Kokosanki (coconut cakes), officially known as Lamingtons

“Desserts are the fairy tales of the kitchen — a happily-ever-after to supper”

Terri Guillemets

A traditional Australian treat, lamingtons are made from squares of sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. These cakes have always been called kokosanki among my family and are always in my mind when I hear the word. They are easy to prepare and really make you want to eat more. They will please the taste of many, not only fans of coconut. I found the recipe for cocoa icing among some old culinary jottings and recipes in my house. It gives smooth coating to the cakes, creating a cocoa-sugar surface. What you have to bear in mind is that the cocoa mass cannot be boiled – if you happen to do this, fat which is inside will separate and the mass will be too thin and runny.

Makes: about 20-24 cakes
For the sponge cake:
4 eggs
8 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Separate the egg whites from the yolks, add a pinch of salt and beat the egg whites until stiff. Still beating, little by little add first the sugar and then the yolks, one at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a baking tin (lined with baking paper) and bake at 180°C until golden. Allow the cake to cool, then cut it into squares or rectangles, as you please.

For the icing:
250 g butter or margarine
1 ½ cups sugar
3-4 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
5 tablespoons water
2 packs of desiccated coconut (200 g)

Melt the sugar and margarine or butter over low heat. Add the remaining ingredients and heat for a while (do not make the mixture boil!), until smooth and combined.

Dip pieces of cake into the icing, gently shaking off excess. Then roll the cocoa-coated sponge in the desiccated coconut.

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Polish Angel Wings Cookies

Food is an important part of a balanced diet

 Franz Lebowitz

It’s the Carnival season. To be sure, it isn’t celebrated as pompously as in Rio or Venice, but we do have our own traditions and customs. One of them is making angel wings cookies and doughnuts. I think this is one of the most pleasant things you can do during Carnival here in Poland. Of course, each of the treats has its devoted fans. I like them both: following my heart - or to be more precise - my stomach, I would go for doughnuts. But if we take into account the preparation time, the angel wings should be called the winners. Some more advantages? They are light, delicate and crispy. The best when still warm. For those who count calories they are the lesser of two evils. The recipe comes from a Polish cookbook published by Reader's Digest and is very simple. You just have to remember to roll the dough as thin as possible. The angel wings will be then more crispy and fresh for a longer time. 

Ingredients:
300 g plain flour
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
5 tablespoons sour cream (I used 18 %)
1 tablespoon rectified spirit (if you don’t have, use 1 tablespoon of 10 % vinegar or vodka)
pinch of salt

Method:
Mix the flour with the sour cream. Add the remaining ingredients (don’t pour the spirit directly on egg yolks, nor crack the eggs directly onto the spirit, otherwise they will curdle). Knead the dough until smooth. Roll the dough as thin as possible and cut into 3 x 10 cm sections. Cut along a slit in the middle of each strip and pull one end trough the slit. Deep fry in oil until they turn golden. Dry on paper towels and sprinkle with icing sugar.

While frying the cookies, it is good to put into oil a piece of sliced potato and keep changing the pieces every now and again. This trick prevents from heating the oil over its smoke point.

Here is a short video on how to form the cookies.

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Jam Filled Crescents

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate” 

 Linda Grayson

This recipe comes from one of many loosely scattered paper sheets with recipes stored in my house. I don’t even remember its origin, it has been there for ages. The cookies belong to simple ones. You do not have to wait until the dough rises, nor make the leaven (although the yeast is used). They disappear from a plate so quickly. Not too sweet because there is no sugar among the ingredients, their sweet flavour is enhanced by dusting with icing sugar. I used jam for filling. However, you can always use something else, such as dulce de leche, chocolate, Nutella, cheese or pudding – each version is good. It doesn’t take much time to make the cookies and they work well as a sweet afternoon snack. Perfect when accompanied by coffee, hot chocolate or cocoa. 

Ingredients: (about 30 cookies)
500 g plain flour
1 egg
250 g butter or margarine
½ cup sour cream 18%
30-40 g fresh yeast

Method:
Combine all the ingredients on a board - first chop with a knife and then knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll each one into a round shape and cut out triangular slices, beginning from the centre of the circle (the legs of a triangle should be longer than the base). Put ½ teaspoon of jam on the thicker end of each slice and then roll the dough from the thicker to the thinner part. When the crescents are ready place them onto a greased baking tray. Beat the egg, add two tablespoons of milk and brush over each crescent. Bake at 180°C (356°F) for about 20 minutes until they turn golden. Take out, transfer from the tray and leave to cool. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

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