in a heavy based saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until melted. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool. Cover with cling film and chill for about an hour until spreadable. [On this occasion, the muscovado sugar, which took a long time to dissolve, gave me a slightly grainy texture to the frosting. Next time, I'll try something like soft light brown sugar, as its softer and smaller grains would dissolve more easily.]

Place the butter and caster sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat, using the paddle attachment, until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Sir in the syrup and ground almonds. Sift the flour, salt and cocoa into a bowl and then gently fold into the mixture. Add a little milk if necessary, to make a dropping consistency. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins and bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes, until risen and springy, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, before turning the cakes out of their tins and allowing to cool completely.

Sandwich together with some of the frosting, and then spread the remainder over the top and sides.

I then added a few chocolate sprinkles as decoration, but this isn't really necessary.

Enjoy

Susie

*Recipe adapted from Chocolate : Decadent and Delicious Home Made Treats a Love Food book

Hazelnut, Lemon and Blueberry Layer Cake

Is it really June already? Has May been and gone?

Oh, God.

I feel a bit like John Lennon when he told Yoko that he was only going out for a packet of fags.

It seems that time is getting the better of me at the moment. There just seems to be too much to do and not enough time to do it. Anyway, I hope you've all been having a great time - especially as we seem to have had a bit of summer at last.

So after my impromptu break, I managed to get back into the kitchen today and tried my hand at some new recipes.

This one is a gorgeously moreish layer cake. It uses spelt flour and toasted, ground hazelnuts to give a lovely, nutty taste to the sponge which is lifted by the tang of lemon zest. I used a cream cheese frosting to balance out some of the sugar, and as you can see, the top is loaded with fresh, juicy blueberries.

 

I really loved the combination of flavours.

Very nice with an afternoon cuppa.

Hazelnut, Lemon and Blueberry Layer Cake (adapted from 'Love Bake Nourish' by Amber Rose)

Ingredients

115g toasted, ground hazelnuts
260g softened unsalted butter
225g white spelt flour
2 tspns baking powder
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
130g golden caster sugar
130g maple syrup
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

For the frosting
150g cream cheese at room temperature (I used Philadelphia Original)
100g softened unsalted butter
350g icing sugar
1 tbspn lemon juice
2 tbspns Blueberry Conserve (I used Bonne Maman Wild Blueberry)

200g fresh blueberries
Dusting of icing sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 conventional / 350 Fahrenheit / Gas 4.

Grease and base line two 20 cm / 8 inch loose bottomed cake tins.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.

Place the butter and caster sugar into a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until soft and fluffy. Add the beaten egg a little at a time (add a little flour if the mix starts to look curdled), and then add the maple syrup.

Gently mix in the flour and baking powder, along with the ground hazelnuts. [You can make your own ground hazelnuts by roasting 115g hazelnuts in the oven for 10 minutes, then piling into a tea towel and giving them a good rub to remove the skins before blitzing them in a food processor. But I managed to get some ready prepared from Wally's Deli in Cardiff. Do look out for them on sale. If you can find them they save you a lot of faffing around.]

Share the batter evenly between the cake tins, and bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes. The cakes should be risen and golden, and a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes, before turning out of the tins and allowing to cool completely.

To make the frosting, cream the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle for a minute or so, until they become smooth. Add the icing sugar a little at a time, until you have a smooth, spreading consistency. Add the lemon juice. Gently swirl through the jam, and then use to sandwich the cakes together, and the frost the top layer. [The original recipe uses whipped cream flavoured with the jam and some honey, which you can go with if you like. I just fancied something a bit sharper, especially as Mike isn't a big fan of whipped cream.]

Luxuriously pile the top with fresh blueberries, and then give them a little dusting of icing
sugar.

Enjoy.

And just try and keep the smile off your face.

Susie




As there are a number of blogging challenges around this month that this will fit in with, I'm going to enter it in this month's Tea Time Treats, which is being hosted by Kate over at What Kate Baked, and co-organised by Karen over at Lavender and Lovage. This month's theme is Layer Cakes, so I think this one fits the bill pretty well.

