Hmm – things are not going all that well for me at the moment…on the kitchen front that is!
Look at my attempt to make coconut macaroons this afternoon (Kokoskaor in Swedish):
- That doesn’t look right…
And they should look like this:
- This is how they are meant to look like. (picture from gothem.nu)
Do you understand my disappointment? What is even worse – this seems to be the MOST simple recipe in the world and I just do not know where I went wrong. If anyone has any ideas…please let me know!
My confidence in my baking skills is quickly diminishing! There is a reason why I hardly every bake, unless it is Betty Crocker brownies….
Here is the recipe which I have taken from a little Swedish cookbook called Sju Sorters Kakor (Seven Types of Cakes). I am pretty sure it is not the recipes fault…as this is a tried and tested cookbook and seems to be an institution in most Swedish homes!
Kokoskakor (Coconut cakes) – 30 pieces
Ingredients:
- 50g butter
- 2 eggs
- 1½ dl (150ml) sugar
- 5-6 dl (200g) shredded coconut
Directions
Preheat the oven to 175C
Melt the butter and let it cool.
Beat the egg and sugar together until it becomes fluffy. Add the coconut and butter.
Let the mixture cool for a moment.
Plop a teaspoon of the batter on a greased baking dish.
Put it in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes
See – how easy does that sound? And t should be easy! Here are a few of my theories of what could have gone wrong;
- Maybe the oven was not hot enough? Too hot?
- I didn’t beat the mixture together enough?
- I should have really cooled the mixture – maybe pop it into the fridge?
- The coconut shavings were to big?
Oh well…I guess better luck next time :(
The Travelling Chopsticks 
Oh boy this has happened to me countless times in the kitchen!! Do think you may have added too much butter? or the oven wasn’t hot enough, hard to say. Better luck next time! :D
Good to hear that it is not just me – also very encouraging to hear this from someone who seems to bake a lot :) your brownies looked especially enticing! I actually think you may be right in regards to the butter…will have to give these bad boys another chance!
I think your oven was too hot. That’s usually why things don’t bake through properly. That said, sometimes you just have an off day and the next time you try it and do it exactly the same way, they’ll turn out perfect.
Love.
Ahh thanks for the tip Mrs. Lodhz ;) You know what I really want to make, that chocolate german cake that you brought over to my house once – that was amazing! Mmmmm talk soon XXXX
Maybe it’s the fact that the air pressure is lower in Mexico city since it’s so high above sea level, so the cakes couldn’t rise just with the eggs..perhaps adding a bit of baking powder helps?
You know what – I didn’t even think of that!! From now on i’m going to blame all my baking mishaps on the altitiude :)
hehe ;)
My experience of coconutmacroons is that if you let the dough rest for at least ½ an hour, you will have a great result:-)
The reason for this is that the coconut need to suck up the butter before baking.
I found out of this once I was in a hurry baking a lot of cakes for x-mas, and had to let it wait for a while.
Thanks for the tip! Will def. give that a go the next time I make coconutmacroons! Thanks for stopping by X
Hi Alex, I just found this, and I have to say, I have never seen a coconut macaroon recipe in my life which includes butter! Only sugar, egg whites and coconut are needed (possibly cornstarch, vanilla, etc.) but no butter in macaroons! You can check my blog for the simplest recipe I’ve found (no need to beat the egg whites stiff!) I can almost guarantee they will turn out for you! ;) Good luck next time, and don’t give up because you used a bad recipe! ;)