birthday macaroons

I made these little macaroons as a birthday gift for one of my staff members. It was my miscellaneous foodie magazines challenge for the week. The recipe came from Taste magazine. The reason why I made them is because I had some leftover chocolate ganache in the fridge which I wanted to use up. This seemed to be a good way of doing it. The macaroons turned out quite well. I piped them out using a large round nozzle – only complaint is that they are a bit peaked on the top. Also, I was in a bit of a rush (had just been out for dinner with my in-laws), so I made them a bit larger than I would have liked. They taste great though and were quick and easy to make. I liked the thread coconut as it gave them a bit more texture.


I am still pretty hopeless with taking photos, but this is what they looked like all packaged up - you can't see my wee treats by Tammy label very clearly! That will have to wait for another post!

Macaroons with ganache

2 egg whites
2/3 c castor sugar
1.5c thread coconut
1tsp vanilla extract*

ganache

· Beat eggwhites until soft peaks form
· Gradually beat in sugar until the mixture is very thick. Carefully stir in the vanilla and coconut
· Spoon or pipe onto baking trays and bake at 180 for about 13-15 minutes. Cool on the tray and then join together with chocolate ganache

*Just a note on vanilla. When I am baking I always use good quality vanilla (unless it is just in muffins that are in the freezer for my husband’s lunches!). At the moment I am using a fabulous vanilla called Heilala vanilla which comes from Tauranga. It is a fairly new product, but it is divine and comes in the most gorgeous little bottle! Well worth hunting down.