French Friday : Macarons

and try them………
AND 
I promise I will tell you the absolute truth about them
But
do mine look THAT bad?

See those feet? Yes, they’re small and I know why…..
I made my macarons too large and so they couldn’t pouf up as much.
My helper and I recalled that my first try last year resulted in cookies about the size of an Oreo.
So, I made them the same. Too large I am guessing.
I think they’re supposed to be much smaller…like a half dollar.
OK…you’re allowed to write to me and tell me how large they really are
but THAT’S IT
NO NEGATIVITY
I’m a delicate personality.


Google French macarons and you’ll get recipes that are all about the same
1 cup almond meal
1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
3 egg whites (large eggs)
pinch salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar


Last time I found the recipe, bought the almond meal, came home and made macarons.
This time I was a nervous wreck.
One recipe said “leave the egg whites out overnight to let them thicken”
Merde….I took them out this morning while I took someone to an appointment.

I gathered my stuff together and made the meringue
I can do THAT!

See my mixer?
35 years old and still runs like a top….
Merde
I really want one of those funky new Kitchen Aids that are all flowered up
Will this thing ever die?
Actually {sidebar here} I want to decorate mine as a project.
If you have any hints on how to do that…send them on!
Back to the macarons….
My helper drew circles on the parchment with a pencil. 
Then you turn the parchment over so the pencil doesn’t get on the macarons.
Stick the parchment down to the cookie sheet with a bit of the macaron mixture.
One of the recipes said the circles should be 1 inch….
1 inch? That’s a pretty small cookie for an American so we ignored that.
Told you I made them too big…..

Mix the almond meal and the confectioners sugar together.
I used a whisk first to really blend them.
Then fold them into the meringue.

You keep folding until it’s smooth and glossy.
One recipe said it should finally look like magma…
Magma? Sometimes these people are so full of themselves aren’t they?
I mean MAGMA?
It looks like thick batter and when you stop folding it, 
it should settle back into itself and get flat again. 
If you still see definition after you fold it, 
fold some more until it returns to smoothness when you stop.
What is that? Thick pancake batter?
Magma….merde….
Next we divided it into three portions and colored the batter with paste food coloring.
Yellow, violet and blue

I held the decorating bag while my helper poured the batter in. 
Put your finger over the bottom and pretend you’re making funnel cakes.
It doesn’t require much squeezing until you get near the end and you’re trying to get
just one more out….

Don’t try to actually MAKE a circle, just run it into the middle of your 
predrawn circle and it will fill out itself.
Last time, I just threw them in the oven after I made them.
This time, one recipe said to bang on the bottom of the pan.
So, I did.
Another recipe said to let them sit out and form a bit of a crust before you baked them.
Since I was making three pans full, two of them did.
I didn’t see a difference in any of them but what do I know.
I’m NOT FRENCH so these all important details probably escape me.

See the feet? 

One of the recipes said I should crack the door open with a wooden spoon.
So I did.


Here’s the deal….I’ll never know if my macarons are bad until I go eat a real macaron.
The fact that the Mongolian horde inhales them has 
no meaning whatsoever.
If I say the word palate around here
someone gets me a plate….
I rest my case….

I filled them with Nutella and lemon curd
They’re delicious!
{if I do say so myself}

What do you think?
I have a bargain for you
I’ll charge $35 for 24
I take cash, check, money order, Paypal, 
Visa, MasterCard, American Express


Merde….I could get rich!




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