Coconut macaroons

In addition to meringues, these are a good way to use any leftover egg whites you might have left from sabayon, ice cream, chorizo pasta, Spaghetti Carbonara or crème patisserie.

The name, macaroons, is a bit confusing and can easily be mixed with macarons, those rainbow-coloured little pieces of heaven La Durée does so incredibly well.

In Jewish cooking these are popular dessert treats especially during Passover, when flour is not used. This makes these little babies suitable for those on a gluten-free diet too! These are supposed to be crisp on the outside and gloriously gooey and chewy on the inside. 

You can also add for instance the grated zest of lime or half an orange. Dried fruits and berries would work too. Vanilla extract could be substituted with for instance almond extract.

Traditionally these are free-form, fluffy piles, but as I'm neurotic and insisted on them to be of equal size and appearance, I used one of those plastic egg trays that come with fridges. That (or any other mold you might use) should be oiled before use.

Depending on the size this recipe makes 20-30 macaroons

2 eggwhites
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
6,5 dl coconut flakes
1,5 dl sugar

200-300 g good quality dark chocolate, melted

Heat the oven to 175. Separate egg whites form yolks and, using an electric mixer, whisk into a hard foam. Then add salt and sugar in a thin stream. Add vanilla extract and finally fold in the coconut flakes. Using a tablespoon drop mixture onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until they start getting a bit colour. Keep an eye on them as "a bit of colour" turns to "whoah! Far too much colour!" in an instant.

The snowball-like appearance makes these wonderfully wintery. If you want, you can get all Jackson Pollock and splash melted chocolate stripes on these, dip the bottom in the chocolate or cover them entirely with chocolate for a homespun take on Bounty (this is also a very convenient way to hide any evidence of overcooked macaroons...!)