I’m going to shoe-horn this post in here by labelling it “culinary art” … although that may be tenuous at best. In fairness it is ‘Stuff’ and it has been ‘made’!
For those that don’t know, macaroon is a traditional Scottish sweet incorporating those well known native scottish ingredients chocolate, coconut, sugar?! It’s final ingredient is potato … don’t let this put you off though it’s super sweet and super tasty!
What you’ll need:
- c. 4 oz cooled mashed-up potato
- c. 16 oz icing sugar (have extra on hand)
- c. 8 oz plain chocolate (have extra on hand)
- c. 4 oz desiccated coconut. (have extra on hand)
- some grease proof paper
- a large baking tray
- a freezer
Optional and recommended additional ingredients:
- a pinch of patience
- an iron will
- a blase attitude to getting covered in chocolate and coconut
- little concern for exact measurements
What you’ll need to do:
- boil your potatoes until they’re soft.
- mash up your potatoes and leave to cool a bit in a large bowl.
- start adding your icing sugar and mixing it in, it’ll all go a bit sloppy sticky and just a little bit icky.
- continue adding the icing sugar until it forms a vaguely dough like substance that’s only a little sticky, or if you’re lucky, not sticky at all.
- tear off a sheet of grease proof paper and line your tray with it.
- roll some of your dough-ish tattie and icing sugar stuff into short fat sausages, placing these on your baking tray. Try not to over work the dough, warmth with make it go icky and sticky again!
- find some room in your freezer and stick the tray in there … you may need to shift your frozen veg/meat/highly indulgent ice cream that you’ve been hiding from th kids to another shelf.
- leave in the freezer for 20-30 minutes … exercise some patience. If you can’t exercise anymore patience eat the ice cream, that should take a wee while (and free up some valuable freezer space) ;)
- meanwhile gently toast about a quarter of your coconut in the oven, a low temperature for about 5 mins should do … take care not to burn it.
- mix all your coconut together, toasted and un-toasted.
- just before removing ‘sausages’ from the freezer melt your chocolate.
- line up your ‘sausages’, chocolate, coconut and another sheet of grease-proof paper on your worktop.
- use one hand to coat your sausage in the chocolate, drop it in the coconut and use the other hand to cover it in coconut and place on grease proof paper … don’t do as I do and get your hand mixed up, it makes things unnecessarily difficult and messy!!
- you’ll need to work fast as the warmth of the chocolate makes the ‘sausages’ revert to their icky, sticky state.
- now leave your macaroons to set, I generally stick them in the fridge while I clean up.
- enjoy with friends … you deserve it!
recipe based on: Lees Macaroon recipe @ Recipe Zaar
Tags: craft, culinary art, gift, handmade, harder than it looks
If you’re lazy like me and have no time for cooking you can cheat and use something like Smash instead of faffing around with peeling and boiling potatoes.
This looks lovely and I will certainly try this out
Not, tesco basic mash powder though…i still shudder at the memory.
[...] http://www.madestuff.co.uk/200.....-macaroon/ [...]
mmmmmmmmmmmmm i love this macaroon and my familly do allso camon you ladys i want some of your skills put to good use am a great taster of this particualar sweat just the thought of its making my mouth water,and thankyou to my old school friend debbie.
Your recipe made me laugh. Lovely simple treat. Thanks very much!
How far in advance can I make these to give as gifts at Xmas please
Hi Gwen, It’s hard to say. If you were making it now I’d expect it to keep through to at least the middle of January … although I’d expect it to be eaten before that ;)