Sunday, 17 October 2010

Macaroon Attempt 2


I tried to put my failed macaroons out of mind, but those French little buggers just wouldn’t leave my thoughts, I looked on YouTube to see if I had done something wrong, and to see what other tips I’d be able scramble together. That being said, other than the recipe listed previously, nobody else mentions placing the almond and icing sugar into a food processor………maybe this is just one of those things, different people, with different baking opinions.

Not wanting to be defeated by these chewy meringue blobs I took to the kitchen once more to try my second attempt. I whizzed the almond and icing sugar together in a processor, and if I’m being totally honest, the consistency didn’t alter much from my first attempt – although, that being said, it was a little less chunky.
The overall look of the batter was a lot smoother this time around and came out of the piping bag at a rather alarmingly fast pace, I tried to keep my piping method the same for each mound, keeping them to the same shape and size…I didn’t manage to completely make them all identical, but it’s the thought that counts.



These macaroons were coloured ‘Party Green’ with Halloween being nearby, I thought I’d in keep with this theme and go for an almost ghoul like look. These were piped onto a baking tray lavished with butter (id ran out of baking paper and didn’t have the chance to replace it yet) and placed into a low oven for 15 minutes as before.

The colour on these didn’t fade as much as last time, they faded slightly, but overall they popped more than my first batch. Still with Halloween on the forefront of my mind, I opted for a rich brown chocolate ganche (250g good quailty dark chocolate/250g double cream). I wasn’t overly impressed with the butter cream in my first attempt, so wanted to take a different direction, I already know that mascarpone works wonders. The good thing about ganche, is you can create gorgeous little truffles with the left over’s….not good for the waistline, but I find with real baking, it never is.


I’m a lot happier with my second attempt at these delicious little goodies, but again they weren’t velvety smooth……as you can see from my pictures, the air bubbles from the batter are extremely visible, very annoying I can tell you. I would love to know how to create the silky look of a successful macaroon. This is my new mission.


These little green gems tasted amazingly good, they had a perfectly crisp shell and a chewy middle, I’m told this is the correct consistency for a good macaroon. I’ll have to work on the ‘feet’ and the size – but all is fair in love and baking!!
Happy Baking!!
Toni – T - Cake

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