Yesterday I found an old bag of shredded coconut. I had NO idea how old it was, but I'm sure carbon dating would indicate it was at least five years old. I think we bought it after a trip to SE Asia. With the best of intentions, we hoped to make a Cambodian dish, but for reasons I forget, we never did. We don't use coconut very much, so it's no surprise this settled to the bottom of the pantry baking shelf.

The coconut still looked fresh and there wasn't an expiration date, so I decided to make something from it. I found a few recipes for coconut macaroons. These called for unsweetened coconut, which this wasn't, so I reduced the amount of sugar in the recipes and added an extra egg white to add some extra moisture to the dried coconut.

I am pleased to tell you these came out delicious. The macaroons taste all the world like Hershey's Mounds candy bars.

The recipe is very easy to make. It took me all of fifteen minutes to assemble, another fifteen minutes to bake and ten to clean up.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs (yes, 3, even though the picture has two)
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 pinch Kosher salt 
• 3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

• Mix coconut, sweetened condensed milk, salt and chocolate in a bowl. Set aside

• Separate eggs, discard yolks. Beat with an electric blender on high until it forms a stiff meringue. 
  
• Fold meringue into coconut mix.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liner, or spray with cooking spray.
• Spoon 1.5 tablespoon-sized dollops onto the cookie sheet about two inches apart. Wet your fingers and further shape the dollops into little mounds or cones.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven.
• Allow to cool on the baking sheet to 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
• When completely cooled, store in an airtight container. They will soften in 24 hours.

Some Notes:

These macaroons have a lot of moisture in them, so expect them to soften after a few hours in a sealed container. They'll get a bit sticky, too, so use wax paper between layers if you plan to stack them in a cookie tin.

It’s odd that one of my first blogs is a recipe, but I want to share this because:

• It’s SO easy,
• It’s chocolate
• There’s no cooking involved AND you can put everything in the dishwasher when you’re done
• You can deceive your foodie friends into thinking you slaved to make something this elegant

I enjoy chocolate – good chocolate – and have it every day. I consider it one of life’s essentials, and in those rare times when I find there’s no chocolate in the house, this recipe makes do in a hurry. It takes all of twenty minutes to make, including cleanup.

Before I go on, I must give credit where it’s due. The recipe is Damon Lee Fowler’s from his book Damon Lee Fowler’s New Southern Kitchen.  But I didn’t read this book. I got the recipe via Jill Conner Browne, THE Sweet Potato Queen. It's in her delightful book, The Sweet Potato Queen’s Big-Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner. My wife, Denise, is southern and swears by this woman. Browne’s a hoot.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 cup whipping cream.  No, you may NOT substitute here with anything less like skim milk, and you dare not use something god-awful like soymilk or tofu. This recipe needs lots of milk fat.
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup of good semisweet chocolate chips. Note the ‘good’ here. Hershey’s and Nestles are the Ex-Lax of chocolate.  At least that’s how they taste. Aim for something better. I’m using Trader Joe’s and Ghirardelli is great, too.
• 1 egg
• A pinch of Kosher salt
• A shot of brandy or bourbon.

Steps:

• Heat the cream to near boiling.
• Add the salt, sugar, egg and chocolate to a blender and cover.  (I sometimes forget to do this).
• Pulse for a few seconds. Stop! You will get a gritty, brown mess. Don’t over-blend right now.
• Pour in the hot cream. Cover.
• Pulse again for a few seconds. The warmth will melt the chocolate bits.
• Using a spoon or small spatula, push down the sides of the blender to move some of the grit to the bottom. Cover again.
• While the blender is running, quickly pour the liquor into the blender.
• Pour yourself a little aperitif while you’re at it.

At this point you have to decide if you want to put it in pretty little serving cups or a single bowl. This recipe makes four small ramekin’s worth.  If I’m making this for dinner I’ll pour the mix into four little bowls (or china coffee cups). If it’s just for the two of us, I pour it into a small bowl we can feed from for a few evenings.

What is important is to cover the dishes with a little plastic wrap. Press down the wrap onto the liquid's surface. If you don’t, your Pots de Crème will form thick skins and you’ll have Pots de Jell-O Pudding instead.

Put in the refrigerator for a few hours to set. Remove the plastic wrap right before serving.

This is very, very rich. Some people lighten it up with a dab of whipped cream. Not for me. I want it thick and sweet. Just a little.

Oh, one more tip! Don’t blow your faux elegance and mispronounce this masterpiece. Say "poh duh crem."

(download)

Click here to download:

Drop-Dead-Easy_Pots_de_Crme_ta.zip (927 KB)