Coconut Macaroons on Rice Paper

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Baking tray
• •Mixing bowl
• •Balloon whisk or electric hand whisk
• •Spatula
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven and lay the paper

   Set the oven to 160C/140C fan. Line a baking tray with the rice paper, smooth side up. It will look strange, like a sheet of dried tracing paper. Trust it. That paper is going to become part of the biscuit, the thin, fragile underside that makes these what they are.

   Rice paper comes in flat sheets from the baking aisle or any decent cookware shop. Not the kind you wrap spring rolls in. The dry, brittle, almost translucent sheets that look like sugar.
2. 2

   Whisk the egg whites

   Put the egg whites and salt in a clean bowl and whisk until they hold soft peaks. Not stiff, not glossy meringue. Soft. The whites should flop gently when you lift the whisk, holding their shape but only just. This is a binder, not a meringue.

3. 3

   Fold in coconut and sugar

   Tip in the sugar, the coconut, and the vanilla. Fold everything together with a spatula until you have a sticky, uniform mixture. It will look dry at first and then come together as the sugar starts to dissolve into the egg white. Give it a minute. The mixture should hold its shape when you scoop it but still feel soft and pliable.

4. 4

   Shape the mounds

   Use a tablespoon, or your hands if you don't mind sticky fingers, to shape generous walnut-sized mounds onto the rice paper. Space them an inch or so apart. Press each one gently so it sits firm rather than slumping. You should get about sixteen. Don't try to make them perfect. A bakery macaroon has its own rough, peaked character, and yours should too.

   Wet your fingertips with cold water if the mixture sticks. A light touch shapes them; a firm one packs them too tight and loses the chew.
5. 5

   Bake until golden

   Bake for eighteen to twenty-two minutes. You're looking for the tips and edges to turn a proper toasted gold while the bases stay pale. The kitchen will smell of warm coconut and caramelising sugar, somewhere between a bakery and a holiday. Trust your nose. Pull them when they look set on the outside but still feel soft if you press one gently. They'll firm as they cool.

6. 6

   Cool and tear

   Let the tray cool completely on a wire rack. Once cold, tear or snip around each macaroon, leaving the rice paper attached to the base. The paper that isn't covered just falls away. What's left underneath each biscuit is a thin, edible wafer, slightly chewy where it has met the coconut. That's the bit people remember.

Chef Tips

• •Desiccated coconut, not flaked or shredded. The fine, dry stuff. Flaked coconut is too coarse and won't bind into the proper chewy centre. This is one of the few times the supermarket aisle gives you exactly what you want.
• •Save your egg yolks. Two yolks are the start of an aioli, a custard, a small carbonara for one. There's no virtue in throwing them away. I keep mine in a small jar, covered with a film of water, in the fridge.
• •If the macaroons spread a little in the oven, don't panic. The rice paper holds them in place from below. They're meant to look rustic. A perfectly uniform macaroon is a sign that someone has tried too hard, and that's the wrong direction entirely.
• •Once cool, they keep beautifully in an airtight tin for four or five days. The texture actually settles on the second day, going chewier in the middle and crisper on top. Worth knowing if you're making them ahead for a potluck.

Advance Preparation

• •The macaroons keep in an airtight tin for up to five days and are arguably better on the second day, when the centres have settled into their proper chew.
• •The mixture itself can be made an hour or two ahead and left covered at room temperature before shaping and baking. Don't refrigerate it. Cold mixture spreads oddly in the oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 23g)