Good Enough is Never Good Enough

I've never quite been able to leave well enough alone. Look at what happened to my great-Nana Kirk's shortbread recipe under my watch - a beautiful, simple recipe for all-butter shortbread became Lavender Ginger Shortbread

or Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread (that one is my mom's fault - must be where I learned that trait). See my website at http://www.bramblewoodtreats.com/, follow my Tweets on Twitter (shortbreadlady) or become a fan on Facebook, if you're looking for more information.

The latest recipe I've been tweaking is for Coconut Macaroons. If you read my last post on this blog, I outlined the base recipe for these amazing, chewy, satisfying treats. After reading a posting on the Baking 101 page on Facebook about Coconut Macaroons, I was inspired to come up with a few new ideas.


The first twist I mysteriously called The Scheherazade Macaroon. I used the base recipe, then added the zest of one orange, a 1/4 cup of chopped, toasted pistachios (reserve some to sprinkle on top), and then I substituted Orange Flower Water for the almond extract. They were really very beautiful, in flavor and appearance.

My second macaroon was Rose Lime, and is my favorite, so far. If you're looking for a dessert for your Easter table, this is perfect. With the addition of lime curd, they look like little drops of sunshine. Again, I used the base recipe and added the zest of one lime, one tablespoon of ground rose petals and substituted Orange Flower Water for the almond extract.

To grind the rose petals, you can use a clean coffee bean grinder (I wish I had one for this sole purpose, but, alas, I had to grind rice in my husband's coffee grinder - that removes the oils - wipe it out thoroughly, and then, grind the petals).

Next, I mixed the lime zest and rose petals in with the rest of the ingredients. I scooped the mixture with my small scooper and left a few nicely mounded. But, in some, I made an indentation - to fill with that little bit of sunshine.

While the Rose Lime Macaroons baked, I used the extra egg yolks and lime juice to make Lime Curd.

Lime or Lemon Curd

4 Large Egg Yolks

2/3 cup Sugar

1/3 cup Juice

2 1/3 Tbsp Butter (I use Salted)

1 tsp Zest

Whisk together the first 3 ingredients and cook over a slightly boiling bain marie (a double boiler) for 10-15 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and pour through a fine sieve into a bowl with the butter (cut into pieces first) and the zest. Stir until smooth. This can be frozen if you don't eat it all in one sitting.

Once the macaroons are removed from the oven, cool and fill the indented macaroons with a little spoonful of the lime curd. Lovely!

In my next blog, I'll write about my chocolate macaroons and my experiment with fresh coconut. I can say this, one provoked another food dance and another had to go back to the drawing board (darn, more baking). I'll have to come up with some more interesting combinations. Any ideas?