Coconut Butter Thins

You put the lime in the coconut, then you feel better. That's what this weeks recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is all about. Coconut butter thin cookies have lime zest, coconut, macadamia nuts and lots of butter all mixed together to form one great tasting cookie. These were just what the doctor ordered when the weather was gloomy, rainy, windy and cold.

These are not the most beautiful cookies you will ever make but I promise they make up for it in taste. My family loved them. Even my daughter who doesn't like coconut said they were refreshing. I was lucky to have any left for pictures. Thanks to Jayne of The Barefoot Kitchen Witch for picking this recipe.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

It is now officially spring. We have finally had several days of really nice weather. It has been a very welcome change after the long cold winter that we have had here in Kentucky. It is also official that I have been a kitchen procrastinator this week. It was not because I wasn't excited about this week recipe. I love blueberries and love coffee cake so, what was the problem? I guess I just have spring fever.

This week Sihan of Befuddlement chose Blueberry Crumb Cake as our recipe for TWD. My family liked this cake very much and I did too. I always seem to go searching any time I need a recipe for a coffee cake. I think my searching is over. This is a very good cake. It is a little different from the ones I usually make. It is not quite as sweet and the buttermilk keeps it moist. It is covered with a very generous amount of crumb topping. The only bad thing that I can find to say about this recipe is that it requires using several bowls, the food processor, and the mixer. but it is worth the extra clean up time.I think a slice of this cake with some coffee might be a good cure for spring fever.

French Yogurt Cake

This weeks Tuesday's with Dorie recipe is French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze and it was chosen by Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction. This cake couldn't have been more simple to make. It's the kind of cake that your grandmother might have made. Its simple and old fashioned and couldn't be more welcome at the end of a meal.

I didn't make the marmalade glaze for the cake. I made a lemon curd instead and drizzled it over the cake slices. It was fresh and tangy and made the cake taste even better. Dorie suggests baking the cake in a round pan and serving it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I can't wait for strawberries to be in season to try this.

TWD Lemon Cup Custard

The choice for this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie is Lemon Cup Custard and it was chosen by Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles . I was looking forward to this recipe because to tell the truth I am a little tired of chocolate. My goodness I never thought I would admit to that. But with cakes and cookies and boxes of valentines chocolate I was ready for something different. Something with lemon sounded refreshing for a change. I must admit that I was thinking tart like lemon meringue pie or lemon squares. When I read what others had to say about this recipe I almost didn't make it but I decided it was a pretty easy recipe with simple ingredients, so I went ahead anyway. It was not what I was expecting but it wasn't bad either. The lemon flavor is very slight and the custard cooks up with a texture like flan. It reminds me of the boiled custard that my mother in law used to make for Christmas. It's plain and simple and sometimes that is just want you need for a change of pace. Next time I'm going to try the espresso-cinnamon variation.

Chocolate Armagnac Cake-The Cake That Got Me Fired

This weeks recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is Chocolate Armagnac Cake-The Cake That Got Me Fired and it was chosen by Lyb of And then I do the dishes. This cake has a lot of flavor and textures going on. It has ground nuts, lots of bittersweet chocolate, and of all things liquor soaked prunes. I used ground pecans and since I could not find armagnac, I used cognac. Setting the prune and cognac mixture aflame was the best part of making this cake. That mixture seemed to burn forever.

The cake baked nicely and looked good after being taken out of the pan. I had problems with the glaze. It clumped up into a dry ball. I tried reheating it with no luck. I finally added cream to thin it down enough to get it to spread unto the cake. The glaze tasted OK but it didn't look very pretty to say the least. The butter I used was not completely room temperature and may have caused this problem.

I really didn't care for this cake. I thought that it had(gasp)too much chocolate and the bits of prunes gave it a weird texture. I did like it better after I served it with the whipped cream. It helped with the chocolate overload. I think I should have chopped the prunes into much smaller pieces. The botched glaze probably didn't help things either. The cake wasn't bad it just wasn't my favorite.

Caramel Crunch Bars

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is caramel crunch bars and it was chosen by Whitney of What’s left on the table? They are a bar cookie with chocolate and coffee added to a shortbread dough. More chocolate (melted) and heath bits are added on top after the cookies are baked.

I used milk chocolate in place of the bittersweet, just because my family likes it better. I also had to use regular instant coffee because I couldn't find the espresso. I thought the cookies came out very tasty.

This was a really thick dough. Dorie says that the dough will percolate when it is done. I had never seen cookies percolate but that is pretty much exactly what the dough was doing when I took it out of the oven.

Melted Chocolate and Heath Bits.

Yummy!

Devil's Food White-Out Cake

Finally, the recipe we have all been waiting for, Devil's Food White-Out Cake. This is the cover recipe, the star of the show. It doesn't get any better than this. Rich, moist chocolate cake with a fluffy, marshmallow filling and frosting. This cake does not disappoint. It lives up to its top billing. It tastes great and goes together fairly easily. I'm sure that I will be making this cake again.

I almost used a different frosting for this cake. I was apprehensive about making the frosting for two reasons. One, it seemed a lot like seven minute frosting which I didn't think I liked very much and two, you had to use a candy thermometer and add the boiling mixture to whipped egg whites. I was afraid that this could go very wrong but, the frosting tasted good and wasn't as hard to make as I had feared.

This recipe makes a really beautiful cake. My cake isn't nearly as pretty as the one on the cover but I was pleased with it and it tasted great. Thanks to Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater for choosing this recipe.