Macaroons
It's been a week or so since my last culinary effort, and now that the shaking has subsided and I can see again I thought I'd try my hand at a new recipe.
I've given a lot of thought as to what went wrong last time. I think I ignored one or two basic warning signs. Butter with a skin - not edible. Rancid smells - they're nature's KEEP AWAY signs. However, I couldn't make any mistakes with butter this time - I don't have any. So... what to make... well, the last time I happened to be standing on a chair rooting through the kitchen cupboards I did notice a packet of desiccated coconut at the veeeeeery back of the top shelf. I lurve the coconut. So - no butter, lots of coconut... it's time for macaroons!!!I found this recipe - simplicity itself:
1 (14 ounce) package flaked coconut
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Damned stupid American measurements again. All this ounce and cup crap. 14 ounces looks to me to be about 406g, which as luck would have it is the exact size of the tin of condensed milk I had. Unfortunately the packet of coconut was 170g - roughly half. I'd have to split the measurements in two again. Still, never mind, I can do that. Here's a picture of all the ingredients together:
It was at this point that I saw the first cloud on the horizon:
Hum. This thing expired nearly two years ago! But then again... it still looks desiccated, it wasn't runny, so it should be alright. If there's no water then there's no life. Anyway as it was the only packet I had I didn't have much choice.
So - step one. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. This is me opening the can of condensed milk:
And this is the contents:
Do you notice how it looks like a 406 gram gravity-defying bogie? It was at this point that it occurred to me to check the sell-by date on the condensed milk. I might have known.
Still it was sticky. If it's sugary then surely there can't be any biological hazard involved? It just wasn't as runny as one would hope. So I scraped roughly half into the bowl:
... and then the mixing commenced. It was tough work at first, but a little water helped and it soon started to take shape:
Onto the baking tray:
... and into the pre-heated (175°) oven. They smelt alright when they got hot. I got a phone call while they were cooking; this is how they looked after about 15 minutes:
And this is how they look on the cooling tray now:
It was a shame that the two main ingredients were past their sell-by date. I had such high hopes as well! I'm giving the wrong impression here. I really do have fresh food in the house you know, I don't leave it all until it's got stuff growing on it before I use it. I just don't do a lot of baking, or eat much butter, so these things tend to get left lying around to fester.
The next recipe I do I *promise* I'll have fresh ingredients!!!
(I've just sneaked a bite of a still-warm macaroon and my verdict is - chewy but tasty with a slightly sour-milk after-taste. They'll take the fillings straight out of your teeth. I hope this doesn't kill me).
I've given a lot of thought as to what went wrong last time. I think I ignored one or two basic warning signs. Butter with a skin - not edible. Rancid smells - they're nature's KEEP AWAY signs. However, I couldn't make any mistakes with butter this time - I don't have any. So... what to make... well, the last time I happened to be standing on a chair rooting through the kitchen cupboards I did notice a packet of desiccated coconut at the veeeeeery back of the top shelf. I lurve the coconut. So - no butter, lots of coconut... it's time for macaroons!!!I found this recipe - simplicity itself:
1 (14 ounce) package flaked coconut
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Damned stupid American measurements again. All this ounce and cup crap. 14 ounces looks to me to be about 406g, which as luck would have it is the exact size of the tin of condensed milk I had. Unfortunately the packet of coconut was 170g - roughly half. I'd have to split the measurements in two again. Still, never mind, I can do that. Here's a picture of all the ingredients together:
It was at this point that I saw the first cloud on the horizon:
Hum. This thing expired nearly two years ago! But then again... it still looks desiccated, it wasn't runny, so it should be alright. If there's no water then there's no life. Anyway as it was the only packet I had I didn't have much choice.
So - step one. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. This is me opening the can of condensed milk:
And this is the contents:
Do you notice how it looks like a 406 gram gravity-defying bogie? It was at this point that it occurred to me to check the sell-by date on the condensed milk. I might have known.
Still it was sticky. If it's sugary then surely there can't be any biological hazard involved? It just wasn't as runny as one would hope. So I scraped roughly half into the bowl:
... and then the mixing commenced. It was tough work at first, but a little water helped and it soon started to take shape:
Onto the baking tray:
... and into the pre-heated (175°) oven. They smelt alright when they got hot. I got a phone call while they were cooking; this is how they looked after about 15 minutes:
And this is how they look on the cooling tray now:
It was a shame that the two main ingredients were past their sell-by date. I had such high hopes as well! I'm giving the wrong impression here. I really do have fresh food in the house you know, I don't leave it all until it's got stuff growing on it before I use it. I just don't do a lot of baking, or eat much butter, so these things tend to get left lying around to fester.
The next recipe I do I *promise* I'll have fresh ingredients!!!
(I've just sneaked a bite of a still-warm macaroon and my verdict is - chewy but tasty with a slightly sour-milk after-taste. They'll take the fillings straight out of your teeth. I hope this doesn't kill me).
