Macarons

- delightful humourous honour'acaron

Well after reading all about Macarons, it was about time I settled down to a nice recipe & some time dedicated to conquering such a feat as making Macarons.
It was our daughters Birthday on 17th March . .  to so many it St Patricks day celebrations but to us few its our very own joyous occasion. 18 years old. The usual requests were put in at the beginning of the week . . as many Butterfly Cakes & Button Cakes as I could make & she could carry for the 6th formers at her school!! Hmmm last year I received 3 marriage proposals! That's now my gage!!! :) The little cakes were easy to make, such divine perfection.  24 chocolate ones & 24 vanilla ones. Easy peasy. After reading Dear Lady Macaron, Jill Colonna's blog on Macarons, (Mad about Macarons) I decided I just had to honour her knowledge & expertise. I just had to attempt such exquisite delights, trust in her taste in deliciousness & try making them!! Even if I'd never tasted them only ever tasting the Macaroon!! Plus, I LOVED the sound of them - surely this is an advantage. Especially as we love sticky pavlova, which for some reason the recipes reminded me of. So, an addition of Macarons would be made too. Some call it foolhardy, some call it gung ho or some may call it gutsy but no matter what label one attaches regardless of the challenges that lay ahead I would make a batch of Macarons !!

Amalgamated Ingredients
Keep checking books, internet, forums .. keep a note of average popular ingredients which came up in all searches.  Sooo. eventually ingredients, hmmm trying to combine best of all ( French - Italian) ((Oh dear didnt even know there were  French & an Italian Macarons!)) the ingredients which featured in all recipes. Basically came out as Sugar, Egg Whites, Almond Meal

Gung-Ho Method

• Decide to make Macarons there & then.
• Measure almond flour (which luckily I'd bought from the wholesale last week) & sugar, measure egg whites 
• Mix almond meal together with the sugar ( some granulated & some put into a processor so it became really fine.
• Whisk egg whites til they form glossy firm peaks . .  fold in & mix in almond flour mixture( both recipes said different methods so I did a combination of both)
• Realise that much to my horror, "Yes I did spontaneously chuck the piping bag & all nossles into the charity bag last year, after having them for 20 years & never using them!!"
• Hmmm deciding to steam ahead anyway - use a spoon to dollop an even amount of Macaron thick batter type mixture onto the baking tray lined with baking paper. Cross fingers & hope for the best. Answer telephone, chase chickens back into garden from down the lane, talk to neighbour, make hubby some lunch then remember to put oven on. Eventually return concentration to the lovely dollops of mixture on the tray. Put the tray of Macarons  into the preheated oven. Timer set for 15 minutes. Unexpectedly take a customer into town. Turn oven off oven & leg it , cursing under breath as you go. Come home, answer phone & open oven door . . gasp in amazement that you have a batch of something resembling Macarons!!
• Spread with whipped cream, add some raspberries to taste . . ooooooooh then taste another  & another. Look at remaining bowl of mixture, decide far too good a taste to waste so experiment further. Scrape remaining mixture into silicone tiny cake tray just to see what would happen. Batch B :) Cook for 15 mins - help window cleaner move the cars around - chat with neighbour, rush into kitchen remembering Macarons. Open oven & gasp at the explosion of sticky deliciousness which looks like lots of little souffles with their hats on. Tear into half, add whipped cream & raspberries . . taste just to see what they're like, alternate with previous batch . Invite customers, hubby & neighbour  to sample . . eat until all are finished & all tummies feel sick. Note to self: do not use silicone tray for Macarons. Cautioning by the trades description act may be a concern.

Mmmmmmm sticky toffee Pavlova texture ones

souffle ones with their hats on :)

little souffle ones

• Note to self . .  no excuses next time, buy Macaron Book, buy piping bag, lock doors, don't answer door & don't invite anyone else in for tasting :)  Jill you're a star . .. such perfection you create every time . . wow amazing  .. so in honour to you & yours ..  least I've awakened the Macaron bug within  even if not exactly prepared for the cooking class  :D
• The butterfly cakes were removed before I could get the day time photies!!! Only managed to take photies of the chocolate ones. Next time :)  Daughter had no idea I was making Macarons for her, so what you've never had you never miss :D

Mmmmmmm Birthday Treats