Coconut and Strawberry Macaroon Hearts for Valentine

A macaroon instead of a macaron for a change.

I have always loved macaroons, even before I knew about those pretty little temperamental french almond things I was a fan of the dense coconut confection that is a macaroon.

I used to love the chocolate dipped ones from The Shingle Inn, a bakery in Brisbane nearby where I used to work.

I have tried a few recipes over the years with less than fabulous results. Anyway I spied a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens basics magazine that I though had promise. So I made the recipe a bit smaller and added some finely chopped strawberries and the result was pretty delicious.

and of course then I shaped them into a heart for Valentines day.


Which is really only an excuse because if you have followed this blog for any length of time you would have noticed that I frequently shape or decorate things into hearts, just because they are so darn cute.

Then I made half of them into the traditional little pyramid shape which is pretty cute as well. They are the perfect bite sized treat and not overly sweet so you can have a quite a few if you are so inclined.

I was - inclined to have a few that is, in fact a few too many so sadly my plan of dipping some of the heart shaped macaroons into pink chocolate did not eventuate.

Oh well next time ;) 

Recipe after jump.

Strawberry and coconut macaroons (makes approx 24)

100g (3 1/2 oz) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
3 tsp ( 1 US Tbsp) liquid glucose (or corn syrup)
2 large egg whites
100 g ( 3 1/2 oz) shredded coconut
100 g ( 3 1/2 oz) desiccated coconut
30 g (1 oz ) finely chopped dried strawberries

Preheat oven to 140 C (285 F) and line 2 trays with baking or parchment paper.

Put both coconuts a into a large bowl.

Pop the sugar, glucose syrup (corn syrup) and egg whites into a small saucepan and heat over low/medium heat stirring gently until sugar has dissolved. The mixture will be a little foamy, do not overheat as the egg whites will begin to cook.

Pour egg white mixture into bowl with coconut and stir until well combined. Add chopped strawberries and gently stir into coconut mixture.
Roll approx 2 tsp of mixture into pyramid shapes or press into a small heart shaped cutter directly onto the baking paper lined tray. I used one that was 4cm across the widest point.

Bake until they start to become golden around 20 to 25 mins.

Cool on wire rack. Once cool you can dip you macaroons in melted dark or white chocolate if you like..