cherry macarons

Our aunt is coming to visit this weekend so I thought I'd bake up a batch of festive macarons for her to send back to our uncle for the upcoming holiday. Which makes me wonder - what are your thoughts on Valentine's Day? Do you and yours go all out with dinner, gifts, flowers the whole shabang? Do you think it's just a commercialized holiday? Do you fall somewhere in between? Did you forget this weekend is Valentine's??

My husband and I like to get each other little gifts, usually setting a limit of $25, and either make a nice dinner together, or head out to one of our favorite restaurants. Since our aunt will be here this weekend with her granddaughters, we will likely stay in and do some cooking and baking, which I'm very excited for :)

And to you I wish, a Happy Valentine's Day!

Festive Cranberry & Pistachio Macarons with White Chocolate Vanilla Cream

via Cherrapeno (be sure to check out the link, she has quanities for just one egg white!)

Amounts for 4 egg whites

125g ground almonds

225g icing sugar

110g egg whites brought to room temperature

30g granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

3 teaspoons of dried sweetened cranberries that have been minced or chopped finely

Couple of drops of red food coloring

Handful of pistachio nuts, finely chopped (I omitted this time :)

White Chocolate Vanilla Cream

150ml double cream, whipped until stiff

150g white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a bowl and put to one side.

In a large clean, dry bowl, whip the egg white with a pinch of salt until it becomes foamy and stiff. Gradually add the granulated sugar, whisking well after each addition, until the mixture is stiff and shiny.

Gently fold in the almond mixture and the minced dried cranberries using a large spoon or spatula, until incorporated. The mixture should be shiny and firm, but with a bit of 'flow' to it. Don't over-mix it or it will be too runny.

Fill a piping bag with a 1cm round tip and pipe the mixture onto Silpat or baking parchment. Tap the sheets gently to remove air bubbles and sprinkle a few chopped pistachio nuts onto half of the macarons. Let dry at room temperature for about an hour or so before baking.

Bake in a preheated oven, 160º/325F for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size.

Remove from the oven and leave to go cold. Peel off the Silpat or baking parchment.

Whip the cream until stiff and gently fold in the melted chocolate and vanilla bean paste. Pipe or spoon onto half the macarons and top with the other half before serving.

must've been beginner's luck

I had a feeling before putting these babies in the oven that they weren't going to be the beautiful little cookie I had baked only 12 hours before.

I haven't gone completely mental (I don't think), but I have to ask - does your food talk to you? You know, have personality? Maybe it's just me. I imagined my little cracked, feetless macarons telling me, "we tried to be perfect, like our predecessors. Please don't hate us, we still taste delicious".

See, told you I'd become obsessed.

Made these macarons, using the same shell recipe as last time, but a few things I did different (which I don't know if they had any effect on them) were:

• I used vanilla sugar, which is finer than granulated sugar. Oh, but does it ever smell delish.


• I started to sift the ground almonds and powdered sugar, got bored and dumped the rest in. Seriously, who does that?
  
• The first time I made macarons, I "aged" the egg whites in the microwave for 10 seconds separately. This time I dumped them all in a bowl and microwaved them.

There I was thinking I was a natural macaron baker. I need to learn about macarons' finicky nature before I begin experimenting, eh?

For the buttercream, I beat unsalted butter until creamy, added sifted powdered sugar until it was the consistency I wanted and then added orange extract to taste and a splash or two of milk (1 tsp?) as well.

They disappeared in less time than it took me to pipe them.

Chocolate. Carmel. Banana. Strawberry. Coffee. The ideas for the next batch are swirling around in my head. I don't know how much more of this I can take - I need some sleep!

we finally meet

A few weeks ago, I was looking through our local guide for all the hotspots in town and saw a feature of the 12 best local cookies - and that's where it was that I saw it. #11 - Best Macaron at a downtown French Cafe I'd never heard of. For days, I fantasized about picking up a dozen cookies for myself. Finally on Friday, hubby and I put on our nicest cowboy boots and headed down for my first taste of a Parisian macaron.


I was so excited.


When we got there I quickly scanned all of the display cases - eclairs, tarts, maple bars, crossaints....but no macarons. I asked the waitress about them and she told me they were usually gone within hours of shipment and they can never predict when to expect them.


My heart sank.


It wasn't a failed mission though. Our breakfast was DE-LI-CIOUS. And I was even more determined to have a taste of that little crisp cookie.


I picked up a few of the remaining ingredients I didn't have and got to work in the kitchen. I had prepared myself with lots of research beforehand, with My Tartlette, MacTweets, Canelle et Vanille, etc.


I ended up making these Candy Cane and Eggnog Macarons. I took a peek in the oven and started jumping up with thrill "I'VE GOT FEET!! I'VE GOT FEET!!" Btw, yes my husband already knows I'm crazy :)

Once they were piped and ready to be devoured, I remembered this tutorial on how to eat a macaron.



Oh my.


They were just as I'd read - a thin, crisp layer on the outside and a cake-like, almost chewy texture inside. I could've eaten 5 more right there. But I thought I'd share with hubby, since he did indulge me in my journey earlier that morning. He wanted to put the hole thing in his mouth, but I had to remind him, they were meant to be savoured. Two words came out of his mouth "Deliciousness. Heaven."


The rest of the evening, I thought of many other macaron variations I could make. Strawberry and vanilla. Chocolate and Kahlua. Vanilla and Orange. The possibilities are endless. And so my little macaron obsession begins...

I got feet!!!!

I survived my first attempt at macarons today - details to follow....

gonna get me some macarons

I've been wanting to make macarons for quite sometime but since I've never been to France, I really have no idea what they taste like. They just look so cute! I read Starbucks was going to be selling them for a limited time this month, so I figure it's going to be the closest opportunity to see what I'm shooting for when I actually get around to baking them. I thought I'd pass along the information in case you haven't ever had them either! They will be available at select Starbucks Dec. 13-25th.

**EDIT - I couldn't find them anywhere, so this past weekend I asked a manager and she said they are only available at fresh markets - i.e. Seattle, Portland, etc. Sad face for me, but hey if you live in those areas, let me know how they taste!**

image from serious eats