I'm also entering it into a new challenge, organised by Victoria at A Kick at the Pantry Door, called Feel Good Food. This month's theme is blueberries, so again, this fits in well there.

Finally, this month's Calendar Cakes, organised by Laura at Laura Loves Cakes, and this month's host, Rachel at DollyBakes, is based around jam. Well, with the fruity blueberry conserve in this lovely frosting, I reckon that just about counts (fingers crossed).

Chocolate and Vanilla Polka Dot Cake

I love the magic of baking.

Particularly when you cut into a fairly innocuous looking cake, and then get this (or at least something like it):

Vanilla flavour polka dots, enrobed in chocolate sponge, sandwiched together with chocolate fudge icing, covered in vanilla buttercream, with a final topping of dark chocolate, dripping down the sides.

And if all that tastes good, too, then I really shouldn't complain.

But, I have to be honest.

This cake did not go entirely to plan. And this is version two. And, if I make it again, I will definitely do some tweaking.

The idea for the cake stemmed from this amazing cake by Deb at Once Upon a Pedestal. It was doing the rounds on Pinterest in January. Someone at work, who knows about my 'hobby' sent me the link.

That was it - I was hooked. I started planning, as the idea of dots in a cake was screaming 'Red Nose Day' at me.

I even ordered a cake pop pan so that I could execute my grand design. (And I hate to say it, but I just don't see the point in cake pops. I love how they look, but it strikes me that you can put all that effort into them and then in two bites, they're gone. So for me to get a cake pop pan, well.)

Anyhoo, sadly, February intervened. And all my thoughts of baking went out of the window.

By the time I had started to venture back into the kitchen, Red Nose Day was looming and I simply didn't feel like attempting it. I wanted simple bakes; real comfort food. And then anyway, Jude at A Trifle Rushed did this amazing version.

So back on the back burner the project went.

I dug it out again briefly at Easter for version one.

Which was a complete fail.

Well, not completely.

I just messed up on the cake pan sizes and, using eight inch pans, didn't have enough dots to fill them. So I scooped the mix and pops all into one and tried baking a single layer cake. And was then fooled by the skewer test (as it must have hit a cake pop, so I thought the cake was more done that it was). Twenty minutes after taking it out of the oven, the centre had collapsed into molten chocolate goo, surrounding some white 'pimples'. The outer edge - which was the only bit properly cooked - tasted nice though. But a bit put off by the experience, I again put it on the back burner.

But it's been niggling away.

This week, buoyed by the sunshine over the weekend, and with a day to myself, I decided to try again. This was the result.

Here's what I did, and what happened.

Chocolate and Vanilla Polka Dot Cake

Ingredients
(makes one six inch layer with some mix left over for marbled cupcakes! #winning!)

Vanilla Polka Dots
100g softened unsalted butter
150g self raising flour
150g caster sugar
2 large eggs
3 tbspns milk
1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Chocolate Sponge
225g softened unsalted butter
200g self raising flour
225g soft light brown sugar
4 medium eggs
1/2 tspn baking powder
4 tbpsns cocoa powder
1 tbspn milk

Chocolate Fudge Icing
Being lazy, I used a tub of Betty Crocker that I had in the cupboard, but you could make your own (and if I had done that, I might not have had one of the issues I had with this cake). The leftovers in the tub went to ice the top of the cupcakes I made, though.

Vanilla Buttercream
150g softened unsalted butter
1 tspn vanilla bean paste
about 250g icing sugar
1 tbspn milk

Chocolate Glaze
100g dark (70%) chocolate, gently melted

Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 Conventional / 350 Fahrenheit / Gas 4. Grease your cake pop pan (I used a 12 pop one from Nordicware which I bought from John Lewis - the cheapest stockist of this one I could find), and grease and baseline 2 six inch (15cm) sponge tins.

To make the cake pops, measure all the ingredients into a bowl, and blitz with a hand mixer until you have a smooth batter and everything is combined. Spoon into the pan, so that the bottom spheres are full - the cake will rise up into the top spheres to give the ball shaped 'dots'.

Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes. (Try not to over bake at this stage, as they are going to be baked again in the sponge.) Remove, allow to cool, and then gently remove from the tin (I found a dessert spoon perfect for helping me to prise them out without breaking).

For the chocolate sponge, again,measure all the ingredients into a bowl and blitz with a hand mixer, until you have a smooth batter. Scoop enough mix to give a thin layer in the base, and then arrange your vanilla dots.

Scoop some more chocolate sponge over and around the dots, but try not to overfill. I found this really hard to judge, as you want to try and cover the cake pops, yet not have it explode over the top of the tins.Here's what mine looked like:

Bake in the centre of the oven. Ordinarily, a normal two layer sponge made with this mix would take me just under 25 minutes. But, with the dots, it seems that the heat doesn't permeate through the mix in the same way. Bearing in mind what happened the first time I tried this, I kept checking the cake every few minutes until a skewer inserted into the chocolate sponge did come out clean. In all, the baking took just under 40 minutes. It then looked like this:

There was a slight 'lip' over the top edge of the cake tin, which you can see looks a little crusty. I really needed a slightly deeper tin (maybe 3 inch deep) to contain all the mix while trying to make sure the balls were covered. But they had risen a little bit, too, and floated nearer to the top of the cake. Anyway, I let the cakes cool completely in their tins, and when I turned them out, I carefully tried to cut away the crusty bits.

Once they were cooled, I sandwiched them together using the Betty Crocker chocolate frosting. In hindsight, this was a little too soft for the job, and it would have been better with a homemade chocolate ganache. I'd used it as I was running out of time, and I had it in the cupboard. Knowing it tasted good, and that it would mean that the layer through the cake would be chocolate brown - the same colour as the sponge - I thought I'd give it a go.

To make the vanilla frosting, cream the butter and vanilla together using stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add the icing sugar and blend well. If it seems a little dry, you can slacken it again with a little milk.

Unfortunately, even though I chilled the cake for a little, when I applied the vanilla frosting as a crumb coat, the chocolate icing was still too soft, and managed to meld with the vanilla to make a fairly muddy looking cake. At this point I chilled it, so that it would be ready to apply the final vanilla layer. I tried to do this as neatly as possible, but my buttercream was a little thick at this stage, so it splodged rather than glided on. I also could still make out the layer of chocolate icing showing through the vanilla.

By this point, I'd started to give up, so I just chilled the cake in the fridge overnight.

The next day, I melted some chocolate and draped it over the top of the cake, trying to tease it so that it would drip down the sides. Just the chocolate on its own was really a little too thick. 

What I should have done, was to make up a ganache mix (ie added some cream), so that it had a little fluidity and was easier to pour. The chocolate does set up though, and so gives a lovely, crackly layer to the top. (I was a little impatient and cut into it before the choc had fully set - there were some oozy bits of melted choc as a result.)

The finished cake cut really well, and both the chocolate and vanilla sponges were dense, but still soft (even the cake pops which of course had had a longer baking time). The vanilla and chocolate together gave a nice flavour, with the bitterness from the dark chocolate adding a different note. Mike and Josh felt it was very sweet, so a small portion worked best for them.

As I had some left over vanilla and chocolate batters, I made up some marbled cupcakes and used the remainder of the tub of chocolate fudge icing to decorate. Josh really liked these, and they appealed to his teenage appetite.

So what would I do next time?

• place a very thin layer of mix in the base of the cake tin so it doesn't push the pops up too much;
• make sure I have enough pops for the size of tin - six for a six inch (15cm tin), more for an eight inch (20cm) tin;
• line up the pops in each layer as neatly as possible to get a balanced view when you cut into the cake;
• scoop the batter over the pops so it falls down the sides, rather than try and fill the gaps then smooth it over the pops;
• not overfill the tin (or use a slightly deeper tin); 
• make my own ganache filling (and topping) and make sure I don't push it right to the edge of the layers;
• make the vanilla buttercream slightly thinner so it glides on properly.

