I recently got a copy of The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days. I have no rational justification for buying it. I'm not familiar with the Hummingbird Bakery. I've never visited any of the locations in London and all I know about the bakery is the concept: it offers American-style desserts. But sometimes I succumb to the power of the Amazon recommendation algorithm and suggested cookbooks with positive reviews just find their way into my shopping cart. At least I bought a used copy that literally only cost a couple of bucks.
The first recipe I decided to try from the book was the "Coconut Jam Sandwich Bars," which have a cookie base, jam filling, and coconut topping. The base includes butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, egg yolks, and water. I kept re-reading the recipe because the proportions seemed a little odd. The crust for the 9-inch by 13-inch pan only includes two tablespoons of butter. I did end up with a mixture that I was able to press into the bottom of my parchment-lined pan to form a crust, but just barely -- there was not a crumb to spare and the base layer was very thin. I baked the base layer until golden and let it cool completely before adding the jam filling.
For the filling, I used McCutcheon's cherry preserves. I'm a big fan of these preserves because they include whole tart cherries, and I happened to have a couple of jars on hand. For my birthday last year Tom took me to a surprise birthday dinner at Volt in Frederick, MD, and we stayed overnight. In the morning we walked over to the McCutcheon's company store, and embarrassingly, we had to walk back to our bed and breakfast to get the car because we couldn't carry our haul of preserves, fruit butters, and pickles.
To make the topping layer, you cook dried coconut, sugar, an egg white, water, and flour until the ingredients form a paste. After cooling the mixture slightly, you fold in three egg whites that have been beaten until stiff. You spread the coconut mixture over the jam and bake the bars until the topping is golden brown.
My bars look pretty close to the photo in the cookbook. I thought they were okay. I had two main complaints. First, the bars were very sweet. Admittedly, this was probably my fault. The recipe calls for "desiccated coconut" and I knew this probably meant unsweetened flakes, but I decided to use shredded sweetened coconut from Trader Joe's. I had both unsweetened and sweetened coconut on hand -- but I just love the texture and the flavor of the sweetened shreds from TJ's. And the sweetened coconut even comes in a 6-ounce bag, which is the exact quantity required for the recipe.
Second, both Tom and I thought that the flavors in this bar seemed muddled and indistinct. While I love cherry jam and I love coconut, it seemed like the combination here was less than the sum of its parts. I did like the chewy macaroon-like texture of the topping, but overall, I was not impressed. Still, I'm looking forward to trying more American dessert recipes from this British bakery!
Recipe: "Coconut Jam Sandwich Bars" from The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days by Tarek Malouf.
Previous Posts:
The first recipe I decided to try from the book was the "Coconut Jam Sandwich Bars," which have a cookie base, jam filling, and coconut topping. The base includes butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, egg yolks, and water. I kept re-reading the recipe because the proportions seemed a little odd. The crust for the 9-inch by 13-inch pan only includes two tablespoons of butter. I did end up with a mixture that I was able to press into the bottom of my parchment-lined pan to form a crust, but just barely -- there was not a crumb to spare and the base layer was very thin. I baked the base layer until golden and let it cool completely before adding the jam filling.
For the filling, I used McCutcheon's cherry preserves. I'm a big fan of these preserves because they include whole tart cherries, and I happened to have a couple of jars on hand. For my birthday last year Tom took me to a surprise birthday dinner at Volt in Frederick, MD, and we stayed overnight. In the morning we walked over to the McCutcheon's company store, and embarrassingly, we had to walk back to our bed and breakfast to get the car because we couldn't carry our haul of preserves, fruit butters, and pickles.
To make the topping layer, you cook dried coconut, sugar, an egg white, water, and flour until the ingredients form a paste. After cooling the mixture slightly, you fold in three egg whites that have been beaten until stiff. You spread the coconut mixture over the jam and bake the bars until the topping is golden brown.
Second, both Tom and I thought that the flavors in this bar seemed muddled and indistinct. While I love cherry jam and I love coconut, it seemed like the combination here was less than the sum of its parts. I did like the chewy macaroon-like texture of the topping, but overall, I was not impressed. Still, I'm looking forward to trying more American dessert recipes from this British bakery!
Recipe: "Coconut Jam Sandwich Bars" from The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days by Tarek Malouf.
Previous Posts:
- "Coconut Cloud Nine: Coconut Layer Cake," April 9, 2016.
- "The Cherry of My Eye: Mommy Hugs Coconut Jumbles," March 16, 2016.
- "Baked Sunday Mornings: Dolly's Doughnut," January 17, 2016.
- "Baked Sunday Mornings: Easter Coconut Sheet Cake," April 12, 2015.
- "Not Quite Enthused: Coconut Chews," October 29, 2014.
- "Now in Technicolor: Coconut Teacakes Redux," October 28, 2011.
- "The Perfect Wedding Cupcake: Auntie Em's Coconut Cupcake," September 7, 2009.
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