2020-04-01_Bake_from_Scratch

45 bake from scratch

Unsurprisingly, the two cookies that are separated only by

an extra “o” have very similar origins—sweet branches of the

same tree, if you will. The ground almond, egg white, and

sugar recipe Catherine de Medici possibly brought to France

to kick-start the macaron evolution is the same one colonists

brought to the New World. First Lady Martha Washington

had a recipe for “mackaroons”—most French words ending

in “-on” received an extra “o” when translating to English,

such as balloon and cartoon—in her family’s handwritten

cookbook, featuring the usual ingredients, plus an addition

of rose water and musk, a nod toward the dessert’s Arabian

roots. But come the late 1800s, a new ingredient rose

to prominence in the United States: coconut. Bakers

substituted the novelty item—newly packaged and sold

as desiccated (dried out) coconut fl akes—for ground

almonds, creating an instantly iconic cookie. A fl ourless

treat that could be enjoyed during Passover, the recipe

became particularly popular within Jewish communities. In

fact, the fi rst Jewish cookbook published in the US, Esther

Levy’s Jewish Cookery Book, describes making “Cocoanut

Macaroons” as follows: “To one grated cocoanut add its

weight in sugar, and the white of one egg, beaten to a snow;

stir it well, and cook a little; then wet your hands and mould

it into small oval cakes; grease a paper and lay them on;

bake in a gentle oven.” Little has changed from this original

recipe, except for the decadent addition of sweetened

condensed milk and a fi nal dip in chocolate.

MAC A R O O N