Friday, July 1, 2011

Dreaming of Macarons

July 4th is here.

I have a LOT of orders for this weekend
which doesn't give me time to try what I had planned. French Macarons! I will admit, yet once again I have bought another cookbook but this one is special. It's all about macarons. I have never attempted them & this post will give a recipe for a future attempt. I have to admit. I'm a bit nervous. These little cookies have always intrigued me. I need to do this.


Macarons by Annie Rigg with photography by Kate Whitaker looks delicious! There are recipes for just about every flavor and color macaron out there. So here is one recipe I plan to use. I need to do a trial run as these will be at my daughter's baby shower. Hopefully she is not reading this! I like the pink and green shells with rasberry jam & whipped cream, rasberry & passion fruit, coconut & mango and hazelnut & chocolate and so many more.
So many to choose from so here is the recipe for Basic Macarons. I'd better master this first! Anyone with a great recipe? Would love to hear from you. I'll let you know how they turn out! With pictures!

Basic Macarons
1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar
2/3 cup of ground almonds
1/2 cup of egg whites (abou3 eggs)
pinch of salt
3 tbs of superfine sugar
piping bag fitted with 1/2" nozzle
2 baking sheets lined with parchment

1. Put the almonds and conf. sugar in a bowl and blend for 30 sec.
2. Put the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl& dry bowl. Add the salt & beat until they hold a stiff peak. (use a whisk)
3. Contine to whisk at medium speed while adding the superfine sugar a tsp at a time. Mix well inbetween each addition. The mixture should be thick, white and glossy.
4. Add food coloring if needed at this point
5. Using a large spoon, fold the sugar and almond mixture into the egg whites.
This can take up to one minute. The mixture should be smooth. It will be ready when you can drop the mixture from a spoon into a molten mass.
6. Fill the piping bag and pipe eavenly sized rounds about 2" across onto prepared baking sheets
7. Tap the bottom of the baking sheets sharply 1x to expel any large bubbles.
8. Leave the macarons for at least 15 minutes and up to one hour until they have set and formed a dry shell. They should not be sticky when tested with your fingertip.
9. Preheat oven to 325
10. Bake the macarons on the middle shelf for 10 minutes. The tops should be crisp and the bottoms dry. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

17 comments:

  1. Hi! Love the cupcakes! I'm a new follower from a friend's blog hop. Feel free to visit mine at www.bahousewifery.blogspot.com. Have a great day!

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  2. I stopped by from the friday hop...you have a beautiful blog!!!!

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  3. wow!!! a whole site of cupcakes ....amazing! I am a new follower :)
    PS I lOVE your pink polka dot background!!!

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  4. I'm following but this is definitely not going to help me lose weight!!
    chatterfromtexas.blogspot.com

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  5. Let me know how they turn out. I've never had macaroons! I'm your newest follower from Finding New Friends hop. Hope you'll check mine out and consider linking up to my Tasty Thursday Recipe Swap Blog Hop next week!

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  6. Hi there! Thanks for following me at "the perfect line". Be sure to check out this week's edition of Friends' Meetup Party where I show case all my new friends :) I encourage you to meet other bloggers on the list and share a few words about my meetup at your blog.

    Following you back! Thanks :)

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  7. New follower following through GFC. I <3 your blog. :)

    http://lifeaccordingtodamaris.blogspot.com

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  8. oooo, Macarons are also on my next-to-bake list!

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  9. I've never tried macarons either - they look so yummy though, I don't think it will be long before I do!


    Just stopped by from a Tuesday blog hop. I’m following you now and hope you’ll stop by my blog sometime too! Have a lovely week.
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  10. Look at those yummies, one day I'm going to have to try to made these. My deserts are just not pretty. I lack the pretty desert knack ha. I'm envious.
    Popping in from Blogaholic, new GFC follower :).

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  11. Looks delish! I haven't taken on macarons yet...they scare me! LOL Happy Wednesday!

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  12. OMGoodness, your blog is going to ruin my waistline but who the heck cars this place is delicious!! New follower.
    Jenni
    kissedbyafrog.blogspot.com

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  13. Visiting from the hop, and now I am drooling! YUMMY looking cupcakes! I want it in my belly...LOL

    I am a new follower. Please come to my blog to return the favor when you have a chance. THANKS

    www.praisesofawifeandmommy.blogspot.com

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  14. WOW my mouth is watering. I am your newest slobbering follower who can't wait to try these recipes and looks forward to more!

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  15. Hey, I wanted to say thank you for joining the blog hop this week, but now I don't know if I should - I mean, seriously, should I thank you for making me look at foodporn like this and getting all cupcake-hungry? Hmm, maybe I should! ;o)

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  16. Just stumbled upon your blog and am now a follower! I <3 it =] I really messed up on my first batch of macaroons, but I just tried them again yesterday and they turned out great! I hope you have some success with them...they are fussy little buggers =] please stop by my blog sometime if you would like!! Happy baking =]
    http://briannasbakingblog.blogspot.com/

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