Phoenix Pastificio's Almond Macaroons

I clipped this recipe, developed by Berkeley's artisan pasta shop Phoenix Pastificio, from the San Francisco Chronicle's food section several years ago. Then it sat in my recipe file for quite a while; yes, they sounded delicious, and yes, as a good German daughter I LOVE anything with almond paste. BUT - a pastry bag? And they have to dry for 24 hours? No, thanks. However, after a while I overcame my resistance, and when I finally made the recipe, I found that it really wasn't that much work at all, and they are well worth the effort; these are exceptionally good. Disposable pastry bags are available for 50 cents or so at Spun Sugar on University Avenue in Berkeley, and I hear that a heavy, large ziploc bag really does work well. Counter space is the other serious issue in my house; three cookie sheets are optimum for this recipe, and we have no work space to spare. Not to worry! The cookie sheets turn out to stack easily with cooling rack spreaders in between, or on the racks inside your oven until you're ready to bake them.


p.s. They are kosher for Passover, and gluten-free, too!


Phoenix Pastificio's Almond Macaroons

Ingredients:

3/4 cup egg whites (8-9 eggs)

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

1 1/2 pounds almond paste

1/8 cup (approximately) Meyer lemon juice

Powdered sugar (optional)

(Christine's Notes: High quality almond paste is available in bulk in the refrigerator at Berkeley Bowl, near the bulk section, or in containers from Country Cheese. This is an ideal recipe for using egg-whites left over from a recipe which calls for lots of egg yolks, such as ice cream or custard. When I made these recently I used just such a container I'd had in my freezer for about six months.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Put egg whites and sugar in top of a double boiler or bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk occasionally, until sugar dissolves and mixture is temperature of a very hot bath, about 15 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 5 minutes, then at high speed 1-2 minutes. On low speed, add almond paste in tablespoon-size chunks until completely incorporated, 10-15 minutes. Add lemon juice to taste.

(Christine notes: I used the whisk attachment for beating the egg-white/sugar mix, then switched to the paddle attachment when adding the almond paste.)

Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe 2 1/2-3-inch circles onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. If you don't have a pastry bag, put mixture into a heavy-duty Ziploc bag, seal and snip corner to make an approximate 1-inch opening to squeeze mixture through. Let dry at least 24 hours, uncovered, at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator.

(Christine notes: if you don't have a star attachment, don't sweat it. Just cut off enough from your bag to squeeze a nice, wide ribbon, and, starting from the center, pipe it around in a spiral/snail shape until you've reached the right size.)

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325°. Use a spatula to remove macaroons from baking sheet and shower with powder sugar, if using. Return cookies to baking sheet. With your thumb and forefinger, gently squeeze perimeter of each macaroon to break the dry skin in a few places so cookie can expand while baking. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Remove to a rack and let cool.

(Christine notes: I haven't dared take the raw cookies off the sheet to sprinkle sugar on them - they seem mighty squishy underneath, and bound to fall apart if I tried this. I just skip this step. When I've seen these cookies for sale at the Phoenix Pastificio table at the Saturday Berkeley Farmers' Market - for $4 apiece - the sugar looks really pretty. But the cookies are very rich and very sweet - no need for more.

Per cookie: 175 calories, 4 g protein, 25 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 cholesterol, 20 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.