Macaroon, macaron? Are we talking about those clusterfucks of grated coconut flakes or that precious hamburger looking delicacy? I tried googling (well, okay, I went to Pinterest first) macaroon and was hoping for the latter and all I got were french macaroons (which was an inspiration for my painting piece! see previous blog). There have been rounds of macaroon food photographs on Instagram and the bakery makes every time I'm at work. I had a lot of important work to do on Saturday, so what do I do instead? I made macaroons!
The smell of roasted coconut was sneaking out the front door; my next door neighbor popped in to see what I was making. She had never had a macaroon fresh out of the oven. I plopped two on a plate for her and she was pretty delighted. The salty crunch of the outer layer, then came the soft and moist coconut chunks.
I didn't have an ice cream scoop for a more traditional macaroon shape, so I went for the quenelle mold. Quenelle, is a poached meat dish but can also refer to the shape of an oval or egg. It being almost Easter, I found it quite fitting and appropriate. I always found the round shape of a macaroon too much to take in. To add a bit of an Asian punch to my macaroons, I folded in toasted sesame seeds and a bit of matcha powder. It inspired a future project on baking up savory macaroons. I was quite happy with the results of my delicacies. I think I'm going to grab one for a snack right about now.