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Cocoanut Drops (One pound grated cocoanut)
One pound grated cocoanut, whites of three eggs beaten to a froth, three-fourths pound sugar. Stir sugar and cocoanut well together, add whites of eggs, beat lightly; drop on buttered paper in tins and bake in a quick oven.
A three-ingredient coconut macaroon from the era when coconuts arrived whole and were grated by hand. The proportions only work with fresh coconut, which is the point worth understanding before you start.
- Fresh coconut, not the bagOne pound of freshly grated coconut is roughly 4 to 5 cups, moist and unsweetened. Modern desiccated coconut is dry and modern flaked coconut is usually sweetened; either will give you a stiffer, much sweeter mixture. Use unsweetened desiccated and cut the sugar back to about 8 oz, or moisten the coconut with a few tablespoons of coconut milk.
- Three-fourths pound sugarThat is about 1 2/3 cups granulated. It is a high ratio to the egg whites, which is what makes these set into crisp-edged, chewy drops rather than a meringue.
- "A quick oven"Conventionally glossed at roughly 400-425F, though the term was never precise. Coconut and sugar at that heat scorch on the outside before the centre sets, and a wood range lost heat once the door opened. 325-350F for 18-22 minutes, until the tips are golden, is closer to the intended result.
- Buttered paper in tinsParchment on a sheet pan, no butter needed. If you use foil or bare metal, butter it well — these stick hard as the sugar caramelises.
- Beat lightly is literalThe whites go in already frothy and the mixture is only folded enough to bind. Overbeating at this stage weeps syrup and the drops spread flat.
- ShapingDrop in rough pyramids about a tablespoon each, spaced an inch apart; they barely spread. Expect roughly 30 to 40 drops.
- CoolingLet them firm on the paper for several minutes before lifting. Warm from the oven they tear apart.
Coconut drops of this kind appear all through late nineteenth-century American cookbooks, belonging to the tradition of egg-white confections -- macaroons, kisses, meringues -- made without flour or leavening. Their prominence reflects the growing late-century trade in coconuts from the Caribbean and Central America, which put whole nuts within reach of ordinary American markets; grating one was a routine kitchen chore. Commercially shredded and sweetened coconut, sold in packets, came later and quietly rendered instructions like this one misleading, since the sugar had already been added for you.