Honey & dark chocolate macaroons

There are very few things about modern cookery that actually make me sad. For my dad, the great tragedy is chilli being added to everything – chilli ketchup, chilli chocolate…other things. Some might be disappointed by the rise of burgers, or perhaps by how their native or favourite cuisine has been bastardised as its slipped into the mainstream, like Mexican food expert Diane Kennedy is.

I’m just sad that if you google macaroon, you get pages and pages of macarons, with not a shred of coconut in sight. Instead of golden, moist treats, it’s all smooth domed meringue, glued together with ganache or curd. The humble coconut macaroon has been usurped by the finicky French macaron.

Not so here. For this, we leave the faffing over feet and tapping of trays behind, in favour of a simple bite, lightly flavoured with honey, subbed in instead of loads of refined sugar, and balanced by a dark chocolate bottom. Stuff you’ve probably got in your cupboard, made into something in very little time and with no fuss. I used two different shredded coconuts, one finer than the other, although this isn’t really necessary. Long live the macaroon.

If you do want to make macarons, Emily is the queen of ’em. You can find her macaron recipes here.

Makes approx. 24 macaroons

Ingredients

250g shredded coconut
4 medium egg whites
120g honey
30g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
80g 70% cocoa chocolate

Method

  1. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and turn the oven on at 180C.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the coconut, egg whites, honey, sugar, and vanilla pasta until fully combined.
  3. Roll the mixture into balls, using just over a teaspoon for each ball. Space them about an inch apart from each other on the baking tray.
  4. Bake until your desired colour – about 10 minutes for just-turning-golden, nearer 20 for golden. Allow to cool on the tray.
  5. When cool, melt the chocolate using whatever your preferred method is and dip each macaroon in, before placing on a new sheet of baking parchment. Allow to set before transferring to an airtight container. The macaroons will keep for about 5 days.

 

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