Sweet Egg-Ventures in the Kitchen

“Hmm…what should I make?” I thought aloud. It was late afternoon and I wanted to bake something for the next day. I thought about the possibilities. The egg shelves had been almost overflowing the last while; I might as well use some of that surplus and make an egg dessert. I remembered the meringue recipe I’d wanted to try, and looked it up. But we didn’t have all the fixings—mandarins and nuts—it called for. What could I use instead?

“Why not make coconut macaroons?” Selema suggested.

“Macaroons…I don’t know,” I said, and thought to myself, Ours get so crumbly; I’d rather not. But then the coconut triggered an idea. “I know! I’ll make a cross between macaroons and meringues—and put chocolate sauce on top.”

“Judith, which eggs do you want me to use?” I asked. While she went to get them, I put a little pot on the stove and dumped in some coconut oil, cocoa, and cream for the chocolate sauce.

When the eggs arrived, I got out a huge bowl and set to work separating them. I cracked two dozen. Then it was time to whip the whites for my new cookies. It took a long time for them to turn fluffy white, because of the quantity. But for the same reason, I realized after awhile that my bowl was too small. The eggs were expanding more than I had thought they would.

So I slipped them into the bowl we use to make bread dough. That was better. I kept beating them, stirring the sauce on the stove at the same time. “This is what you call multi-tasking,” I laughed when the beater veered off course and disconnected itself from the cord. “It isn’t very productive.” I turned down the heat on the stove and turned back to focus on my egg-whipping.

“Are you going to dump that over your head?” Judith asked, referring to the meringue recipe’s advice on how to tell when the whites were beaten enough.

“No,” I said, “but I might hold it over my head. I won’t try till I’m sure it’s safe.” But then I didn’t bother after all. The mass of whites still slid a little in the bowl when I decided I would leave it at that. Then I opened the honey bucket and added amber blobs to the fluff, beating it in until it tasted about right.

“Now for the shredded coconut…” I shoveled some into the bowl with a serving spoon. It didn’t look like much, so I added a little more, and started folding it in. “Do you think this is about right?” I asked Selema, who was nearby.

“Oh, that could take a lot more!” she said, and added another spoonful—then another.

I folded in the coconut as she added it, then noticed something suddenly. “Stop! The white is sinking down. The fluff is going out of it. That’s enough.” I hurried to grease pans and deposit the cookies in dollops so they could bake as soon as possible.

When they were all in the oven, I finished the chocolate sauce. It didn’t seem quite right, so added a little more of this and that, and whipped it up.

Some of the cookies were over-baked, but they didn’t look too bad. After supper I drizzled them with chocolate, which needed a little more adjusting because it ran off the cookies too fast.

But by the time I had put them all away to chill, I felt sure they would turn out alright despite my haphazard way of going about it. And they did. Everyone enjoyed the “macaringues”—as we decided to name them—the next day. The only problem was that I needed to make another batch because I hadn’t kept track of my measurements the first time. But that was good, because it was a chance to further perfect the recipe. And my family didn’t see any problem with having more cookies to eat!

So here’s the recipe scaled down and written out—so you don’t need to mess around in the kitchen like a mad scientist with it like I did. But I think I might have had the most fun.

Rebecca’s Macaringues With Chocolate

Makes 15
Ingredients:

• 4 free-range egg whites
• 2 ½ tblsp liquid honey
• 1 ¼ cups shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Whip egg whites on a large bowl until stiff. (They should stay in the bowl when you turn it upside down over your head). Add the honey and whip until well combined. Fold in coconut. Use a tablespoon to drop blobs on a greased cookie sheet to form cookies. Bake for 15-20 minutes, watching carefully so they don’t overbake. Cool. Drizzle with the chocolate sauce. Keep refrigerated.

Chocolate sauce

• 1 tblsp cocoa
• 1 tblsp & 1 tsp cream
• 2 tblsp virgin coconut oil
• 1 tblsp & 1 tsp honey
• a pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat. Whip with a whisk or an immersion blender until smooth and thick. The sauce should still be warm when you drizzle it over the cookies.

And what happened to those two dozen egg yolks? A few days earlier, I had found an Italian recipe for a pudding called zabaglione. It asked for egg yolks, and I wanted to try it. The only problem was that it called for wine and some other ingredients we didn’t have in the house. But surely I could make something good based on it. The recipe said zabaglione was to be served with ladyfingers. But Mom wanted to cook oatmeal for breakfast—why not eat it with that?

So the next morning before heading outside to milk the cow, I gave Judith a few instructions on how I wanted the pudding to be made. Mom had also told her we should sweeten it with dates.

When I came back, Judith was trying to stir the oatmeal and the pudding at the same time. “Could you stir one of these?” she asked me.

“Sure.” I whisked the liquid in the pudding pot, and tasted it. So far, so good—even though Judith had accidentally added some of the milk before the appointed time. Mmm…good thing we didn’t have lemon juice in the house—that preserved lemon was the perfect flavoring.

The pudding that resulted would likely make the Italians shiver if they knew it was associated with the name of their dignified dessert. But my family liked it. Dad called it “zabaglemon”—he likes to play with words.

Then I had an idea. I sneaked a corner of a macaringue from the kitchen and ate it with the zabaglemon. The yolks and whites of the eggs were united again. And my taste buds smiled. Perhaps even ladyfingers wouldn’t have tasted so good with this new pudding. We won’t bother asking the Italians.

Here’s my recipe:

Zabaglemon

Ingredients:

• 4 free-range egg yolks
• ¼ cup dates
• ½ tsp minced preserved lemon rind OR ½ tsp lemon rind and 1 tblsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup milk

a pinch or two of cloves

Put the dates in a small saucepan with ¼ cup water; simmer until tender. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks, cloves, and lemon rind in a small heatproof bowl until light. Blend cooked dates with immersion blender til smooth; add to the egg yolks. Place bowl over a pot of hot water and add milk gradually, whisking until the pudding is thick.

Serve warm. Try accompanying it with ladyfingers, sponge cake, macaringues, whatever your imagination comes up with!