Hello there and Welcome back!
So for quite some time I have had on my baking bucket list the illusive macaron. So far I have been successful in avoiding the project for real and imagined reasons, the bag of Almond Meal flour ahs remained untouched and in my freezer, I have woken up in a cold sweat dreaming about this little delicate morsel, I have read up on it, did my research, went to a bakery in Columbia called Lady Antoinette's with my sister and had the opportunity to taste and yes, enjoy the macaron and yet my heart still stops cold when I think of making these little gems. Some of the posts that I read from experienced bakers go on and on about how very difficult it is to transform 4 or 5 basic ingredients into the most beloved cookie; although in my estimation this is much more than a cookie, However, I have come to learn recently that the longer you put your dreams off the more impossible it will be to make them come true because the fear of failure will paralyze you from being a success!
This is the month that I finally will make the plunge, I finally have the determination, confidence and knowledge where I feel somewhat comfortable taking on this task. It also seems that I have the perfect occasion for it as well. I was asked to make a few things for a small wedding and me thinking small is 10 said yes, but when I learned small was more like 50 to 75 I just jumped at the opportunity to try to surprise the bride with a delectable morsel you can only get in bigger cities made by top notch professional chefs - no pressure here. In doing my research I learned that March 20 is National Macaron Day and thought how fitting, how appropriate and yes how Kismet as the wedding is on April 4th!
Being the OCD person that I am decided to read up on the beloved macaron once again and do as much advanced preparation as humanly possible. On the counter of the kitchen in a corner away from wet areas are the DO NOT TOUCH, mise en place items for the baking expedition. . I separated the eggs. I also took the liberty of drawing a transfer sheet, for lack of a better word, that will fit underneath the parchment paper so that all of my macarons are the same uniformed size - 1 inch in diameter. There are 20 1-inch circles which means 10 cookies. It does come to my attention that in order for 50 people or couples to have 2 cookies I will have to make 10 sheets of these, thankfully, they store well for a week in an airtight container. I have a little under a month to get this right and that is good because I am the ultimate perfectionist, especially when it comes to my baking! My ultimate goal for the bride and grooms big day is to get the mini Chinese takeout boxes in one of the fabulous colors of the wedding and put two macaron's in each small box. However if I cannot find these boxes for some odd reason I think that I will just put them on a tray, however when they are on a tray there is no guarantee at that point in time that each person will get two because someone is going to eat yours!
Below you will find pictures of what some of the things I have done this morning in preparation for making the first macaron tomorrow! In the next few days you will have the recipe that I chose, the difficulties I found,if any. and what I plan to do the next time to prevent whatever issues I had with the challenge before me. Until then please stay tuned and wish me luck with my new found obsession - The Macaron
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| 1" circular "mold" for macaron size conformity |
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| Top side of Macaron Mold (trace circle from the inside) |
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| Macron "Mold" |
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| Three Egg Whites |
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| Three Egg Yokes |
