I’m not sure if I’m the only one but I think I’ve mentioned before that although macarons are pretty, I’m not a big fan of eating them. Sure I love the challenge of making them: getting creative with flavors, the right ‘lava’ like consistency, piping even sizes, and most of all, staring at the oven window praying to see if feet form. ;) But when it comes to consuming it, I normally would just cut one in half just to taste it. Weird, no?
So, I was in the supermarket the other day and while going through the baking ingredients aisle, I saw some almond meal/flour. Finally! Before, I used to buy expensive packs of slivered almonds and grind them in the food processor. This time around, I made some coconut macarons with an easy coconut filling I made up which tasted pretty good.
They have rather uneven coloring but what’s important is that they have feet!
Coconut Macaron Shells
adapted from Raspberri Cupcake
makes 48 shells/24 macarons
100g egg whites (I didn’t age them but popped it into the microwave for 10 seconds)
50g sugar
105g almond meal/flour
195g powdered sugar
2 tbsp. dessicated coconut
-Line 2 9′ x 13′ pans. Set aside.
-Whip egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar. Whip until stiff peaks form.
-In another bowl, sift together almond meal, powdered sugar and dessicated coconut.
-Note: when incorporating the dry ingredients to the egg whites, be rough at first to deflate the whites and to make sure that the dry ingredients are fully incorporated with the whites.
-Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites until a lava like consistency is reached. To prevent overmixing, as mentioned above, I would be rough at folding the beginning until the ingredients are mixed thoroughly then slowly fold. To know the right consistency, after each fold, the batter should be shiny, not overly runny and would hold the form when the spatula is lifted. You can test on a small plate and see, if the batter still holds a peak BUT flattens itself out but does not spread too much then it’s good to go.
-Fill your piping bag and pipe onto lined pans, about 1 1/4″ in diameter. Give at least 1/2″ space between each shell.
-Leave on the counter for about 30-40 mins. or until the shell is dry. You’ll know when you touch it and nothing sticks.
-Preheat oven at 150C.
-Bake for 15 mins.
-Let cool completely before peeling off the paper or else the filling comes off.
looks like porridge, hehe.
Coconut Filling
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup condensed milk
-Whip cream until stiff.
-In a bowl, mix together dessicated coconut and condensed milk. The mixture will be somewhat dense and may seem like it needs more moisture but when combined with the whipping cream, it’ll be fine.
-Fold whipping cream into coconut mixture.
-Chill for about 10-20 minutes until not so runny.
To assemble:
-Pair up the macaron shells depending on their sizes.
-Arrange shells one side up and one side down (like above photo) and pipe filling.
-Cover by slowly twisting the upper shell (kind of like the motion you do with twisting oreos) until filling evenly spreads but careful not to let filling spill over.
-EAT!
On a social networking note, on the right sidebar you may notice a widget that for Baking Between Cities’ Facebook page. There’s no other reason I set it up except that I was quite bored the other day and I’m just really curious how many would ‘like’ it. o_o
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