Jammy coconut squares

I made these for Mark to take to work. In the interests of research I decided to try one. It turns out they are addictive and very scrummy. I could not leave them alone and ended up polishing off at least half over the course of 5 days. Oops. There were still plenty for Mark though, he also declared them scrummy. I can see these being made again in the not so distant future and I would not change a thing.

The only down side is that they do take a little time and effort, though they are not complicated. It is not a bake that can be made and cooked in under an hour. But as they say, good things come to those who wait!

Jammy coconut squares

for the base

175g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
30g butter
50g caster sugar
2 large egg yolks

for the topping

200g raspberry jam
175g dessicated coconut
175g caster sugar
4 egg whites
50g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 160C/140C FAN and grease and line a brownie pan, or similar with baking parchment.

Mix the flour and baking powder then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then mix the egg yolks with 2 tablespoons of water. Add the egg mix to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Press the base into the prepared tin. Do not panic, there IS enough mix, you do have to press it really thin to get it to cover the base but are rewarded with a decent base later on. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden then leave to cool completely in the tin.

When the base is cool you can assemble the topping. To a saucepan add the coconut, sugar, one of the egg whites and 2 tablespoons of water. Gently warm over a low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is thick and paste like. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Tip the mixture into a large bowl and let cool slightly.

Whisk the remaining 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir ~1/3 of the egg whites into the cooled coconut mix to loosen it. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, half at a time.

Spread the jam over the cooled base, then top with the coconut mixture, making sure to spread it out evenly.

Place in the oven (preheated, as above) and bake for 25-30 minutes until the coconut is golden and toasted.

 Cool the mixture in the tin before cutting into generous squares!