Coconut-Almond Macaroons with Apricot Topping

To download a cookbook style copy of the recipe for Coconut-Almond Macaroons with Apricot, click HERE.

It seems fair to say that the macaroons with which most people are familiar are the pasty, bland kind that are mass-produced and sold in cans. And that’s a great shame, because really outstanding macaroons – soft, sweet and flavorful – are one of the easiest treats you can make in your kitchen.

Not to be confused with macarons, their meringue-based French cousins, macaroons are coconut, beaten egg whites, sugar and (usually) chopped almonds combined with a few other simple ingredients to make a delicious can’t-eat-just-one delight. And this week’s recipe goes even further and adds the unusual (and highly yummy!) topping of apricot preserves. (It’s also worth noting that one simple ingredient swap turns these macaroons from a year-round treat to a perfect Passover cookie better – and less expensive - than any you can buy.)

Here are the ingredients you’ll need: 3 Tbsp flour (for Passover use Passover Cake Meal); ½ tsp salt, divided; ¾ cup sugar; zest of one orange; 3 egg whites; ¾ cup chopped or crushed almonds; 2-1/2 cups shredded coconut; and ½ cup apricot preserves.

This recipe makes about twenty-one 2” macaroons.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the flour (or cake meal), ¼ tsp salt, sugar, and 1 Tbsp orange zest.

In another bowl, combine the egg whites with the remaining ¼ tsp salt. Beat until firm peaks form.

Add the flour mixture, a little at a time, to the beaten egg whites, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

When all of the flour mixture has been incorporated into the beaten egg whites, fold in the coconut and almonds.

Drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon baking pad.

Using a wet finger, form a well in each piece.

Bake for about 18 minutes or until lightly browned, turning the baking sheet half-way for even baking. When turning the baking sheet, sprinkle the remaining zest on the partially baked macaroons.

Let the macaroons cool on the baking sheet for two minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

When the macaroons have cooled completely, fill each well with apricot preserves. (The macaroons will save well in an air tight container for a week.)

To download a cookbook style copy of the recipe for Coconut-Almond Macaroons with Apricot, click HERE. 

The best part is that after your this batch gets eaten up - and they will - it's easy to make more!

Thanks for visiting. Be sure to come again next week for another great recipe! Till they, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Hamantaschen Pastry with Apricot Filling

To download a copy of the recipe for Hamantaschen Pastry with Apricot Filling, click HERE. 

Although hamantaschen (HAH-mehn-tah-shen) is a pastry originating in the Hebrew celebration of Purim, there is no question it also stands on its own as a valid baked treat people of all cultures, and from all over the world, can enjoy year-round. To paraphrase a popular saying, all people eat pastry in the same language.

It is important to note that, while you can go to many food markets and bakeries this time of year and find something they’re calling hamantaschen, don’t be fooled. In most cases, what you’re seeing is a counterfeit, and a poorly made one at that, consisting of a triangular shortbread or butter cookie filled with cheap jelly. Authentic hamantaschen is made from a lighter, tastier pastry, generally with citrus or almond overtones, with a sweet filling. Prune or sweet poppy seed fillings are the most traditional, although apricot, as used in the recipe below, has come to be widely used as well.

  

Some Cook’s Notes before we begin:

• If you’re not inclined to make the filling from scratch, a jar of good quality jam will work well. Go with any flavor you like; there’s no need to be a slave to tradition here. These are your pastries.

• As with any pastry dough, the colder it is, the easier it handles. Keep the dough cold while you’re working with it; cut, fill and form the pastries as quickly as you can, even putting the dough or cutouts into the freezer briefly if necessary. You’ll be glad you did.

• While we’re on the subject of working with the dough, here are a couple of tips to help when folding up the sides to form the pastries. To lift the sides to make the triangle, I find slipping a knife underneath and using it to fold up the side is a lot easier than using my fingers. (This also helps keep your hands from warming the cold dough prematurely.) Also, when pressing the corners together to seal them, I find it helpful to let one of the sides extend a little past the other, allowing you to roll it over slightly before pressing them together and sealing with wet fingers.

