CELEBRATE MACARON DAY!

Little Miss Macaron is a very temperamental girl.   You must be very careful when trying to create her.

Macaron Rules I have learned along the way...

1.  Never get cocky and think your macarons are perfect. Think positive though.

2.  Never be in a hurry when making macarons.  She is a slow girl that needs lots of patience.

3.  Never let four year old child fingers touch macarons that are waiting to go into the oven.

4.  Never think for a moment you can eyeball the ingredients.  You must be precise.  But hey, being precise will not insure perfect macarons either.

5.  Never walk away from the oven. They must be turned after five minutes to insure even baking.

6.  When using different pans, expect different results.

7.  Don't think because you seemed to have screwed everything up along the way that you won't get nice macarons.  She likes to surprise you, yah know.

8.  Never for a moment think you will never get the macaron right.  Because you will. And when you do you will feel a sense of accomplishment like no other in the baking world.  But see if it were easy you wouldnt feel this.  You will be dancing around the kitchen saying you have feet.  Maybe even singing it! 

9.  Never talk on the phone when making macarons.

10.  Try not to make these for an event unless you are really, I mean really practiced.

11.  Don't overbeat the eggs and dont underbeat them either.

12.  Don't overmix the nuts and confectioners into the egg whites, don't undermix either.

13.  Don't underbake or overbake.

14.  Read, read, read, everything and anything you can about macarons only to find you will find your own path to macaron nirvana.

For all of you who have not tasted one, make sure you put it on your bucket list of things to try.
For all of you that think they are horrible, what the heck are you reading this post for. ;)
For all of you who want to try making them and are just tooscared, I say dont be silly- set out some egg whites on the counter now and start preparing for an adventure.

Ginger Pecan Macarons

125 grams pecan meal (sifted)
225 grams powdered sugar
100 grams egg whites (that have been at room temp for 24 hours)
25 grams sugar

Combine almond flour and confectioners sugar together in a bowl and stir to combine. In a mixing bowl whip egg whites at medium speed. When they begin to get foamy add the granulated sugar slowly.  Beat until the whites form medium-peaks and are still glossy.

Fold in your dry ingredients slowly to the meringue.  Spoon into pastry bag and pipe the batter to a diameter of about an inch. And let rest for 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven while macs are resting to 300F.  Bake for about 11 minutes or until done, turning the sheets halfway through.


Gingered Buttercream


16 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup minced crystalized ginger

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
pinch of salt

Whip the mascarpone cheese with sugar until combined.  Add in the crystalized ginger.  If you can stand it- wait a day to let the flavor of the ginger permeate the mascarpone mixture.

Note- I am pretty happy with my macarons but I still dont get the feet that other people get.  I will try again next week. If anyone knows why I dont have nicer feet on my macarons feel free to give advice.