Coconut macaroons

[Lee_C]

I just made some for the first time and will definitely make again. I got 30 cookies out of the recipe! Baked for about 18 to 20 minutes. Slightly toasted exterior and a moist chewy inside. I used unsweetened desiccated coconut, egg whites, sugar, vanilla extract, salt and cake flour. And for dipping and drizzling I melted Cadburys Bournville chocolate which is a sweeter dark chocolate.
They're very moreish.

 

[Ian]

These look fantastic! Which recipe did you use for them?

I've got a friend who loves these, so I may bake some for her as a present!

 

[Lee_C]

Ian, thanks for your comments! I used this recipe and I used unsweetened desiccated coconut.
https://www.joyofbaking.com/CoconutMacaroons.html

I find her instructions very clear and easy to follow. Give it a go, they really are delicious.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I just made some for the first time and will definitely make again. I got 30 cookies out of the recipe! Baked for about 18 to 20 minutes. Slightly toasted exterior and a moist chewy inside. I used unsweetened desiccated coconut, egg whites, sugar, vanilla extract, salt and cake flour. And for dipping and drizzling I melted Cadburys Bournville chocolate which is a sweeter dark chocolate.
They're very moreish.

View attachment 2675 View attachment 2676

These looks amazing @Lee_C. I’ve been craving coconut. These look like a fix for that.

 

[Lee_C]

Norcalbaker, good to see you back! Where have you been? I thought you'd left.

Thank you. Definitely make them, they're so yummy.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Norcalbaker, good to see you back! Where have you been? I thought you'd left.

Thank you. Definitely make them, they're so yummy.

A lot of stuff going on. Helping my brother with business. His site is just about ready to launch. A couple of false starts but it’s getting there.

I was doing a lot of baking classes. Then we ended up with power outages and a wild fire. It was just really stressful. We had a really bad fire storm here a couple of years ago and it was like reliving all of that again. It wasn’t nearly as bad this time but the stress of not having power just made things very frustrating.

They dropped power on us three times in October. At one point I went six days or seven days straight with no power. I live on a vineyard, so I’m on well water. No power means no well pump. So the water pressure drops. Living outside of the city limits it gets extremely dark out here. there’s a security gate at the front of the property and that doesn’t operate with no power. So I have to drive through the vineyard. So it was a hassle getting off the property if needed to go out, especially after dark.

I mean I do understand why the power company did it. At one point the winds were gusting at 93 mph, which are hurricane winds. But it was very frustrating for everyone.

 

[J13]

They dropped power on us three times in October. At one point I went six days or seven days straight with no power. ...I mean I do understand why the power company did it. At one point the winds were gusting at 93 mph, which are hurricane winds. But it was very frustrating for everyone.

NoCal! You're alive! We were really worried about you—for the above reasons (no power, winds) + all the fires and bad air from the fires. A lot of vineyards went up in flames, so, of course, we feared yours might have been one of them. So glad to see you again and to know you're okay and all is, more or less, well with you.

A couple of fires here in SoCal came scary close to me. We had ash powdering the front stairs and the air...I'm sure you've been coughing for the last four weeks like I have. But, we were also lucky.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

NoCal! You're alive! We were really worried about you—for the above reasons (no power, winds) + all the fires and bad air from the fires. A lot of vineyards went up in flames, so, of course, we feared yours might have been one of them. So glad to see you again and to know you're okay and all is, more or less, well with you.

A couple of fires here in SoCal came scary close to me. We had ash powdering the front stairs and the air...I'm sure you've been coughing for the last four weeks like I have. But, we were also lucky.

I’m glad you’re OK. The past few years the state has been burning from in the end. There’s just no safe place to be during fire season.

The evacuations got to about 10 miles from me. So our communities were up next. I had an evacuation plan and had a bag packed. I was ready to go. Fortunately it didn’t come to that.

I have to hand it to the governor and the fire fighters. The governor called up the resources and the firefighters gave it everything they had. The winds were crazy. Those kinds of winds should have spread that fire all over California. And they were pretty far north. I have a nephew up in Humboldt. It was so windy up there they took the power down there as well.

Firefighters lost two days of airstrikes waiting for the wind to die down. During that time they manage to stay in front of the fire. Aside from the wine valley, the biggest concern was the fire jumping the line and burning some of the old growth redwood forest on the coast. The redwoods are a national treasure. They burns and it’s gone forever.

The smoke and the ash would come in waves. Because we’re so close to the ocean; as the fog rolls in off the Pacific, up over the mountains into the valley it would push the smoke and ash over us. And then as it rolled out it pulled it away. Kind a like the movement of the tides.

