As I sit here and write this post at 2.55pm, the mercury has risen to 43.3°C (110°F for all you Farenheit lovers out there) with the sun fiercely burning down and melting all residing in Melbourne. It is disgustingly hot, too hot even for the beach for an ocean dip and there is nothing left to do but to stay indoors and keep close to my new best friend, the air-conditioner.

I have been lounging around all day, feeling rather lethargic and lazy, but with that said, I had enough energy to turn the oven on and bake something to try keep my mind off the stifling heat. I didn’t want to make something too difficult, nor a recipe that involved numerous bowls and utensils as I really couldn’t be arsed with all the washing up in the heat. So one bowl macaroons it was.

This recipe is ridiculously easy. It’s basically a meringue-type base with coconut and almond meal mixed through, then shaped into small balls and baked. Once cooled, I like to sandwich them with raspberry jam, but they are still quite delicious eaten plain.

Coconut Macaroons with Raspberry Jam

Adapted from a recipe by Karen Martini found in Sunday Life.

2 large eggwhites

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

100g caster sugar

50g ground almonds

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

200g shredded coconut (must be shredded; desiccated coconut will not work)

4 tablespoons raspberry jam

icing sugar, to dust

1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper (saves washing!).
2. Beat eggwhites with an electric mixer until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and gradually add the sugar, beating continuously until mixture is thick and glossy. Fold in almond meal, salt and vanilla. Fold in the coconut.
3. Spoon walnut-sized dollops of mixture onto the prepared baking trays. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until pale golden and cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, sandwich together with raspberry jam and dust with icing sugar.

Makes around 24 macaroons; 12 sandwiched together.

Wash-up count: one bowl, the beaters, one spoon and a spatula :)

When I was a little girl I would go to the trash and treasure markets every Sunday with my dad. I loved exploring the different stalls and their wares, with all their little trinkets and knick-knacks being offered for sale. From memory, the goods ranged from old mechanical parts to garden tools to baby budgerigars in cages and trays of farm-laid hen eggs. In hindsight though, I think there was much more trash than treasures to be pawned off each week. But I digress.

If I discovered something that I liked and had been a good girl, that is, if the ‘thing’ was less than a dollar, my dad would buy it for me and I’d be the happiest girl ever until I either lost it or broke it. And although I loved to roam the market and enjoy spending one-on-one time with my dad, my absolute favourite part of the day was visiting the friendly old man inside the greasy jam doughnut van (hey, that kind of rhymes!). We would always buy three (one each for my dad and I and one for mum later) and eat them piping hot, straight from the fryer. They had wonderfully crispy golden exteriors and were warm and fluffy on the inside with oozing, gooey, ruby red jam that would drip all over my hands no matter how hard I tried. But I did love making a real mess of myself and licking off all the sugar and jam off fingers though. I loved those doughnuts.

I don’t frequent those markets anymore, but the memory of those early Sundays mornings prompted me to try my own homemade donuts. I did intend on making jam donuts, but we had no jam and was too lazy to go and get some, so these sugared doughuts were made. Simple, but ridiculously delicious. Enjoy!

Sugared Doughnuts

Recipe from ‘Modern Classics 2′ by Donna Hay.

This recipe can be adapted to make doughnuts with any type of filling. Try custard, Nutella, chocolate ganache or any kind of jam you like. To do so, at step three, omit the step of cutting out the middle hole and fry as instructed. Pipe your desired filling into your doughnut using a small piping bag. Don’t toss them into the sugar, dust with icing sugar instead, or leave them be.

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

¼ cup lukewarm water

1 cup lukewarm milk (I just combine the two liquids in a jug and nuke it in the microwave for a bit)

3 tablespoons caster sugar

100g unsalted butter, melted

4 ¼ cups plain flour

3 eggs

vegetable oil, to deep fry

1 cup caster sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, to coat

1. Place the yeast, water, milk and one tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. The mixture will start to foam, indicating that the yeast is active.
2. Add the butter, flour, eggs and remaining sugar to the yeast mixture and mix with a butter knife until a sticky dough forms. Bring the dough together by kneading on a lightly floured surface. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea-towel and set aside in a warm place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for five minutes or until it feels smooth and elastic.
3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until 1cm thick. Cut 8cm rounds with a cutter. Cut a 3.5cm hole in the middle of the rounds. Place a tray lined with non-stick baking paper, cover with a tea-towel and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until risen.
4. Heat the oil in a saucepan until the temperature reaches 180C. Cook the doughnuts a few at a time until golden. Drain briefly on paper towel and toss in the combined sugar and cinnamon.