macarons have been nagging at a corner of my mind since Montreal. Every time I hear the word or see one of those little tiny cookie sandwiches, my mouth begins to water and I begin to dream again of cafe au lait and buttery croissants and teeny, tiny rainbows of glorious flavor. These are not those mararons. These are the flaky coconut kind that appear every spring as a Passover dish, occasionally dipped in chocolate, sometimes dry, sometimes boxed, rarely made at home.
I do love coconut though and while we celebrate Easter with ham, not Passover with lamb, coconut macaroons have some sort of South Seas, Tahitian succulence to them. It's enough to make you want to cast off the shackles of March and April, dreariness and showers, and only the hint of spring air for the heavy humidity and cloying heat of the tropics. Then, I wandered across this recipe at Smitten Kitchen.
Coincidentally, I'm off to a friend's home for supper Tuesday. We're gathering before everyone scatters to family homes for Easter and these schoolteacher friends of mine take advantage of another four day week and four day weekend. I promised to bring dessert and had no idea what I wanted to make. Originally, I was thinking of a layer cake, tall with whipped frosting and many layers. Something like Red Velvet or a lemon stacked cake.
Of course, these macaroons continued to nag at me. We keep shredded, sweetened coconut on hand at all times, ready to make coconut cream pie. What I didn't have {and wasn't going to make a trip to the store in time for} were the raspberries. What are stacked high in my freezer are pints of blueberries. Blueberries freeze in their containers delightfully, ready to pop onto cereal or oatmeal in the morning, or into a smoothie in lieu of ice cubes. So, substitute them I did.
Though Deb used a food processor, I lack such a device and substituted a blender instead. That caused some issues, and rather a recipe redux. {if a recipe suggests a food processor, think about how a blender requires more liquid to actually, you know, blend} As such, this turned into a rather more boozy macaroon than anticipated. It's delicious and doesn't have a big alcoholic kick, but I wouldn't be handing them out Easter morning to the children. Save them for the adults that have to clean up after the Easter Egg hunt destroys the yard.
Blueberry Coconut Macaroons {adapted from Smitten Kitchen, here}
1 pint defrosted frozen blueberries, drained of any liquid
1 cup gin
14 ounces sweetened, flaked coconut
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 and 1/2 cups flour
Blend the gin, blueberries, and sugar, then add the coconut and blend until moderately fine, then add egg whites and salt and blend again. remove from blender into a blowl and add the flour, one cup at a time until the mixture resembles a wet cookie dough.
Spoon tablespoons full onto cookie sheets and bake in a 325 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, until "browned" and slightly crunchy at the edges. Don't eat them all at once.
"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor
I do love coconut though and while we celebrate Easter with ham, not Passover with lamb, coconut macaroons have some sort of South Seas, Tahitian succulence to them. It's enough to make you want to cast off the shackles of March and April, dreariness and showers, and only the hint of spring air for the heavy humidity and cloying heat of the tropics. Then, I wandered across this recipe at Smitten Kitchen.
Coincidentally, I'm off to a friend's home for supper Tuesday. We're gathering before everyone scatters to family homes for Easter and these schoolteacher friends of mine take advantage of another four day week and four day weekend. I promised to bring dessert and had no idea what I wanted to make. Originally, I was thinking of a layer cake, tall with whipped frosting and many layers. Something like Red Velvet or a lemon stacked cake.
Of course, these macaroons continued to nag at me. We keep shredded, sweetened coconut on hand at all times, ready to make coconut cream pie. What I didn't have {and wasn't going to make a trip to the store in time for} were the raspberries. What are stacked high in my freezer are pints of blueberries. Blueberries freeze in their containers delightfully, ready to pop onto cereal or oatmeal in the morning, or into a smoothie in lieu of ice cubes. So, substitute them I did.
Though Deb used a food processor, I lack such a device and substituted a blender instead. That caused some issues, and rather a recipe redux. {if a recipe suggests a food processor, think about how a blender requires more liquid to actually, you know, blend} As such, this turned into a rather more boozy macaroon than anticipated. It's delicious and doesn't have a big alcoholic kick, but I wouldn't be handing them out Easter morning to the children. Save them for the adults that have to clean up after the Easter Egg hunt destroys the yard.
1 pint defrosted frozen blueberries, drained of any liquid
1 cup gin
14 ounces sweetened, flaked coconut
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 and 1/2 cups flour
Blend the gin, blueberries, and sugar, then add the coconut and blend until moderately fine, then add egg whites and salt and blend again. remove from blender into a blowl and add the flour, one cup at a time until the mixture resembles a wet cookie dough.
Spoon tablespoons full onto cookie sheets and bake in a 325 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, until "browned" and slightly crunchy at the edges. Don't eat them all at once.
"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor
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