By now, nearly everyone is familiar with Parisian macarons, those delicate almond meringue sandwiches filled with a creamy center, which are now widely available. However, if you visit local bakeries in Paris, you'll discover another type of "macaroon" known as Rochers à la noix de coco. The French, who love to abbreviate, often refer to them simply as rochers coco.
These treats are similar to American-style coconut macaroons, which reportedly got their name when almonds, the traditional base for Italian and French macarons, became scarce, leading to coconut being used as a substitute.
“Coconut Rocks” come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and I usually prefer to make them myself rather than buying them. This desire often leads me to visit Sri Lankan or Indian markets near La Chapelle. These markets are a joy to explore as I spend what feels like hours wandering the aisles, picking up colorful bags of baking ingredients, inhaling the aromas of exotic spices, and pondering the uses of the fascinating and unusual roots, leaves, and vegetables. I always leave with several types of jaggery (sticky brown sugar), a bag of intriguing vegetables that I buy simply because they look interesting, and a large sack of snowy white unsweetened dried coconut.
While shopping at one of my favorite stores (VT, 11-15 rue de Cail, 10th), I picked up a can of pineapple. Although I don't usually buy canned fruit, it works perfectly for these cookies and saves the hassle of peeling and trimming a fresh pineapple. Don’t get me wrong—I love fresh produce. But since we're cooking the pineapple down to a paste, I'm fine with using the canned variety. If you can only find pineapple rings or chunks, just give them a few pulses in the food processor, or chop them by hand until they’re in small pieces.
Once baked, these cookies develop a wonderfully crackly crust while maintaining a soft and slightly sweet interior, thanks to the caramelized pineapple pieces inside. Make sure to bake them until they are fully browned all the way up the sides.
Ingredients Pineapple-Coconut Macaroons
- One 20 ounce can(about 600g)crushed unsweetened pineapple
- 1cup (200g)sugar
- pinchof salt
- 3 1/2cups (245g)dried unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3large egg whites
- 1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
- Put the pineapple in a wide skillet (preferable nonstick) with the sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Cook the pineapple until the liquid is evaporated, then continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the pineapple gets thick and sticky, and just begins to brown. Remove from heat and scrape the caramelized pineapple into a large bowl. Then mix in the coconut into the pineapple, then the egg whites and vanilla. (The mixture may be rather difficult to mix with a spatula. You can mix it with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or use your clean hands.)
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use your hands to gather a bit of the batter, about the size of an unshelled walnut, and form it into a round or a pyramid-like shape, onto the prepared baking sheet. Continue forming all the cookies then bake them for about 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway during baking. The cookies are done when they are nicely browned up the sides.
Notes
Storage: These cookies are best served the day they’re made, since over time, they’ll lose their slightly crunchy crusts. You can store the batter up to five days in the refrigerator and bake them off as desired.
Notes: Unsweetened coconut is available in shops that specialize in ethnic ingredients and in natural food stores. It’s also available online on Amazon.I’ve not tried this recipe using sweetened coconut flakes since it often contains additives and preservatives. So do try to seek out unsweetened shredded coconut, which is sometimes called dessicated coconut.Eagle-eyed readers will note that I baked these on foil, since I was using a kitchen that wasn’t mine. You can use it as well, although I prefer parchment paper.