Macarons, Je T'Aime

So, I gave in to the latest trend permeating the foodie blog world and chic eateries these days. In my defense, I did this partly as a challenge and partly because I actually tried one and fell in love. The first time I took one to my lips, I didn't know what to expect. Honestly, they look too beautiful in the display windows. Too pretty to eat. Whenever I would come across one I would think, "how can something so beautiful taste so good?" "It is impossible for it to have looks and taste too."

Haven't yet been to Paris, I guess I'm a little slow...

I'm ashamed to admit that it wasn't until recently, very recently that I decided to go ahead and try one. Having no expectations, I unceremoniously took a bite and instantly regretted not doing this in slow motion. You know, like the first kiss you see in movies when the couple first realizes what is happening and slowly close their eyes and let their lips slowly touch? That is how I wish my first bite was. Instead it was like those awkward kisses that happen and the moment goes by too fast and you realize how much that kiss meant. So it was with my first bite.

By now I hope you know I am talking about a French Macaron. I made sure I savored the next bite and every bite thereafter. I was in love. Love, love, love. You see, with macarons, it is the whole package; beauty, taste, and feel. They are indisputably beautiful to look at. When you bite into one, the texture is just so unexpectedly wonderful; the crunchy shell of the cookie and the way it gives in to the chewy interior all mixed with the texture of the filling...and they are so delicious! They are sweet, they are delicate, they are wonderful. The only requirement is that you have a sweet tooth. If you don't care very much for sweets, you may not get the same effect.

Did I say they were perfect? Sorry, I'm trying to limit my use of euphemisms. These beauties do have an ugly side. Everything I read in countless blogs is true. They are difficult, unpredictable, and temperamental little things. That is where the challenge comes in. I decided to test my skills and patience and set out to make macarons. Batches of them. When I read that a fellow blogger had a 50% success rate in making them, I chuckled and thought, "How hard can it be?"

Well read and see for your self:

Monday night:



Most blogs tell you to make your own almond flour by crushing blanched almonds in a processor then process the meal with confectioner's sugar. If you want a shortcut, you can buy Almond Meal at Trader Joe's. I discovered this when I was making almond cookies last year. The only draw back in using this is that it contains the almond skin and you will end up with brown specks on your cookies. If you can live with that, then go for it. Next time, I think I'll try crushing my own blanched almonds to avoid the specks.

I planned to make 6 different kinds of macarons:

Blue with white chocolate-vanilla bean ganache
Cardamon spice in orange with orange butter cream
Lavender in Lavender with vanilla-honey cream
Chocolate with chocolate ganache
Anise in black with Swiss vanilla cream
Pink with strawberry mascarpone

So far so good.

{Smile}

{Dance}



Alas, fate had other plans for me as you will soon see.

Days earlier, I separated the egg whites from the yolks and let the egg whites age in the refrigerator. Then 24 hours prior to making the cookies, I took them out and let them rest on the counter and come to room temperature.



The first batch of meringue was perfect!



These were the Blue ones but they came out more turquoise greenish, kind of like a robbin's egg blue. They did not bake very well. They were cracked, mostly hollow with little tiny feet. Nothing wrong with small feet. Feet, you ask? Yes, feet is what the little ruffled bottoms of the cookie are called.

{Smile yet}

The second batch...not so perfect. When I added the almond flour mixture to the beaten egg whites, I knew at once there was something wrong. My mixture did not have the magma-like consistency that I was supposed to get. It was sticky, icky and thick.



There goes the cardamon spice ones, down the drain.

{frown}

The third batch, the pink ones, were perfect...until I took them out of the oven and discovered that they were cracked and did not have feet! Small feet, okay. No feet, not okay.

Although I was able to salvage some of them, sans feet, most of them went in the trash. And what's up with the ones that ran together?



{frown}

{almost cry}

The fourth batch, the lavender ones, were a little better but they also cracked. That's when I decided to raise the oven temperature from 275 degrees F to 300 degrees and bake them one tray at a time.

My fifth batch, chocolate, same thing as the Cardamon. Into the trash before they even saw the light of the over door!

{really cry}

{Why am I doing this????}

My sixth and final batch of the evening, the Anise...perfection! Good color and consistency in the meringue mixture. They piped out evenly and uniformly. They baked beautifully and had great big feet!



{cheer}

Had it not been for this last batch, I probably would have given up. But these little black cookies were my saving grace and inspiration to go on.

I decided that I would make one more batch...another night. A salted caramel.

That same evening, I separated the egg whites and placed them in the fridge so that they can start their aging process.

This night was exhausting!



Tuesday night:

I made two fillings: strawberry mascarpone and white chocolate-vanilla bean ganache and called it a night!

Wednesday night:

Took a break from baking to go to the Boy Scout meeting.


Thursday night:

I made the batch of plain macarons for the fleur de sal caramel (salted caramel).

{I think I'm getting better at this}



I also made, sorry, attempted to make, the rest of the fillings; honey-vanilla cream, Swiss vanilla cream, and salted caramel.



Something went wrong with the Swiss vanilla cream. When I saw that the mixture was soupy and grainy I continued to beat it like the recipe says and it never thickened up. Trash!

I assembled all of the macarons with the remainder of the fillings and stored them in the fridge.




Saturday night:

I took my little babies to Cari's for our monthly Girl's Night-In/Movie Night. We had one casualty. The pink macarons with the strawberry mascarpone filling didn't hold up. I think it had to do with the fact that they didn't have feet. See the ones in the middle with no feet?



Oh a macaron without feet! What is a macaron without feet to do? Walk on by because aint no one but your mama gonna love ya! Hey, I think I'll write a poem....next time.

As for the rest of them, I think they did pretty well and the girls at our movie night seemed to like them.



{pat on the back}

Will I make them again? You bet. As a matter of fact, I have some egg whites aging in the fridge as I type this. This weekend, they will be convert to beautiful meringue.

I encourage you to try your hand at these. If you want the recipes for any of them, leave me a comment or you can always Google macarons and you will get a plethora of information.

Bonne chance!