Clarissa Dickson-Wright
This is the sort of old-fashioned treat which is so easy, it belies the deliciousness of it. And it doesn't even need baking! Just pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes ... ready in no time at all.
Butter, chocolate and sugar are melted over a low heat. Then an egg is whisked in, adding coconut and crushed biscuits, mixing thoroughly.
The mixture is poured into a shallow tin (mine was a bit too shallow) pressed out flat and placed in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
The icing is made with icing sugar, butter and cream.
and then spread onto the chocolate base, and sprinkled with extra coconut.
Another half an hour in the fridge then it's ready to cut.
Sweet, crunchy, chocolate and coconut with vanilla icing.
Verdict: Excellent. Biting through the creamy sweet icing, the lovely vanilla & coconut flavours mix with the crunch of the coconut and chocolate base. As there is no flour, the chocolate is rich but broken up by the plain biscuits so it is not sickly. The recipe calls for Digestive biscuits but I made them today with plain old Rich Tea biscuits (Maries) and I liked them better than the digestives. The less buttery biscuit counter-balanced the richness of the chocolate.
This is one of those recipes that a beginner can easily attempt, be they a small person so young they need to stand on a stool, or someone to whom you could introduce baking (like your errant teenager). Either way, it is a quick recipe to master (great for low attention spans) even on the first attempt. Could easily become a well-loved family fave as well.
As far as the book is concerned, Clarissa Dickson Wright is a proper food lover, who cares deeply about the food and not a jot for celebrity. She would probably hate the idea of being called a 'celeb'. If you've never heard of her (where have you been?) look her up. She may not be your average 20-something starlet, but she's way ahead in her breadth of food knowledge and head and shoulders above all those mediocre, instant TV chefs. All her recipes are simply written and easy to follow. And the photographs are beautifully un-arty, if you know what I mean. Like Clarissa herself, what you see is exactly what you get.
(I will make more new recipes at a later date, but one which I have made at least a dozen times is her Beef Stew. It's fantastically warm and comforting, topped off with the fluffiest dumplings ever. Who doesn't like dumplings?).
Who can make this? little kids, big kids, people with no time. Great for picnics.
Clarissa's Comfort Food, Clarissa Dickson Wright, Kyle Cathie Limited, London, 2008
