Wolfgang Puck - AN IDEAL PASSOVER COOKIE

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What better way could there be to celebrate tradition than with a good meal -- especially one that tells the story of the holiday?

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AN IDEAL PASSOVER COOKIE

By Wolfgang Puck, Tribune Media Services

Next to Oscar and Emmy parties, probably the most sought-after reservation at Spago Beverly Hills is the Seder we hold each spring to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover. This meal is a real family-style affair. We completely reorganize the restaurant into big communal tables, and serve our own versions of all the customary dishes in an evening that weaves together prayers, storytelling, and song.

What better way could there be to celebrate tradition than with a good meal -- especially one that tells the story of the holiday?

Like all good meals, our Seder ends with delicious desserts. Among everybody's favorites are the beautiful, delicate, very flavorful almond macaroons created by Spago's award-winning pastry chef, Sherry Yard, for which I'm happy to share the recipe here.

It amazes me how popular macaroons have become lately. Whether you're at Spago, at Pierre Herme's famous pastry shop in Paris (always one of my first stops in that city), or any number of confectioners in Tokyo, you can find macaroons in all kinds of inventive flavors, from coffee to saffron, rose petals to pistachio. I've even seen savory olive macaroons!

Whatever flavor you make, the essentials are simple. You need a mixture of beaten egg whites and sugar -- that is, meringue -- to give the macaroons their light yet chewy texture. Remember that you'll get the lightest results if you start with egg whites at room temperature; so remove the eggs from the refrigerator half an hour ahead. And separate them carefully, since traces of yolk will also prevent optimum results. I always work over a small bowl, carefully passing the whole yolk back and forth between the eggshell halves, letting the white drip down into the bowl before I add it to the other cleanly separated whites in a larger bowl.

Once the whites are beaten with a little sugar and a touch of cream of tartar, which helps stabilize them, you fold in a mixture of confectioner's sugar and almond meal, available in the baking section of well-stocked markets. Then, just spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with the round tip, pipe out small rounds onto prepared baking sheets, and bake them.

Sherry's basic recipe is easy to elaborate. Add a few drops of food coloring to separate batches of batter for macaroons in a range of beautiful colors. Do the same with flavoring extracts. I also like to turn them into sandwich cookies, sticking two macaroons together with a dab of jam.

You'll be delighted with the results, whether you serve them for Passover, Easter, or at any time. And do what we do at Spago: Make extra, so you can send your guests home with a bag of macaroons to enjoy later!

SHERRY YARD'S SPAGO ALMOND MACAROONS

Makes about 3 dozen individual cookies or 1 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies

1/2 pound confectioner's sugar, about 1 7/8 cups

1/4 pound almond meal, about 1 cup

1/2 cup egg whites, about 4 large egg whites, at room temperature

Pinch cream of tartar

1 1/2 ounces granulated sugar, about 1/4 cup

5 drops red food coloring or other color

About 1/2 cup raspberry jam or other non-chunky jam or jelly

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.

Meanwhile, using a flour sifter or a fine-meshed sieve, sift together the confectioner's sugar and almond meal directly into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites with a handheld electric mixer until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating the egg whites until they form soft peaks that droop slightly when the beaters are lifted out. Continue beating while sprinkling in the granulated sugar in a steady stream; then, add the food coloring and continue beating until fully blended, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle in the almond meal mixture, gently folding it into the egg whites with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with the round tip. Pipe into 1-inch rounds onto one of the lined baking sheets. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 5 minutes; rotate the sheet 180 degrees and bake until the macaroons are firm, about 7 minutes more.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the macaroons cool. If baking more of the macaroon mixture, pipe them onto the other parchment-lined baking sheet and bake as instructed above.

When the macaroons have cooled completely, transfer them to an airtight container, packing them between layers of waxed paper. If you'd like to turn them into sandwich cookies, spoon a dab of jam on the flat side of one macaroon and then gently press the flat side of another macaroon against the jam to seal the two cookies together.

(Chef Wolfgang Puck's TV series, "Wolfgang Puck's Cooking Class," airs Sundays on the Food Network. Also, his latest cookbook, "Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy," is now available in bookstores. Write Wolfgang Puck in care of Tribune Media Services Inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, N.Y. 14207.)

This news arrived on: 03/28/2007

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