For those wineries that didn’t get their crops in their crop is ruined because of the smoke and ash. Most of the harvest in the valley was in, but there were still a few vineyards that were still bringing in their crop.

But we won’t rest easy until the first rains come. When the ground is saturated and fire season is officially over. Are you still unseasonably warm down there? We’ve been in the 80s up here. And it’s going to continue that weight for the next couple of days. We’re not gonna hit the 60s until later in the week. We’re almost in December and it’s in the 80s up here it’s crazy. It’s been so warm up here the Japanese maple trees on the property aren’t even fully red. Usually this time of year their leaves are almost gone.

 

[J13]

But we won’t rest easy until the first rains come. When the ground is saturated and fire season is officially over. Are you still unseasonably warm down there? We’ve been in the 80s up here. And it’s going to continue that weight for the next couple of days. We’re not gonna hit the 60s until later in the week. We’re almost in December and it’s in the 80s up here it’s crazy.

We've had wild fluctuations in temperatures. Last weekend it was in the 80's and I was in tees and sandals, then the temp crashed down to barely above 60, cool enough that I was walking around in a light sweater vest. Then yesterday and today, the temp's back up into the 80's!

The temp is supposed to even out into low 70's mid-60's starting tomorrow, and they're even predicting a thunderstorm Wednesday and Thursday Guess I'd better add an umbrella to the sandals and sweaters by the door Here's hoping it does rain—it won't be enough to saturate the ground, but at least it'll clear the air which is still pretty bad.

 

[J13]

I just made some for the first time and will definitely make again.

Hey, Lee, just a quickie apology for hijacking your thread to chat with NorCal about fire and weather [though, to be fair...you started it! ]

The cookies look awesome and yummy ("very professional" as my father would say). I adore coconut and these kind of macaroons are among my fave cookies--especially if there's some chocolate involved. YUM!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

We've had wild fluctuations in temperatures. Last weekend it was in the 80's and I was in tees and sandals, then the temp crashed down to barely above 60, cool enough that I was walking around in a light sweater vest. Then yesterday and today, the temp's back up into the 80's!

The temp is supposed to even out into low 70's mid-60's starting tomorrow, and they're even predicting a thunderstorm Wednesday and Thursday Guess I'd better add an umbrella to the sandals and sweaters by the door Here's hoping it does rain—it won't be enough to saturate the ground, but at least it'll clear the air which is still pretty bad.

OK so you guys are suffering the crazy weather too. PG&E just sent us a notice that they’re going to cut our power again due to another weather event. #%&@. This is really getting frustrating. The holidays are coming up. I have a lot of baking to do. I just ordered 10 lbs of Callebaut and managed to get it delivered without damage. We have several days of 80°F weather and they are going to cut power!!!

During the last two power outages I lost some expensive baking ingredients, including 5 dozen ranch eggs; 10 lbs Plugra; 5 lbs Kerrygold; a brand new unopened $38 bottle of passion fruit purée. If my Callebaut melts in this outage I’m really gonna to throw a fit. The governor’s office will hear from me.

 

[J13]

During the last two power outages I lost some expensive baking ingredients, including 5 dozen ranch eggs; 10 lbs Plugra; 5 lbs Kerrygold; a brand new unopened $38 bottle of passion fruit purée. If my Callebaut melts in this outage I’m really gonna to throw a fit. The governor’s office will hear from me.

Yikes! Yeah, I heard about those possible new blackouts. Here's hoping they don't last nearly as long as the last ones. It really was, well, outrageous (forgive the pun) how long you went without power. Beyond the pale.

I'm sure you've thought of these already but...(1) find someone who isn't going to be affected (have a power outage) and refrigerate there? I wonder...does the baking school have a generator to keep it's refrigeration going? Maybe they'd let you store your Callebaut there? (2) Big, super good thermal chests of ice? —probably you already have those and they failed last time....

And from what I'm seeing on the news, PG&E is already under investigation for the way it's handled all this. That said...It's pretty clear that cities (counties? Towns?) are going to have to start setting up small, alternative electrical infrastructures over 2020 to avoid this next year. PG&E cannot be trusted to fix all the lines before next Autumn even if they're given the money and manpower. Areas are going to need to create small, safe back-up power for neighborhoods so when this happens again, we're not left in the dark for days on end. It makes no sense for this to be happening with no other option than to hunker down and wait it out like some kind of zombie apocalypse

 

[Lee_C]

Thank you J13 for your comments about the macaroons.

