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Coconut pyramids
- Details
- Written by: David Richards *
- Category: Food
- Hits: 46
These classic, chewy coconut pyramids are a nostalgic treat that can be made in under 30 minutes. Requiring just three main ingredients—egg whites, desiccated coconut, and sugar—they are naturally gluten-free and bake into a beautiful golden brown.
Ingredients
- Desiccated coconut: 200 g (about 7 oz)
- Icing sugar: 200 g (about 7 oz)
- Egg whites: 2 large eggs
- Vanilla extract: 1/2 tsp (optional, but adds great flavor)
- Dark chocolate: 100 g (optional, for drizzling or dipping)
Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat your oven to 160°C (150°C fan / 325°F / Gas 3) and line a baking tray with greaseproof parchment paper.
- Mix: In a large mixing bowl, combine the desiccated coconut and icing sugar. Add the egg whites and vanilla extract, mixing until a sticky, cohesive dough forms (it should have the consistency of damp sand).
- Shape: Lightly dampen your hands with cold water to prevent the mixture from sticking. Scoop out golf ball-sized portions and shape each one into a pyramid or cone by pressing the base into your palm and pinching the top with three fingers.
- Bake: Place the pyramids on the prepared baking tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the points and edges are dark golden brown.
- Cool & Decorate: Let them cool completely on the tray; they are soft at first but will harden and become chewy as they cool. Once fully cooled, drizzle or dip the bottoms in melted dark chocolate.
Synthetic Quartz crystal
- Details
- Written by: David Richards *
- Category: Electronics
- Hits: 36
This Quartz crystal was bought from a collector who was told it had been cut for some electrical equipment, I lresearched what the posible application was for such a big crystal but cam to the conclusion that it is a man made synthetic quartz crystal in its raw form. Close inspection shows the mounting metal fasteners on the ends of the seed quartz. The shape is not in the same axis as a naturally formed crystal - the seed is cut on one of the minor axis', i.e it is grown on its side.
Here is a small natural crystal, and a diagram showing quartz planes and surfaces in the crystals.
Here is a link to a commercial synthetic quartz crystal growers web site https://www.ndk.com/en/products/crystal/glossary/
A document describing the manufacturing process: https://www.ndk.com/catalog/AN-SQC_GG_e.pdf