Archive for the ‘Macarons’ Category

Whoopie Pie Macarons

Friday, April 9th, 2010

A few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night in a flash of brilliance. A way to combine two of my favorite desserts.

Macarons and whoopie pies. Two chocolate macarons sandwiching whoopie pie filling.

I decided to make them to bring my family. A family of whoopie pie lovers.

Also a family of whoopie pie snobs. Our old Maine recipe for whoopie pies is sacred. No impostors will do.

So, you can imagine the importance of achieving the same flavor combination and balance in my take on the dessert.

They seemed to go over well. If an empty container is any indication.

Continue for Recipe...

Posted in Family Recipes, Macarons | 14 Comments »

Macaron Day NYC

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Happy Weekend! Happy Spring! Happy Macaron Day!

That’s right - macarons now receive their very own day of celebration, thanks to Francois Payard. This is the first Macaron Day in New York City, which coincides with the 5th annual ‘Jour du Macaron’ in France.

If you live in NYC, you can make this sunny, 70 degree day even sweeter with a free macaron!

And, if you live outside the NYC area, why not whip up a batch of your own to celebrate?

Or, if you are like me, you can make a batch of strawberry jam macarons and then pick up a free macaron anyway! Hey, it’s been a long winter.

Posted in Gluten-Free, Macarons | No Comments »

Lesson: Basic Macarons

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Remember a couple weeks ago when I couldn’t stop blabbing about how much I love macarons? After being assigned the task of making macarons at the restaurant, I fell deeply in love with creating, eating, researching and dreaming about macarons.

And it turns out, I’m not alone.

Since then, I have received several requests from people, trying to perfect the art of macaron-ing, to give step-by-step instructions for making macarons.

Let’s begin with a few important notes. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and join me.

First and absolutely most importantly - you need to muster up every ounce of patience possible as you practice creating these treats. There is a lot of room for error and some things, like humidity in the air, are completely out of your control.

Did you just get home from a stressful day at work? Do you feel fed up and at the end of your rope for the day? Today is not the time to try making macarons for the first time. Seriously. Pour yourself a glass of wine, relax and try it some other time.

When you are feeling as though you have some patience to spare, make sure you also allot yourself enough time to read the instructions thoroughly, prepare everything and slowly and carefully go through all the steps.

Macarons are not the easiest of desserts, but once you become comfortable with the techniques, the creation process is actually quite enjoyable.

Feeling patient? Have some free time? Me too. Tie on an apron and join me in the kitchen!

Continue for Recipe...

Posted in Gluten-Free, Macarons, Step-by-Step Tutorial | 2 Comments »

Valentine’s Day Macarons

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Valentine’s Day.
Somehow it kind of snuck up on me this year.
I had all these wonderful gift ideas and card-making ideas. I even wrote them on colored Post-Its in my planner, just so I wouldn’t forget.
And then, last week after three sixteen hour work days, I realized it was Thursday.
I fell behind on actually producing and mailing my wonderful ideas.
I fell behind just like updating my blog.
And my website.
And the housework.
And my running.
And when I spoke with my Mumsy on Valentine’s Day, I realized that my store-bought cards hadn’t even reached my loved ones in time.
“I feel bad, I had all these wonderful gift ideas,” I complained to my Mum.
“Don’t feel bad, you’re busy.”
“Maybe next year won’t be so busy,” I hoped.
“We always think that,” Mum responds, more than likely shaking her head at her twenty-something daughter who, evidently, still has a lot to learn.
Sigh.
For now, I will steal one of Mike’s Valentine’s Day macarons, complete with a healthy dose of Nutella between the chewy shells to lighten my mood.

Posted in Macarons, Valentine's Day | No Comments »

Peanut Butter Macarons

Thursday, February 11th, 2010
A few weeks ago, I was given a new task at the restaurant - macarons.
Each technique - meringue, folding, airating, piping, hardening, baking - was demonstrated to me by the sous chef who, obviously, had much more experience with this than me.
When I’m not folding meringue into almond flour and confectioner’s sugar or piping thousands of these delicate cookies, I am researching their history, cross-referencing recipes and tyring to absorb tips from other pastry chefs.
It’s fair to say I’ve fallen pretty hard for these tempermental little beauties. It might also be fair to say I’m a bit of a nerd. But we knew that.
Saturday morning I set about creating macarons for a friend’s ‘Iron Chef’-inspired dinner party that evening. Peanut butter was the chosen ingredient we had to use in all our dishes.
So, as an amuse bouche, I created peanut butter macarons: macarons with crushed, candied peanuts with creamy peanut butter filling.

Continue for Recipe...

Posted in Gluten-Free, Macarons | 2 Comments »