Macaroon Cake

April 16, 2009

090415macarooncake Macaroon Cake

This is my last Passover recipe for 2009, and it served as a birthday cake earlier in the week. Originally I thought I’d be serving chicken for dinner, so I was looking for a pareve dessert. That limited my options, but I found this Passover Coconut Cake that looked like a good starting point. Although my meal later changed to a vegetarian Noodle Kugel, I stuck with the idea of a non-dairy cake.

I found that the finely shredded, dried coconut suspended in the whipped egg whites took on a cake-crumb consistency, which was a welcome result. The cake was not too sweet, which I like. The original recipe calls for baking it in a 9×13-inch pan, but I used two round cake pans instead.

I’d planned to melt and drizzle some chocolate on the top of the cake before serving, but we wound up eating it as a mid-afternoon snack instead of after dinner, and I was caught unprepared. Everyone liked it anyway (most importantly, the birthday girls enjoyed it). A ganache would probably be good on top, and I think the batter would work well as muffins.

Macaroon Cake
Adapted from Passover Coconut Cake

6 eggs, separated
1 c. white sugar
2 c. unsweetened, dessicated coconut
8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped (or about a cup of chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350° F.

With an electric mixer, beat eggs whites until soft peaks form — about 5 minutes. Add sugar and beat another minute or so. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat yolks until they begin to lighten in color. Mix in coconut and chocolate. Then fold mixture into the egg whites and sugar.

Grease 2 round cake pans with non-stick spray. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.