Experiments with Macarons

I have a serious case of ‘if someone else can so can I’, and it’s no different with macarons. After several experiments with recipes for the basic mix, I have decided that Ed Kimber’s is the most reliable and least like to sink/burn/fail and leave you bereft and empty.

The base recipe can be found here, just alter the food colouring accordingly.

http://www.frenchweddingstyle.com/wedding-macarons-with-edd-kimber/

Using this recipe, I have played around with fillings and flavours- here are three of my favourites.

Rose and Raspberry

So this is a variation on the above recipe, I think it needed a sharper element.

I coloured the shells using pink gel food colouring, which is bake stable and doesn’t make the recipe too runny to work. The filling is a buttercream, coloured with a darker pink (Waitrose natural pink) and flavoured with rose water to taste. Then ice both shells to protect them from the raspberry juice, and crumble a raspberry across the one of the shells.

White Chocolate and Sea Salt

This macaron was coloured with yellow gel colouring. The filling is white chocolate ganache- melted chocolate with a splash of cream mixed in. I added Maldon Sea Salt to taste- its a sweet hit followed by a gorgeous salt aftertaste. My favourite!

Dark Chocolate with Mint

I left the shells natural for this macaron, which gives a beautiful pure white colour. The filling is ganache made with dark chocolate and cream, as before, but with a generous splash of peppermint oil stirred in.

Have fun playing with colours and flavours….and design. Here’s what you can do with a paint chart….

Stay Unchained<3

Love

‘The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It’s full of charts and facts and figures and instructions for dancing
But I
I love it when you read to me
And you
You can read me anything’

Peter Gabriel, Book of Love

In January, my long distance boyfriend of 2 years moved to England, so this year has been full of ‘first holidays’ together. We had our first Valentine’s day, our first Easter, our first birthdays, our first Thanksgiving. Many opportunities for baking<3 together, which makes me so lucky!

And maybe this has me feeling all lovey, or maybe it’s Peter Gabriel, who knows……

So…for me the ultimate labour of love (in baking) has to be the macaron.

A blog I read once quoted macaroons as the baker’s unattainable dream, and for this reason I have never endeavored to make them. However, if you have about 7 hours to spare, and plenty of love and dedication, it’s absolutely possible.

When I lived in halls during my Masters, my lovely Chinese flatmate, who had silently observed me baking (a lot…stress relief) asked me if I would like to try one of her macarons, which I suspect were Laduree, and it was a revelation.

Heaven

I used this recipe, from a beautiful website, and it worked blissfully. The only addition might be a bit more food colouring to give them a brighter colour, but really these have only furthered my love affair. Please make them. Please.

http://www.cakeandallie.com/2012/03/pistachio-white-chocolate-macarons/

❤

Pipe white chocolate ganache on half the macaroons.

Eat them…stare at them…love them…maybe cry a little…your choice.

Stay Unchained ❤