Anyway, I know this has been a long post, but I wanted to set out for you my experience. As by far the most important thing I learnt was to go back and actually read again previous postings about making these cakes, to get exactly these kind of hints and tips. I didn't do this until after I'd made mine, and then I found this fantastic post by Beki at Beki Cook's Cake Blog which details her attempts to make one (and without a cake pop pan). Kudos to Beki as she made five versions before she felt she'd achieved the effect she wanted.

This would be an absolutely fantastic cake for a child's birthday though, so with Sam in mind (hell, who am I kidding, it's my birthday in a couple of weeks), I'll definitely be trying it again.

I might just go for coloured polka dots next time.

Susie

Lime and Coconut Madeleines

Sometimes, I find that inspiration can be lurking in the most unexpected places.

And it strikes at the time I least expect it.

I've written recently about my singular lack of baking mojo. So this week, when I got to my day off and had thought that I'd try and get back in the kitchen, I couldn't actually bring myself to bake anything. A weird kind of procrastination  had set in.

I pottered around the house suddenly finding other jobs to do.

One involved sorting through some of my latest cookbook purchases and tidying and reorganising the shelves so I could fit them on. I have a 'system' for storing like books together, and try to keep my baking books easily accessible.

In practice, this meant simply compiling piles of books and moving them around from shelf to shelf until I was reasonably happy with the arrangement. If you have ever read my post for Random Recipes on my cookbook addiction, you'll appreciate that this could take me a while.

But it also meant that I rediscovered a few gems I hadn't seen for a while. Amongst them was Bryn's Kitchen by Bryn Williams.

Thumbing through it reminded me of the Pistachio Cake that a colleague had brought in to work one day, which was so delicious I bought the book on the back of it (and it helped a little that Bryn is Welsh , too, of course).

But I also found a recipe for Madeleines.

"The madeleine (French pronunciation: ​[mad.lɛn], English /ˈmædleɪn/ or /ˌmædlˈeɪn/^[1]) or petite madeleine ([pə.tit mad.lɛn]) is a traditional small cake from Commercy and Liverdun, two communes of the Lorraine region in northeastern France.

"Madeleines are very small sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions. Aside from the traditional moulded pan, commonly found in stores specialising in kitchen equipment and even hardware stores, no special tools are required to make madeleines.

"A génoise cake batter is used. The flavour is similar to, but somewhat lighter than, sponge cake. Traditional recipes include very finely ground nuts, usually almonds. A variation uses lemon zest, for a pronounced lemony taste." Source:  Wikipedia

I've never baked Madeleines before, and intrigued by the recipe, my mind started whirling with the possibilities. So much so that I got straight into the kitchen.

These gorgeous little light cakes were the result.

I decided to use lime and coconut to flavour them, and to finish off with a dipping of dark chocolate and a dusting of some more coconut. They were easy to whip up, and tasted sensational, going down as a hit with Mike and Sam especially. They are something that I can see myself making again and again.

Here's what I did.

Lime and Coconut Madeleines

Ingredients (makes approx 16)

2 large eggs
100g caster sugar
zest from 2 limes
70g plain flour
1 tspn baking powder
15g ground almonds
15g coconut flour *
70g unsalted butter, melted

60g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
a little extra coconut flour to sprinkle

* The coconut 'flour' I used came from an Asian supermarket and I bought it to go in curries - its a very fine powder, finer than dessicated coconut. See an example here.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the lime zest, and then sift the flour and baking powder into the mix. Gently fold in. Add the coconut flour and ground almonds, along with the melted butter and gently fold these in, too. Allow to stand for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 Conventional / 350 Farenheit / Gas 4.

Grease and flour the shells of a Madeleine tray.

Fill each shell about three quarters full. [Mine were, I think, a little overfilled on the first batch (see below), but they still came out great. The second batch, which I didn't fill so much, were better and had the authentic 'mound' in the top - see the link to Wikipedia for a photo of what this looks like.] 

Bake for about 10- 12 minutes in the centre of the oven. The Madeleines should be moist and have a lovely golden colour, without being over baked.

Turn out onto a cooling rack.

To decorate them, I gently melted the dark chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once it had cooled a little, I dipped the Madeleines into the chocolate and arranged to dry on a baking tray, sprinkling over a little more coconut.

Eat and enjoy.

Susie