Not Quite a Blog Post...

...but my friends, a week before Pesach my notes to myself are really the best we can hope for.

I discovered two Pesachdik dessert recipes this year (that I've made year-round more than once), but they're hand-written additions in the lovely cookbook Sister made for me. I'm typing them up here for my easy reference, and I'm sure I'll print them out/copy them over and stick them in the awesome Pesach cookbook from Aunt Chef.

Macaroons (from some Hebrew site somewhere that I assume I'll never find again)
4 egg whites
1 c sugar
10 g vanilla sugar (I'm sure I substituted a generous tsp of vanilla extract)
2 1/4 c shredded coconut

• Preheat oven to 160^oC (a.k.a. 320^oF).
• Whip egg whites (using the bestest awesomest Braun Tribute Collection food processor that I'm in love with).
• Add sugar and vanilla.
• Fold in coconut, half at a time.
• Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment-paper-lined baking sheets.
• Bake 20 minutes.

Meringues (from seriouseats.com)

130 g white sugar (In case the battery is dead in my Pesachdik scale, that's 2/3 c)

50 g light brown sugar (let's call it 1/4 cup)

3 egg whites

1/8 tsp vanilla extract (I must have halved the recipe, right? Nope! Whatever.)

1 Tbsp cocoa

1/4 tsp cinnamon

• Combine the sugars and bake at 200^oC (a.k.a. 400^oF) about 4 minutes or until it starts to melt at the edges (mine never melts, but it always turns out fine).
• Beat egg whites to soft peaks. (Again, I'm totally obsessed with my Braun FP3020.)
• While beating, add hot sugar to the eggs, one spoonful at a time.
• Beat 5-8 minutes, until egg-sugar mix forms stiff peaks and isn't at all grainy.
• Briefly beat in vanilla.
• Mix cocoa and cinnamon, and lay about half of it on top of the egg whites.
• Glop onto one parchment-paper-lined 10x15 baking sheet. Sprinkle more cocoa/cinnamon mixture on top of the egg whites as needed.
• I get 20 biggish meringues from this recipe. No clue why the original claims to make 9.
• Bake at 100^oC (~210^oF) for 1.5 to 4 hours until they are dry. (As I recall, I've needed considerably more time than that in the past). Don't be afraid to bake them longer: at temperatures this low, you're essentially dehydrating these yummies. I'm reasonably certain I left them in overnight one tired night.