Macarons and a Blue Moon

They say the next Blue Moon won't occur until July 2013. I don't think it will be that long before I try making macarons again! I first tasted these sweet confections when visiting Paris three years ago. They were so delicate and delicious! I never thought I would be trying these on my own. They were actually quite easy to make.

Some day I hope to make these.

Enter Mommy's Confessions. Last night I just happened to see her macarons pic on a Linky. Hubby was gone so I had nothing better to do. I read Lindsay's blog post on making macarons and I knew I had to try it. She had spelled out everything so completely. (she even shared her flops ) She listed the ingredients, how to prep and step-by step directions with photos. I set up my laptop in the kitchen to have her nearby and gave it my best shot.

 

Yes, I know a more professional food processor seems to be in order.

 

So...since we have no Trader Joe's nearby I had to make my own almond meal. It sounded kind of easy but for some reason, my almonds did not want to "powder up". I had to do quite a bit of sifting and regrinding.I kept my cool.

Then while separating the egg whites, one of my egg yolks fell into the bowl too. Yikes! I only had one spare egg. (I didn't decide to make these until 9:00 pm and didn't want to leave to buy more eggs.) So I dumped out the egg, washed out the bowl (needs to be stainless and I only have one) and started again.

OK, slowly whipped the eggs like the blog post said and added the sugar. So far, so good. Egg whites starting to form peaks and when the bowl is tipped--they don't fall anywhere! Hurray!

  Cool glass from my Ragnar Race came in handy! 

Now to add the almond meal, powdered sugar and cocoa mixture. Folded that in. Easy peasy! Had my piping bag all ready. Added the eggwhite/almond meal mixture and started piping as round of circles as I could. (Some say to put a template under the parchment paper but I was too lazy.) I tried to smooth out the tops but on some I think I made it worse. I baked some on parchment paper and some on a silpat mat. I prefer the parchment.

Now they have to sit for awhile. It gave me time to clean up a bit. It took about 30 minutes for them not to be tacky.

In the oven they went--295 degrees is what Lindsay recommended. She also recommended putting an extra cookie sheet as a heat shield on the oven rack below. I baked them for about 20 minutes then checked to see if they would lift off the cookie sheet without sticking. Yes!

 

See the little bumps that didn't get smoothed out.

I took them out to cool. After cooling I matched them up. Then I spread Nutella on one and put the other on top. Lindsay says the macarons have to age 24-48 hours. (Sometimes time just doesn't go by fast enough...) So I am waiting to try one tonight.

See the little bumps from the almond meal? Next time I might pipe in the filling for a nicer look.

My macarons don't look half bad for my first attempt because of Lindsay's excellent instructions. (Some day I hope mine look like hers.)  I know I am going to make them again. I'm already planning on what flavors! Lemon will next and I'm thinking salted caramel has to be on the list too. (If you read Lindsay's blogpost you'll see her beautiful colors and filling combos. such inspiration!) Have you ever tasted macarons? They are a little bit of heaven on your tongue. Have you ever tried making macarons? Don't wait for the next Blue Moon to do it!

Some more of Lindsay's pretty macarons.