• To make the filling in this recipe, we’re using water to rehydrate dried apricots. For an extra special touch, rehydrate the apricots with orange juice instead.

• Finally, for those interested in hamantaschen’s historical back-story, here’s the short version. (Biblically-inclined readers will find the full version in the book of Esther.) Haman (as in “Hey, man!”), an advisor to King Ahasuerus of Persia, created a plot to exterminate all the Hebrews in the kingdom. When it turned out one of those Hebrews was Queen Esther, the King’s favorite wife, the plot was foiled and everyone - except Haman after the King got hold of him - lived happily ever after. And what might otherwise have been a solemn observance somehow became a traditionally carnival-like celebration, part of which involves mocking Haman by eating pastries that are not only named after him, but also are shaped to resemble his trademark three-corner hat. (In addition to being a racist tyrant, it turns out Haman was also a fashion icon. Go figure.)

This recipe makes about twenty-eight 3-1/2” hamantaschen.

First, we’ll make the pastry dough:

Sift 4 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, and ½ tsp salt together into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat 1 cup of sugar and 3 egg-substitute eggs until creamy.

Add the egg-substitute eggs, the zest and juice of ½ lemon, and 1-1/2 tsp vanilla to the butter mixture. Whisk to combine.

 

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture.

Mix until a dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a minute or two until smooth. (Be careful not to overwork the dough.)

Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for about half an hour while you make the filling.

While the dough is chilling, let’s make the apricot filling.

Put 1-1/4 cups (tightly packed) of dried apricots, ¼ cup sugar, and the juice and zest of ½ lemon in a medium sauce pan, and add just enough water to cover the apricots. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes to soften.

After the apricots have softened, drain out the water and mash the apricots well.

Add the ½ tsp cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, ¼ cup of raisins, and 1 Tbsp of honey to the mashed apricots and mix well to form the filling. Set aside till needed.

When you’re ready to form and bake the hamantaschen:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the dough into quarters. Working one quarter at a time (and placing the re-wrapped remaining dough back in the freezer so that it stays firm and easy to use), place the dough on a well floured surface, and roll it out to 1/8” thick.

Use a cookie cutter to cut out 3-1/2” circles. Gather up the unused scraps; after all four quarters of your dough have been rolled, cut and formed into pastries, you can combine the scraps and get a second rolling out. (Don’t do a third rolling after that, however. The gluten in the flour will be too developed by that point and your dough will have started to become tough.)

As you cut each cirlce, place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon baking pad. Repeat for the remaining portions of the dough. (You’ll probably have to form and bake the pastries in batches.)

Combine one egg-substitute egg with one Tbsp water to form an egg wash.

Place a generous teaspoon of filling in the center of the circle.

Fold two of the sides up to form two sides of a triangle. Using moistened fingers, press the edges together to seal. (Refer to the Cook’s Notes above for tips on doing this.)

Fold the third side up to complete the triangle and, using moistened fingers, press the edges together to seal. Brush each formed pastry with an egg wash.

Sprinkle lightly with turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw or similar).

Bake until golden, about 16 minutes, turning the baking sheet half-way for even baking.Let rest on the baking pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

To download a copy of the recipe for Hamantaschen Pastry with Apricot Filling, click HERE. 

In the early 1960’s, a famous series of bread advertisements advised, “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s Real Jewish Rye.” It was true. And so it is with the fresh baked deliciousness of apricot-filled hamantaschen pastry. Enjoy, my friends. No matter where you are in the world, or what faith, if any, you call yours, enjoy.

Be sure to visit again next week for another great-tasting, home-cook friendly, and entirely non-sectarian recipe. Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pastry Ravioli

The origins of Strawberry-Rhubarb Pastry Ravioli go back several years. I was preparing a pie and had leftover dough trimmings. Such leftovers are normal, of course, but I was determined not to waste anything, even the scraps. I think when you make the dough yourself you feel a little parental toward it and want to give it every chance to make something of its life.

