Maca-WRONGs

Back when I first started reading blogs - French Macarons were all the rage...


Macarons (not to be confused with coconutty Macaroons) are almond based meringue cookies sandwiched together with buttercream, cream, ganache, dulce de leche, jam... you get the idea! And they are notoriously difficult... As such they come with a variety of rules of how to make... And while making my "MacaWRONGS" I broke nearly every single one of them! Including a few of my own, personal baking rules...


The result - if not tpyical was a tasty, chewy cookie which I layered with hazelnut yoghurt for a classy(ish) dessert...

They don't look too bad, do they?

A list of the rules I broke to come up with these would include, but not be limited to:

• Don't even START to bake these if the weather is humid... it was raining...
• Use ground almonds, preferably shop bought (it'll be drier/less likely to clump) and for God's sake SIFT IT!... I used hazelnuts. I ground them myself (although I did roast them first to improve flavour/dry them out a little) aaand... I couldn't be bothered sifting my ground hazelnuts.
• Use day- to week-old room temperature egg whites... Well, my eggs whites weren't day-fresh (point to Kat!) but - I pulled them out of the fridge, maybe 5 minutes before I started making these...
• Whisk egg whites in a stainless steel bowl - or strengthen them with creme of tartar... There's a scientific reason for using a stainless steel bowl which Mrs. Humble explains best, long story short the medium you should most avoid beating your egg whites in is glass... guess what I used...?
• Pipe out small blobs of the meringue mixture with a piping bag... or use a spoon to make oversized puddles...
• Allow to rest for 30-60 minutes, or until tacky... that's the same as 20 ish minutes, right?

And then I probably didn't bake them for long enough - because, although my cookies did form feet (another point for Kat!) they stayed sticky inside/stuck to my parchment paper...

My own rules that I broke:

• Never, EVER bake in a bad mood... I thought I had failed a paper I'd worked really hard for (it turns out, I didn't actually fail said paper - my lecturer just forgot to add my exam grade onto my final result - thus I was 30% short! But I didn't know this yet... = very, very upset Kat.
• Never, EVER dye food purple the first time you make it... Yeah... I don't listen to me all that often...

Chewy, purple goodness...

The moral of this, rather long-winded, story is that although so many people say that cooking, and baking in particular is a "science" and you have to follow recipes to the letter - I disagree! Have fun with your cooking! Throw in a bit of this, or a bit of that - and see what happens!

I mean, look at me - I took one of the most rigid and difficult recipes on the internet and BUTCHERED (ALL the RULES!) and the result, although not perfect was edible, tasty, even! And I managed to create with it what was perceived as a rather spectacular dessert - I love my family!

I honestly believe that many thing in Life, as well as cooking, are only as difficult as you make them out to be... One day, I'll have to tell y'all how I've been casually making Baked Alaska since the age of 11-12 simply because no-one told me it was supposed to be really difficult...

In the mean time, here's my adaption of Mrs. Humble's Macarons - if you dare! :)

Ms. Humble's Scatter Plot Macarons

120g ground almonds, sifted (OR hazelnuts!!!)

200g icing sugar
100g egg whites (2 and a half, ish...)
30-35g castor sugar
food coloring (PURPLE!!! And, the gel version... runny = not good!)

Line baking trays with parchment/baking paper... and set a piping bag, if you're gonna use one, into a large glass to make filling easier...

Sift together ground almonds/hazelnuts and icing sugar to remove any clumps.

Plonk egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer - and have castor sugar on hand.

Begin beating the eggs on low speed, until foamy - then sprinkle in castor sugar... Continue to beat, now on medium, until you reach glossy, stiff peaks. DO NOT OVER BEAT!!!

Once stiff peaks are reached, add in your colouring gel, if using...

Add about 1/4 of the almond(/hazelnut)/sugar mixture and fold in until no streaks remain. Continue to add the almond mixture in quarters, folding until it's a thick, ribbony texture...

Pour the batter into your prepared piping bag and pipe small dollops of batter onto the baking trays, giving them space to spread. Or use a teaspoon - but if you're after perfection, this is not the best option...

Tap the tray on the counter to bring up any air bubbles and quickly pop them with a toothpick.
Allow the cookies to rest on the benxch for 30-60 minutes. Until they are no longer tacky to a light touch. ie... Patience is a virtue (but not one of mine...)

While they rest, preheat your over to 150 degrees C making sure you have a rack in the top third and a rack in the bottom third of your oven.

Bake the cookies for 16-20 minutes. Rotating cookies half-way though for even baking...

Allow to cool before sandwiching together with a filling of your choice!

One day, I will defeat the illusive Macaron - between now and then, I'm quite pleased with these, all things considered... :)