Macaron... a word that has the ability to excite you when the possibility of eating one is presented, or when attempting to make them from scratch, a word that can cause a groan, a smack to the forehead, tears, anger, frustration... the list can go on really.
My first attempt at macarons wasnt as horrible as I thought it'd be, but by all means it was a failure. There was something done wrong at every turn; there wasn't enough almond meal used, the eggs weren't beaten enough before the sugar syrup was added to make the meringue, the mixture was too runny, they spread too much when piped out, the oven was set too low, they were undercooked and they stuck to the silicone matt. I'm sure there were even more problems with them.
In April I finally got a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer that I had been waiting on for about a month as a birthday present thanks to the contributions of some lovely friends. I had the book 'The Secrets of Macarons' sitting on my book shelf (also a gift from two of my friends), and so with that as my guide I attempted macarons for the second time. This time the meringue was beautiful and stiff and the overall mixture looked a lot thicker. I split the mixture into a pink raspberry batch and a chocolate peanut butter batch. Then I anxiously waited for the crust to form on them. I put them into the oven at 150C and let them cook for 14 minutes. I set an alarm on my phone so I couldn't possibly burn them. My tediousness paid off, because the feet formed evenly, they cooked beatifully without any discolouration and the peeled perfectly off of the baking trays. I have never been more happy that a recipe has worked out.
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| Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache Macarons |
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| Chocolate and Peanut Butter Macarons |
The next time I made them (only a few days later) was with hazelnut meal and I made a nutella filling for them. These also turned out decently.
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| Hazelnut Macarons with a Nutella Filling |
About a week later I made them for the third time and they definitely were macaruins. I suspect it was because I was rushed to make them as my brother told me he promised his teacher he'd bring some in for her and only told me that evening once I had returned from work. They weren't forming a crust quickly enough so I impatiently cooked them, and they cracked on the tops and the mixture stuck to the cooking trays. I was not pleased with them, but I did manage to salvage enough to fill up a jar for my brothers teacher.
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| Raspberry Coulis Macarons |
What have I learnt about macarons? No matter how closely you follow the instructions something can go wrong. Just give them lots of love, because if you don't they will know and will act accordingly!
