The Macaron

I hate fads.  In fact I'm a bit of a fad snob.  What I hate most about them though is no matter how hard you try, they get you every time.  I can't tell you how many times I have seen something become fashionable and think to myself, "I would never wear that" and then it slowly creeps into my wardrobe until all of a sudden I find it appealing.  I am beginning to learn that food is very much the same way.  Like in fashion, food has a very distinct 'style' and things come in and out of fashion. So when I saw french macarons suddenly become the rage I turned my nose up at them.  There was no way I was going to make them.  These fiddly time consuming treats seemed far too posh for me - I mean really, could something possibly taste good without butter??

Well, I have to tell you that all of a sudden I was starting to find all the lovely different colored macarons very appealing and I've decided they must be a feature at my 30th this year.  Crazy, I know.  I don't even like meringues so I most likely would not like macarons but I was inspired.

There has been a lot of fear surrounding macarons.  This delicate little cookie can go wrong very easily so many people shy away from trying them.  Maybe this is what suddenly made them appealing.  I needed a challenge so I went off in search of instructions and found an incredibly handy pdf that I strongly suggest you download if you wish to attempt macarons.  It has wonderful step by step instructions with great pictures to follow.  In fact I found these cookies pretty easy!  I think the key is getting the egg whites firm and if you have made meringues before this is nothing new.  The next trick is then determining the cooking times that suit your oven.  I think this is where all the drama lies as I believe you probably need 3 attempts to get the cooking times just right.  Once you know your oven though it should be a breeze!  My first tray was slightly over cooked and then my second tray was under cooked.  I did a second batch as chocolate and turned the tray after twelve minutes to give more even baking to both sides and found that this was much better.  I think that by the time I have my party these babies will be perfect.

As far as the taste go I have to say that even though I don't like meringues I don't mind these.  I can't say they are my favorite but then again I think a lot has to do with the flavor for me.  I really did enjoy the chocolate ones and I think that maybe I would enjoy lemon ones even more.  As we have far too much sugar in this house I gave the chocolate macarons to my daughters kindy teachers as I am hugely indebted to them for the incredible time and involvement they put into my daughter.  These ladies possess so much patience to work day in and day out with pre-schoolers and their passion for their job really helps me look at my daughter in a different light.

You can find the instructions to mastering the macaron here.