Cocoanut Cones
2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/4 cup sugar 1 cup shredded cocoanut White of 1 egg Mix the sugar and cornstarch together; add the cocoanut and the white of egg beaten to a stiff froth. Form into small cones and lay at equal distances on stiff paper or on a greased baking tin. Bake in a slow oven until firm.
A four-ingredient meringue-bound coconut sweet, close cousin to the coconut macaroon. The whole thing hinges on the egg white being beaten properly stiff and on a genuinely low oven.
- "Slow oven"Set the oven to 300F. These are meant to dry and set rather than brown; at higher heat the sugar colours before the centre firms.
- TimingThe original gives none. Expect 20 to 30 minutes at 300F, until the cones hold their shape and the surfaces are dry and barely tinged. They firm further as they cool, so pulling them while still slightly soft inside is correct.
- The coconut"Shredded cocoanut" of this period generally meant unsweetened desiccated coconut, which had become a widely available packaged grocery by the late nineteenth century. Modern sweetened flaked coconut will make the cones cloying and prone to scorching; use unsweetened desiccated or fine shred.
- Egg white volumeEgg sizes were not standardised as they are now, so one white may give you more or less than a modern large. If the mixture is too slack to hold a cone, hold back a spoonful of the beaten white rather than adding more coconut.
- Beating and foldingBeat the white to stiff peaks, then fold the sugar-cornstarch-coconut mixture in rather than stirring it. Overworking collapses the foam and the cones spread instead of standing.
- "Stiff paper"That means an unglazed sheet the cones can dry on. Parchment on a baking sheet is the direct equivalent and releases far more cleanly than a greased tin.
- ShapingWet or lightly oiled fingers keep the mixture from sticking. Small cones, roughly a rounded teaspoon each, bake evenly; larger ones stay damp at the base.
- Yield and keepingTwo dozen or so small cones, depending on how you size them. Store airtight once completely cool; they turn leathery in humid air within a day or two.
Coconut cones belong to the family of egg-white-and-coconut confections that spread through American cookbooks after desiccated coconut became a reliable packaged grocery in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, fresh nuts having been troublesome to crack, grate and keep. Before that, coconut sweets meant work with a hammer and a grater; afterwards, a cook could open a bag. With no flour, no butter and no leavening, the cone was a confection that happened to need an oven. The cornstarch is a period touch, added to absorb moisture and help the sugar set firm rather than weep.