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Cocoanut Puffs
The whites of three eggs, one cup of ground sugar, one teaspoonful of the extract of vanilla, one tablespoonful of corn starch, two cups of desiccated cocoanut. Beat the whites well, then add the sugar, and beat over steam, , until a crust forms on the bottom and sides of the dish. Take it off the steam add the other ingredients and drop in small pieces on buttered tins. Bake rather quickly to a light brown.
This is an early coconut macaroon built on a cooked meringue, and the unusual step is the one that matters: the whites and sugar are heated over water before the coconut goes in. Done properly the batter is thick and glossy and the puffs hold their shape.
- The hinge: beating over steamUse a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot to the touch and holds a firm, glossy peak, roughly 3 to 5 minutes. The "crust" the original describes is meringue drying against the hot bowl, which is a sign to stop rather than a goal; scrape the sides as you go so it does not turn grainy.
- Ground sugarNineteenth-century "ground" or "powdered" sugar generally meant sugar crushed fine at home or by the grocer, closer to today's superfine or caster than to modern confectioners' sugar, which contains cornstarch. Ordinary granulated will work here since it dissolves over the heat.
- Desiccated cocoanutThis means unsweetened dried coconut, finely shredded and quite dry, not the moist sweetened flake sold for cakes. Sweetened flake will make the puffs cloying and slack; if it is all you have, cut the sugar by about a third.
- CornstarchThe tablespoon most likely acts as a binder and helps keep the meringue from weeping in the oven, though the recipe does not say so. Sift it with the coconut so it does not clump into the hot meringue.
- "Rather quickly"In these books quick means a hot oven, but a full 425F will brown a meringue before it sets. 375F for 12 to 15 minutes gives light brown tips with a dry, chewy interior; watch the last few minutes.
- Buttered tinsButter alone tends to spread and fry the bottoms of meringue drops. Parchment on a flat sheet is more reliable, and the puffs lift off cleanly once cool.
- Yield and storageTeaspoon-sized drops give several dozen puffs. Store airtight once fully cool; they soften quickly in humid air.
Coconut puffs and macaroons spread through American household cookery in the second half of the nineteenth century, when desiccated coconut became a cheap, shelf-stable grocery item rather than a whole nut to be cracked and grated at home. The technique here, whipping whites and sugar over hot water before folding in a dry ingredient, is the same one behind Swiss meringue, and a partly cooked meringue is more forgiving than a raw one for cooks working without reliable oven control. The Home Cook Book (Chicago) was compiled from recipes contributed by local women and sold for charity, in the manner of the early American fundraising cookbooks, which is why recipes like this one read as a household's working shorthand rather than as formal instruction.