Mission 1: Kokobusserln

On my little tour of the book Kaffeehaus, I was reassured when I saw that not all of the recipes called for a list of ingredients a mile long or intricate preparation.  This first recipe was admittedly probably one of the easier ones in the book, but I did say that I was going to bake every recipe and so I’m sticking to my plan.  Besides, an easy recipe sometimes yields great results, like with these Kokobusserln, or Coconut Macaroons.

I know that Macarons are all the rage right now, but Macaroons deserve their time in the spotlight.  These were prepared with a meringue base, which gave them an airy lightness that sometimes escapes a pastry made with coconut (think penuche, jungle/magic bars, etc.)  It’s easy to go through a half dozen of these without even realizing it since they are so ethereal on the palate.

I’ve made Macaroons of several styles over the past decade or so and I think this recipe is going to be my go-to from now on.  I’m learning that the Viennese bakers were every bit as skilled as the French and this recipe proves that to me.  I’m looking forward to exploring more and deciding what Mission 2 should be!

Kokobusserln (Coconut Macaroons) 

Ingredients:

• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
• 2 tbs all-purpose flour
• grated zest of 1 lemon

Method:

1. Position two oven racks in the center and top third of the oven; preheat to 325 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
2. Beat egg whites using a hand-held mixer until soft peaks form, then beat in confectioners’ sugar until glossy and stiff, shiny peaks form.  Fold in coconut, flour, and lemon zest.
3. Portion into 1 1/2″ mounds on prepared trays, spacing about 1″ between each mound.  Bake until edges are firm and macaroons lift easily from the sheet, about 30 minutes.  Cool completely on the sheets.

And that’s it!  From mixing to eating in under an hour.  Can’t beat that with a stick.

One note about baking these macaroons: typically, trays are rotated and turned halfway through the baking time.  However, the meringue base of these macaroons makes jostling the sheets at that time risky, since the meringue could deflate.  It’s best to leave the sheets in their original positions in the oven and allowing the bottom sheet an extra minute or two.  Since heat rises, the top sheet will be done before the bottom sheet.

 

18 Sep This entry was published on September 18, 2014 at 11:04 pm. It’s filed under Baking, Cookies, Food photography, Recipes and tagged baking, coconut, Cookies, easy, Kaffeehaus, macaroons, recipes. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.