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Nut Macaroons
White 1 egg 1 cup pecan nut meats 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt Beat white of egg until stiff and add gradually, while beating constantly, sugar. Fold in nut meats, finely chopped and sprinkled with salt. Drop from tip of spoon, one inch apart, on a buttered sheet, and bake in a moderate oven until delicately browned.
A three-ingredient meringue cookie that depends entirely on how stiffly the egg white is beaten and how gently the oven runs. The proportions are sound; only the oven instruction needs translating.
- Oven temperature"A moderate oven" in books of this period is usually reckoned at somewhere around 350F, though period sources vary. For a sugar-heavy meringue drop, 325F is safer: at 350F the brown sugar edges darken before the centres set. Reckon 15-20 minutes, and judge by colour rather than the clock.
- The hinge: beat the white fully stiff firstAdd the sugar only after the white holds firm peaks, and add it in a slow stream while beating. A cup of sugar dumped into a soft foam collapses it, and the batter will spread into flat sheets instead of holding a mound.
- Brown sugarSift or rub out lumps before you begin. Brown sugar of this period was not standardised and could be moister or coarser than the modern packaged product; light brown sugar gives the closest result, dark brown will dominate the pecans.
- Buttered sheetButter alone tends to let these stick and tear. Parchment on the sheet works better and lifts off cleanly once the macaroons have cooled a minute or two.
- Chopping the nutsFinely chopped means knife-chopped, not ground. Pecans worked in a food processor release oil and weigh the foam down.
- Spacing and sizeOne inch apart is enough because these spread very little. A teaspoon-sized mound gives roughly 24 to 30 cookies from this quantity.
- Cooling and storageThey firm as they cool and go soft again in damp air. Cool completely on a rack, then keep airtight; a slice of the crispness is lost within a day in a humid kitchen.