To know me, you have to know that I have a major sweet tooth. Cheesecakes, pies, cookies, etc. Sugar beats out salt any day. One of my absolute favorite treats has become the French macaron.
Notice the single "o". Macaron. That would be the delicate meringue based French cookie that is currently beginning to beat out the cupcake in popularity. Macaroons (two "o"s!) are the chewy heaps of dried coconut that you find in America. There is a difference.
Anyways, I went to Europe this past summer and made trying a real French macaron from France a priority. After one bite, I was hooked. I went home and researched how to make them.
I quickly learned that they are extremely tricky to master. Any change in humidity, temperature, or macaron mixing messes the entire thing up, leaving lumpy, burnt shells. It's taken me several tries (most of them ending in failure), but I've finally found a recipe and different techniques that work together to produce a batch of tasty, gorgeous macarons. AND THEY EVEN HAVE FEET. (the textured ridge on the outside of the cookie)
My latest batch was made with pink berry buttercream and vanilla bean shells specially for Valentine's Day. I brought them to school and shared them with my friends, who I have been baking macarons for since I returned from Europe.
I'm sure there will be lots of macaron posts in the future, so keep your eyes out for blog posts with tips, flavorings, and more! ☺
-Allison
Notice the single "o". Macaron. That would be the delicate meringue based French cookie that is currently beginning to beat out the cupcake in popularity. Macaroons (two "o"s!) are the chewy heaps of dried coconut that you find in America. There is a difference.
Anyways, I went to Europe this past summer and made trying a real French macaron from France a priority. After one bite, I was hooked. I went home and researched how to make them.
I quickly learned that they are extremely tricky to master. Any change in humidity, temperature, or macaron mixing messes the entire thing up, leaving lumpy, burnt shells. It's taken me several tries (most of them ending in failure), but I've finally found a recipe and different techniques that work together to produce a batch of tasty, gorgeous macarons. AND THEY EVEN HAVE FEET. (the textured ridge on the outside of the cookie)
My latest batch was made with pink berry buttercream and vanilla bean shells specially for Valentine's Day. I brought them to school and shared them with my friends, who I have been baking macarons for since I returned from Europe.
I'm sure there will be lots of macaron posts in the future, so keep your eyes out for blog posts with tips, flavorings, and more! ☺
-Allison