GLUTEN-FREE | DAIRY-FREE
These little coconut cakes are like macaroons: light, airy, and made of coconut and egg whites. They're easy to put together but several steps are involved: mixing, baking, cooling, chilling, dipping, and chilling again. None are particularly difficult and the results are entirely worth it, so don't let that put you off.
Coconut oil
1 1/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
6 large egg whites (3/4 cup total)
2 tbsp honey
Pinch sea salt
3.5 oz dark chocolate, 72 to 85%
Preheat the oven to 300F. Use coconut oil to grease a mini-muffin pan (12 cups). Set it aside.
Add the egg whites, honey, and salt to a large mixing bowl and beat them until they are light are fluffy. Gently fold in the coconut and allow it to stand for one minute. The coconut will absorb some of the moisture and the mixture will thicken. Fold the mixture again, then spoon it into twelve mini-muffin cups, dividing it evenly and piling it on top if necessary. Bake until starting to brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
After you take the coconut mini-cakes out of the oven, transfer the tin to a heat-proof surface (away from the hot sheet tray) and allow them to cool completely.
Once the macaroons have cooled, use a clean knife to loosen the cakes from the sides of the cups and lift them out onto a plate. Transfer the plate to the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
Melt the chocolate in a large glass or stainless steel mixing bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. As soon as it has melted, turn off the heat and transfer the bowl to a heat-resistant surface like a cork trivet or wooden cutting board. Line a shallow storage container (large enough to contain all 12 cakes) with wax paper.
Take the coconut cakes out of the fridge and roll each one in the dark chocolate, coating the sides. I like to leave the top clean and not worry about the bottom, which always gets messy. Alternatively you can dip the tops of the cakes in the melted chocolate.
Set each chocolate covered cake on the wax paper as soon as it's been dipped. Once they're all done, transfer them to the fridge for at least two hours to set.
Take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving, transferring them to serving plates right away and handling them as little as possible. Return any extra cakes to the fridge for future use.
Comments