However, more importantly, I'm so sorry to read that both yourself and NCB have clearly suffered some horrible times recently!!

I'm so glad you're both ok.

OK so you guys are suffering the crazy weather too. PG&E just sent us a notice that they’re going to cut our power again due to another weather event. #%&@. This is really getting frustrating. The holidays are coming up. I have a lot of baking to do. I just ordered 10 lbs of Callebaut and managed to get it delivered without damage. We have several days of 80°F weather and they are going to cut power!!!

During the last two power outages I lost some expensive baking ingredients, including 5 dozen ranch eggs; 10 lbs Plugra; 5 lbs Kerrygold; a brand new unopened $38 bottle of passion fruit purée. If my Callebaut melts in this outage I’m really gonna to throw a fit. The governor’s office will hear from me.

Wow! That's just awful. So much food lost. I keep my fingers crossed for you NCB and hope the outages get sorted ASAP!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Yikes! Yeah, I heard about those possible new blackouts. Here's hoping they don't last nearly as long as the last ones. It really was, well, outrageous (forgive the pun) how long you went without power. Beyond the pale.

I'm sure you've thought of these already but...(1) find someone who isn't going to be affected (have a power outage) and refrigerate there? I wonder...does the baking school have a generator to keep it's refrigeration going? Maybe they'd let you store your Callebaut there? (2) Big, super good thermal chests of ice? —probably you already have those and they failed last time....

And from what I'm seeing on the news, PG&E is already under investigation for the way it's handled all this. That said...It's pretty clear that cities (counties? Towns?) are going to have to start setting up small, alternative electrical infrastructures over 2020 to avoid this next year. PG&E cannot be trusted to fix all the lines before next Autumn even if they're given the money and manpower. Areas are going to need to create small, safe back-up power for neighborhoods so when this happens again, we're not left in the dark for days on end. It makes no sense for this to be happening with no other option than to hunker down and wait it out like some kind of zombie apocalypse

i’ve been keeping perishable foods at a minimum expecting blackouts. I have a couple pounds of good butter, so I’m going to make some biscotti and chocolate chip cookies this afternoon to use it up. I just bought a large bag of frozen wild caught salmon, so I expect I’m going to lose it. At this point I’m resigned to this as the new norm. My neighbor said he and his wife discussed how they will proceed next fall. They decided they will just keep perishables to a minimum. I suppose that’s going to be the norm for most of us. PG&E just sent an update 20 minutes ago, confirming the power is going to be cut within 24 hrs. They have a feature in which you can input your address to check if you will be effected. I will be. So that’s that.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thank you J13 for your comments about the macaroons.

However, more importantly, I'm so sorry to read that both yourself and NCB have clearly suffered some horrible times recently!!

I'm so glad you're both ok.




Wow! That's just awful. So much food lost. I keep my fingers crossed for you NCB and hope the outages get sorted ASAP!

Thank you J13 for your comments about the macaroons.

However, more importantly, I'm so sorry to read that both yourself and NCB have clearly suffered some horrible times recently!!

I'm so glad you're both ok.




Wow! That's just awful. So much food lost. I keep my fingers crossed for you NCB and hope the outages get sorted ASAP!

hello @Lee_C , it’s frustrating as heck. Especially since their efforts haven’t prevented a wildfire. But there’s nothing we can do about it. So now we’re just coping. Everyone is learning not to purchase much in the way of perishable food. With the holidays around the corner it that puts a lot of stress on us as it delays holiday preparations. Normally my refrigerator is already stocked with eggs, butter, cheese, charcuterie, and olives. But not this year. I almost shopped yesterday, And then I received the text from the power company. I am glad I didn’t purchase anything.and then I received the text from the power company about tomorrows outage. I am glad I didn’t purchase anything.

I was really looking forward to getting some baking done. It’s been a while since I’ve done any baking. I don’t bake much at home in the summer because of the heat. So most of my baking is done in class work. So the fall is always exciting for me since that’s when I start baking again. The power outages has really disrupted that transition into my baking season.

So how is your baking going? Aside from the macaroons what else have you been up to?

 

[Lee_C]

hello @Lee_C , it’s frustrating as heck. Especially since their efforts haven’t prevented a wildfire. But there’s nothing we can do about it. So now we’re just coping. Everyone is learning not to purchase much in the way of perishable food. With the holidays around the corner it that puts a lot of stress on us as it delays holiday preparations. Normally my refrigerator is already stocked with eggs, butter, cheese, charcuterie, and olives. But not this year. I almost shopped yesterday, And then I received the text from the power company. I am glad I didn’t purchase anything.and then I received the text from the power company about tomorrows outage. I am glad I didn’t purchase anything.

