The Coconut-Lime-Chocolate Macaringue Experiment

I know how to make macarons.  But I don't often do it.  In fact, I haven't made macarons at all in the two years I've been in the UK, so I'm really out of practice, but not so far out of practice that I don't realize that the climate here is really not ideal for macaron-making in my humble home kitchen.

Also, making macarons is kinda hard.  It's laborious and complicated.  So when I saw a product called Macaringues in Tesco's baking aisle, I was intrigued.  They looked almost exactly like mini macaron shells (and in such pretty colors!). You had only to spread the filling of your choice onto one Macaringue and then sandwich it with another.  Ta-dah! A fun and easy way to impress your sweet-toothèd friends, and maybe they wouldn't even realize that these aren't authentic macarons.

I figured that if I was going to shortcut on the macaron-making, I might as well be ambitious when it came to the filing.  So I made my own ganache, inspired by Maison du Chocolat's Macapuno macaron (available only during the spring/summer months).  Although the ganache was inspired by Maison du Chocolat, the recipe is entirely my own invention.  

COCONUT-LIME-CHOCOLATE GANACHE

150 ml double cream

80 g dark chocolate

1 lime

4 tbsp desiccated coconut shred

Zest the lime.  In a small sauce pan, slowly bring the cream to a light boil, stirring occasionally.  Melt the chocolate in the cream, continuing to stir to make sure the chocolate is absorbed uniformly to make a basic chocolate ganache.  Add the lime zest.  Turn off the heat.  Slice the lime in half, then squeeze the juice into the ganache.  Add the desiccated coconut, and stir so that it is evenly distributed.  Allow the ganache to cool for approximately 30 minutes before putting it into a pastry piping bag.  

Thé gourmand at home.  Paired with Harney & Sons Royal Wedding Tea.

Note:  You can make the ganache ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate it. Just make sure to take it out of the freezer or fridge in enough time for the ganache to become soft enough to be squeezed out of the pastry bag.  

When you're ready to start making your Macaringue (or macaron-- if your climate, kitchen, and pastry skills permit you to make them) sandwiches, pipe the ganache onto one cookie in a spiral moving out from the centre.

After making twelve Macaringue cookie sandwiches (24 come in a box-- two per sandwich, obvs) I popped the dozen into the fridge to "set."

When Dr. Dre and I had the Macaringues for our dessert that evening, we were pleased enough with the results, but realized something that should have been evident and considered from the very beginning:  Macaringues are meringue.  I knew it when I saw them in the store, but I didn't think it through.  I was so taken by the Macaringues' macaron-like shape and colors, I assumed that they would behave just like real macarons.  Macaringues are far more delicate than actual macarons (which are not very hardy to begin with), and they either wilt or shatter (depending on how much humidity they have experienced) with the slightest touch-- sometimes they both wilt and shatter. True macarons, if they are any good, are crunchy on the surface, but moist and a bit chewy when you bite into them.  Meringues don't do this; at their best, they are either crunchy and dry (and make you cough), soggy and paradoxically dry, or soggy and moist at their worst.

Macaringues in their package. Who wouldn't be tempted?

If I were to use Macaringues again (I might!), I would skip the "setting" phase.  Macaringues should be eaten immediately after you put on the filling.  

Perhaps if the weather here in the Cotswolds is ever predicted as a stretch of at least three dry days, I'll make real macarons.

The real success of this experiment was the coconut-lime-chocolate ganache. It took a lot of self-control for me and Dr. Dre not to pipe the ganache from the pastry bag directly into our mouths.  Because the Macaringue sandwiches have to be eaten immediately, I wasn't able to share them with friends.  My next experiment with the coconut-lime-chocolate combination will be  pot de crème, which will definitely be shareable.  I'm confident it will be a hit.