The Tale of the Failed Macaroons

Today is National Macaroon Day.  So, of course, I'd planned to make macaroons.  What else would you expect from someone who celebrates holidays for literary figures, religious events, food fests, and any other occasion that amuses me?

I had hoped to make airy and crisp macaroons, rather than the ones that are rounder and taller and softer (which are loaded with coconut, usually, rather than being primarily made of egg white).   According to Wikipedia: "A macaroon is a type of light, baked confection, described as either small cakes or meringue-like cookies depending on their consistency."  So I beat the egg whites, stirred in the flavorings, and baked away.

But instead of seeing delicate white cookies tinged with just a hint of golden color at the edges, holding their shape in lovely little circles, this is what I found when I took the macaroons out of the oven:

Groan ....

But I don't waste food - nope.  I don't throw things out, I simply re-purpose them.  I tell people all the time that if a recipe doesn't work out as intended - if a cake falls, if a pie doesn't cut nicely, whatever - simply toss some ice cream or whipped cream onto the still-delicious mess, rename it (trifle? crumble? parfait?), and move on as though this was what you'd intended!

And thus, my failed attempt at making Coconut Rum Macaroons turned into a beautiful fruit-laden Pavlova instead.

Pavlova is a dessert with a meringue base, topped with fruit and whipped cream.  There are several variations on its origins, but it is thought to have been named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.  It is light, sweet, and utterly enticing.  It was a perfect way to put my pathetic little macaroons to a far more noble purpose.

And if I hadn't told you this little tale of failure and redemption, you'd have never known that even food bloggers, chefs, cookbook writers, and other culinary professionals have their bad days in the kitchen, too.

Coconut Rum Meringues

2 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon dark rum
1/3 cup ground almonds
6  Manischewitz coconut macaroons, crumbled (2/3 cup crumbs), part of a lovely marketing gift sent for me to cook/bake with and sample

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly greased foil.

In a large bowl, combine egg whites, sugar, and rum; beat for 3 minutes, until the consistency of paint.  (Not an enticing description, but an accurate one.)  Stir in the almonds and macaroon crumbs.

Place tablespoon-sized dollops of batter onto the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes, until the macaroons are set.  Let cool completely, then carefully peel from paper or foil.

Makes 21 macaroons.

To make Pavlova: Crumble 2-3 meringues into a bowl.  Top with whipped cream and chopped berries.

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Muffins

On National Chocolate Chip Day, the obvious choice would have been to make chocolate chip cookies.  Not that there's anything wrong with them!  But ....

I debated whether to celebrate with something exotic, say some spicy chocolate-chili concoction ... nah.  I wanted the rich simplicity of the chocolate chips to shine through.

And so I baked a variation on the cookies, and also added an extra sweet touch with crumbled coconut macaroons (a fabulous marketing gift from the Bender Hammerling Group, which handles public relations and marketing for several food producers, including Manischewitz).  As they say, it's the little things.  The topping takes these muffins beyond everyday breakfast food and they become a special treat.

If you'd like to celebrate today's festivities with other options, here are some more suggestions that showcase the glory of chocolate chips:

Krispy Kreme Chocolate Chip Cookies

Butterscotch Pretzel Brownies

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Scones

Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hillary Clinton's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ricotta Cheese Pudding

Ginger Shortbread Cookies


Chocolate Chip Macaroon Muffins

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
6 Manischewitz coconut macaroons, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar.  Stir in egg and yogurt.  Stir in half-and-half and salt, then mix in flour and the baking powder.  Stir in chips, then divide batter among the lined muffin cups.  Sprinkle the crumbled macaroons over the tops of the muffins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Espresso Pudding Parfait

Rather than sponge cake made with matzah meal or plain ol' fruit or sesame seed candies, why not try a pudding for a special dessert during Passover?  Why not make something a bit luxurious, rather than feeling as though food is becoming a punishment with no access to breads, cupcakes, oatmeal, or other items - both decadent and mundane - that will suddenly seem miraculous on Saturday evening when they're permissible again after the holiday?

This rich, luscious dessert uses ricotta cheese, though I know that it can be difficult to find this particular ingredient with a hekhsher [HEK-sher], certifying that it's kosher for Passover.  Pureed cottage cheese would work just fine, if that's easier to acquire.  Or make this after the holiday ends, when you're still trying to use up leftover tins of macaroons.

The pudding isn't terribly sweet, so that it offers a nice contrast to the sugary cookies.  Layers of texture and layers of flavor ... this coffee-almond parfait is simple but beautiful.

Espresso Pudding and Macaroon Parfait

2 15-ounce containers part-skim ricotta cheese
4 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons prepared espresso, chilled

12 Manischewitz almond macaroons, crumbled

whipped cream, for serving

In a large bowl, whisk the ricotta to break it up a bit.  Whisk in the sugar and the espresso until smooth.

Fill 4 wine glasses one-third full with the ricotta mixture.  Divide half of the crumbled macaroons among the glasses.  Divide the remaining ricotta mixture among the glasses, then top with the remaining macaroon crumbs.  Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 4 generous servings or 8 smaller ones.

Peanutty Macaroons

Most people think that macaroons are chewy spherical cookies made with coconut.  But this is only one variation on the theme.  Macaroons are actually more generic - they're cookies made with beaten egg whites and sugar, with either ground nuts or coconut stirred in before baking; they don't usually contain flour.

And don't even start the "macaroon" vs. "macaron" debate, as the latter are an entirely different confection of great delicacy!  Macaroons are simple cookies, but much loved.

