Monday 16 July 2012

macarooner.

Sesame streets seems to be a very good inspiration for baking. I saw Cookie Monster's audition for SNL (if you don't want to watch all of it, you can fast forward to 1:37 to see what I'm referring to) and I thought it was good opportunity to bake some macaroons.

Coconut Macaroons
Don't be fooled by the names! These are not "macarons", but "macaroons". The additional "o" makes a big difference. I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of coconut, but my dad has also been talking about making some for a while now. So what better than to do it during your vacations!



It was extremely hard to find a recipe. Unsweetened coconut? Condensed milk? Sugar vs honey? Use a double boiler? As my first time making these, there didn't seem to be a single recipe that looked the same and all of those pictures looked so delicious. I decided to be a little daring today and take a bit for each to make it my own. Haha, the taste is good, just sweet enough, but the texture, on the other hand, is a different story. It does have the nice crispy outside and somewhat soft inside.. but it's a flaky dry type of inside. I'm not sure how macaroons are supposed to be. It feels like it's missing something to bind it together. Look for yourself!

Inside a baked macaroon.
Here's the instructions on how to make these coconut delights, adapted from David Lebovitz's recipe:


Ingredients
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup white sugar
2 2/3 cups of medium unsweetened coconut flakes (or shredded, it's the same I think)
1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat eggs until you get soft peaks.
2. Add sugar & vanilla and whisk until well combined.
3. Fold in coconut.
4. Refrigerate for half and hour, I think this step's optional, but I like to do so since it makes it easier to work with later on.
5. Preheat your oven at 350F and bake for around 20 minutes. This recipe yields around 18 macaroons, but it'd really depend on what size you make your balls.

If I'd have to remake these, I'd definitely add some flour or something to bind it all together to make it denser. It's too coconut-y for my liking. Maybe if I dipped them in chocolate it'd make it better. Chocolate is always good.

Macaroons, again.
These coconut treats seem to be very appropriate for the unbearable hot and humid weather here in Montreal. Wishing we had a nice beach nearby, but, for now, AC will do the trick.

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