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White Macaroons
Sift ten ounces of crushed loaf sugar into a basin, and mix in with a wooden spoon six ounces of blanched sweet almonds cut into shreds crosswise, four ounces of ground almonds, a small quantity of essence of noyau, and lastly the whites of two eggs. Make these into a paste, and with a spoon lay out small quantities about the size of walnuts, on sheets of paper, keeping them apart. Dip a finger in cold water, place it in the center of each macaroon to make them flat, then place on a baking-sheet in a moderate oven, and bake until they are lightly browned. Take them out and let them get cold before serving.
A stiff almond paste rather than a piped batter, and it behaves accordingly. The main adjustments are the sugar, the flavouring and the paper.
- Loaf sugarLoaf sugar was hard cone sugar broken up and crushed at home, then sifted to grade it. Superfine (caster) sugar is the direct substitute; ten ounces is about 1 1/3 cups.
- Essence of noyauA stone-fruit kernel flavouring, historically made from bitter almond or apricot kernels and closely related to the liqueur crème de noyaux. Use a few drops of commercial almond extract or a teaspoon of noyau liqueur. Do not attempt to make the essence at home from apricot or peach kernels, which carry cyanogenic compounds.
- The two kinds of almondSix ounces of blanched almonds cut crosswise into shreds gives a rough, chunky surface; four ounces of ground almonds is standard almond flour. Slivered almonds from a packet are an acceptable stand-in for the shreds.
- BindingTwenty ounces of dry material against two egg whites makes a very stiff paste, and whites vary. Work it until it coheres and add part of a third white only if it will not come together as a paste that holds a shape.
- Moderate oven350F. Bake until the surfaces are set and lightly coloured, roughly 15 to 20 minutes for walnut-sized mounds; a pale gold is the target, as these scorch quickly at the almond shreds.
- Sheets of paperSome period recipes used wafer or rice paper, which was eaten with the macaroon; plain paper was also used, sometimes dampened from beneath after baking so the cakes released. Parchment on a heavy baking sheet does the job with no soaking.
- The wet fingerPressing the centre with a water-dipped finger flattens the mound, as the recipe directs. Re-wet between each one or the paste will stick.
- Yield and keepingAbout two dozen. Cool completely on the paper before lifting, as instructed, and store airtight; they firm up further on the first day and keep about a week.
Macaroons in this form -- ground almonds, sugar and egg white, with no flour and no leavening -- descend from the Italian maccherone confections that spread through French and English pastry work from the sixteenth century onward, and are often said, by tradition, to come from convent kitchens where almond paste sweets were a staple. The "white" here distinguishes them from the browner, smoother Parisian sort: the shredded almonds keep them pale and rough. Noyau, French for kernel, was a standard nineteenth-century flavouring cabinet item, giving the marzipan-and-cherry-pit note that reads as "almond" to most modern palates. Oscar Tschirky's 1896 collection set down the Waldorf's working repertoire, and a keeping biscuit like this had its place in it.