Today, I'm offering macaroons ... but they're not quite like any you've eaten before, I'm sure.  Because I made these as an entry for Project PB&J - a contest for food bloggers which is being hosted by my friend Cindy of Once Upon a Loaf and her friend Christina of She Runs, She Eats.  The competition is in honor of National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, and required preparing a sandwich and/or a baked good with a nut butter and a jelly/jam or fruit.

So, because I made these for Project PB&J, they include peanuts rather than either almonds or coconut; and they also have a little dollop of fruit - the charoset I offered in yesterday's post.  I met the basic requirements, and then found that the end result more than transcends its simple ingredients: these cookies are so, so good!

They're chewy, and there is an intense peanut flavor since ground peanuts provide the bulk of the cookies' substance; the sweetness of the date-fig fruit mixture complements the nuts perfectly.  And I have to admit that I eat them by nibbling along the perimeter, before finishing off the last center bite with an enormous proportion of fruit-to-cookie.

These macaroons may seem simple and plain, but they are such a fabulously addictive treat!

Peanutty Macaroons

2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup dry roasted peanuts, ground
1/2 cup date-fig charoset (see yesterday's post)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with lightly greased foil.

In a medium bowl, stir together the egg yolks, peanut butter, sugar, and ground peanuts.  In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks; fold them into the peanut mixture.

Place the batter into 12 mounds on the baking sheet.  Place a generous teaspoon of charoset into the center of each mound.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the macaroons are set and just golden along the edges.

Carefully remove the macaroons from the foil and cool them on a rack.

Makes 12 macaroons.

Custard with Strawberry Sauce and Macaroons

I received a very nice email a couple of weeks ago from a gentleman named Stephen, asking me if I were at all interested in doing a product review of a new line of wines called flipflop:

The flipflop collection includes Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Moscato, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. To learn more about the wines, you may visit the website at flipflopwines.com.

Well, we all know that I don't do product reviews. So I wrote back to Stephen and explained my policy: I'll happily try the wines, and even mention them when I write up a recipe that I've used them in, but I don't offer opinions in exchange for gifts because I don't ever want anyone to doubt my sincerity and think that I may have been swayed.

And he was so tickled that I would not only sample the wines and mention them, but also cook with them -- his best friend, it turned out upon continuing to email back-and-forth, is famed Las Vegas and San Francisco restauranteur/chef Hubert Keller, whose restaurants I've longed to visit -- that he offered to send me 4 bottles instead of the usual 2.

What's most entertaining is that I was communicating with Stephen at the very same time that I learned I'd won tickets to the (un)Corked wine tasting -- it was as though the universe was trying to tell me that I needed to learn more about wine, and provided the means to do so!

I had promised Stephen that I would cook with the wines, and that's precisely what I did -- for my special Passover dinner, no less. I made a main course with a wine-cheese sauce that will be tomorrow's post; and I put together a simple but elegant dessert with a hint of Pinot Grigio -- a light, fruity white wine -- in both the custard and the strawberry sauce.

I also topped the dessert off with a guilty pleasure that I can only get at Passover: Manischewitz almond macaroons.

Now, eating these is like eating M&Ms instead of Valrhona chocolate, for example -- I know this! They are not the light, airy, meringue-y macaroons that have been all the rage recently. Nope -- they are heavy and dense, and yet I love them. (Only the almond ones, though; the other flavors are all too dry.) I hang my head in shame as I type this, but I have been known to open and devour a can in one sitting, without sharing.

So, I took my sophisticated homemade custard and sauce and topped them with the crumbled store-bought cookies ... yes, I did. And you know what?

My dessert was fabulous! It was a perfect combination of simple, wholesome ingredients with a little bit of sweet sinfulness. It was also incredibly easy to make, only requiring planning to make it a day ahead. It was "lick the bowl" good, though I won't admit publicly whether I actually engaged in such boorish behavior!

The custard was luxurious and light, the strawberry sauce the perfect touch of Spring on an April day that brought a little bit of snow -- snow!!! -- to Ann Arbor. And the macaroons provided just the right texture in the midst of the creaminess.

Thank you, Stephen, for your generous contribution to my holiday dinner. I'll be doing more cooking with that wine, so stay tuned!

P.S.: If you haven't already fed my narcissistic ego, let me just remind you that Saveur is seeking nominees for the 2011 Best Food Blog Awards and the deadline is Friday! Any love you can show me by clicking on this link and nudging them in my direction would be most gratefully appreciated ... :)

Custard with Strawberry Sauce and Macaroons

Custard

2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon white wine
1-1/2 cups half-and-half
pinch of salt

In the top of a double boiler, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and wine. Whisk in 3/4 cup half-and-half.

Turn heat to medium-high and heat 1" water in the bottom of the double boiler. Whisk the egg mixture constantly, until it starts to thicken and you can see traces of the whisk left in the custard (about 8-10 minutes); add the rest of the half-and-half and continue cooking and whisking for another 8-10 minutes.

When the custard is done, you'll be able to dip a spoon into it, run your finger down the middle of the coating, and the line will remain intact instead of having the sides bleed back together.


Place custard into a bowl, press plastic wrap against it to prevent it forming a skin, and refrigerate overnight.

Strawberry Sauce

6 large strawberries, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons white wine

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat; press on the strawberries to help mash them. Cook the sauce until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Refrigerate until needed.

To complete the dessert

2 Manischewitz almond macaroons

Divide the custard among 4 dessert dishes or wine glasses; top each with a dollop of the strawberry sauce. Crumble half of a macaroon over each serving.

Serves 4.