I was really looking forward to getting some baking done. It’s been a while since I’ve done any baking. I don’t bake much at home in the summer because of the heat. So most of my baking is done in class work. So the fall is always exciting for me since that’s when I start baking again. The power outages has really disrupted that transition into my baking season.

So how is your baking going? Aside from the macaroons what else have you been up to?

NorcalB, I'm so sorry to hear they're cutting your electricity in the next 24 hours. It's being cut because of the fires and strong winds, is that correct? What a difficult time this is for you, and that's an understatement I'm sure.

It's certainly lucky you didn't do shopping and I hope you can get to eat some of the salmon and not too much gets wasted. No doubt you'll probably be off the internet in the next day but I'll keep my fingers crossed that they switch it all back on quickly. It's clearly quite a crisis going on there!

Yes, I've been doing some baking recently. You might be interested to check out my chocolate genoise cake in the cake forum, that came out well, and I also posted some fruit tarts in the showcase thread. I got to use my baking rings! And I made a crème patissiere to fill them which was lovely. I'm quite proud of the way they turned out and had great feedback from the people that I gave some to. There's also some pics of an egg custard tart I made with grated nutmeg, double cream and many eggs, a lot of dairy! Got to be careful of my cholesterol levels, but I gave most of it away anyway.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

NorcalB, I'm so sorry to hear they're cutting your electricity in the next 24 hours. It's being cut because of the fires and strong winds, is that correct? What a difficult time this is for you, and that's an understatement I'm sure.

It's certainly lucky you didn't do shopping and I hope you can get to eat some of the salmon and not too much gets wasted. No doubt you'll probably be off the internet in the next day but I'll keep my fingers crossed that they switch it all back on quickly. It's clearly quite a crisis going on there!

Yes, I've been doing some baking recently. You might be interested to check out my chocolate genoise cake in the cake forum, that came out well, and I also posted some fruit tarts in the showcase thread. I got to use my baking rings! And I made a crème patissiere to fill them which was lovely. I'm quite proud of the way they turned out and had great feedback from the people that I gave some to. There's also some pics of an egg custard tart I made with grated nutmeg, double cream and many eggs, a lot of dairy! Got to be careful of my cholesterol levels, but I gave most of it away anyway.

Wow, you have really been a busy Baker! I will definitely have to check out your postings! I am glad you had a chance to use your tart rings. It’s a lot of fun to use specialty equipment, yes? I just love tools of the trade.

I was thinking about you the other day because I was thanking about Bakewell tarts. I had this idea to modify a bakewell tart into a fruit tart. Instead of using jam replace it with a layer of chocolate ganache. Then fill it only 3/4 full of frangipane so there a bit of room on top. After it’s baked there’s room to fill it with a layer of whipped cream and fruit.

Yes, power company is cutting power to prevent a wildfire. The weather forecast is for high winds. They’re concerned that the powerlines will get knocked over, or a tree branch will break and fall into a powerline and start a fire. They said the power outage could extend for 48 hours or longer. so I’m going to bake up a couple of batches of cookies to use up the butter I have. I’ll eat some of the salmon that I have in the freezer for dinner tonight. Most of it’s going to end up going to waste since there’s no way I’m going to be able to eat 5 pounds of salmon in the next 48 hrs.

 

[J13]

I’ll eat some of the salmon that I have in the freezer for dinner tonight. Most of it’s going to end up going to waste since there’s no way I’m going to be able to eat 5 pounds of salmon in the next 48 hrs.

NorCal, sorry I didn’t get back till now. Did you get the wind and power outage—or did it rain where you were? It rained here and got pretty cold. I had my fingers crossed that PG&E changed their mind. If not...maybe we should come up with ways to preserve what you buy without refrigeration...like pickling or curing the salmon? Also, won’t butter last at room temp if you put it in one of those butter keepers with water?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

NorCal, sorry I didn’t get back till now. Did you get the wind and power outage—or did it rain where you were? It rained here and got pretty cold. I had my fingers crossed that PG&E changed their mind. If not...maybe we should come up with ways to preserve what you buy without refrigeration...like pickling or curing the salmon? Also, won’t butter last at room temp if you put it in one of those butter keepers with water?

no worries. It’s been crazy here. Yes butter will keep. But I don’t like to compromise ingredients used for baked goods. This outage was only 2 days. So not too long. And they narrowed the impact area, so that was good. But some areas were cut even though they showed no impact n PG&E address impact system.