Whatever the reason, I took small roll-outs of the dough, placed some preserves on them, topped them with another small dough roll-out, and baked it till it looked something like a ravioli. They tasted pretty good. Elated and proud, yet disarmingly modest for someone who had just revolutionized the culinary world, I took time out from writing the speech I was going to give when awarded the Nobel Prize for Pastry to showed my great invention to my wife. She informed me that baking preserves between two pieces of pie dough was something mothers had been doing with small children to keep them occupied for about as long as there have been preserves, pie dough and, for that matter, small children.

Oh well, I thought. Back to the cutting board.

Despite the idea’s childish roots (or maybe because of them), it stayed in my head until, a couple of weeks ago, Facebook friend and, let me be sure to mention, award-winning and published baker Isabel asked me when I was next going to have a recipe for something sweet. It seemed a chance to explore the pastry ravioli idea again, this time bringing more experience to the process and taking it up a level or two. Experience, in this case, meaning:

• Using a strawberry-rhubarb filling instead of jarred preserves;
• Cutting the pastries with a ravioli cutter and topping them with fresh strawberry syrup made to resemble tomato sauce; and
• Topping the “sauce” with shaved white chocolate to resemble fresh-grated parmesan.

I’ve always said one of my favorite ingredients is whimsy. Fun food tastes good!

This recipe makes about sixteen 2-1/2” pastries. You’ll need two pie doughs which you can either buy, make using your favorite recipe, or click on the link for a reduced fat pie dough that really works.

Start by hulling one pound of fresh strawberries and dividing them into two equal piles, one for the filling and one for the topping.

To make the filling, combine the following in a bowl, mix well, and cover and refrigerate until ready to use: ½ pound of the strawberries, finely chopped; 1-1/2 cups (about 1-1/2 large stalks) of red rhubarb, finely chopped; ¾ cup sugar; 1-1/2 tablespoons of corn starch; ½ tablespoon of all-purpose flour; ¼ teaspoon fresh lemon zest; ¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice; ¼ teaspoon cinnamon; and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.

Begin preheating the oven to 425 degrees.

On a floured surface, roll one of the pie doughs into a thin pastry. Being careful not to cut the dough, use a ravioli cutter to lightly mark where the dough will be cut into individual pieces. Lay out as many pieces as possible.

Draining each spoonful as much as possible, place about a teaspoon of filling onto the center of each marked piece. (You will probably have filling left over.) Place a small dab of butter substitute on top of each mound of filling.

On another floured surface, roll out the other pie dough to the same thickness as the first. Place the second dough on top of the first and lightly press down around the mounds formed by the filling.

Brush an egg wash (1 tablespoon of water mixed with either one egg substitute egg or 1 beaten fresh egg) to the top dough. With the mounds as a guide, use the ravioli cutter to cut separate pastries that look like ravioli. Place the pastries on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake the pastries at 425 for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees and bake until lightly golden, about 35 minutes, turning the baking sheet half-way.

While the pastries are baking, let’s make our strawberry “sauce” topping.

Place a small glass plate in the freezer. (This method of checking the final cooled thickness of the topping while it’s still hot comes to us from the world of jelly-making.)

Place ½ cup of sugar and the juice of ½ lemon into a medium saucepan. Mix until combined, then heat over a low heat until the sugar mixture is melted. (Keep an eye on it; you don’t want this to burn.)

Crush the remaining ½ pound of hulled strawberries by hand into the saucepan. (Crushing by hand will give the finished topping a lightly chunky appearance similar to tomato sauce.) Add a pinch of nutmeg and ½ tablespoon of butter substitute. Cook the mixture down to the desired “sauce” thickness. (You can check the thickness of the cooled liquid by placing a few drops of the hot liquid onto the plate you put in the freezer and letting it cool.)

When the pastries and topping are done, let them rest until cool.

The cooking is done; now it’s time for the stagecraft.

After the pastries and topping have cooled, lay the pastries on a serving plate similar to ravioli and top with the strawberry “sauce.” Shave white chocolate on top of the sauce, giving it an appearance similar to parmesan cheese on tomato sauce.

As always, if you prefer a cookbook-style, notebook-ready version of this or any other recipe you see here, just give a holler (along with your e-mail address) and I’ll get it right out.

See you next week with another recipe for something tasty and reduced fat! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)