18 August 2013

The Macaro(o)n

I have now made macarons four times. The first time they worked out ok, see here, the second time they were a disaster (nothing to see here, go back to your homes). My third attempt was a couple of months ago. I had some egg whites left over (can't remember from what) and decided to put the previous failure behind me and try again. This time I used a recipe from the Hairy Bikers Big Book of Baking (the one from their TV series Bakeation, which is full of many splendid things).
This recipe is from their time in France, so these would be macarons as opposed to macaroons, in this case a Raspberry macaron. However, when I came to make them I didn't have the ingredients, i.e. the raspberries. The filling has rose water in it and this gave me an idea. I would make rose water macarons with a pistachio filling (I did have rose water and pistachios). These were a triumph, I gave some to the neighbours and brought the rest in to work.


Ok, so we are on a roll. A couple of weeks ago I made a Boston Cream Pie which calls for a pastry cream filling (my first attempt at this, I will be trying again and will let you know how I get on) and I was left with egg whites. I turned to the Hairy Bikers again and this time a Lemon Macaron. I seem to be fine with the method (having the Kicthenaid helps) it is the piping that seems to be the problem. They either come out too big or too small, although that isn't really a problem I guess. The main thing is getting them lovely and smooth and shiny as per the picture and every other macaron I have seen. I followed all the instructions (use
water on your fingers to smooth the top, bang the tray on the surface a few times, leave them for 30-60 minutes to create a shiny crust) but they still came out lumpy. They tasted lovely, the filling of cream and lemon curd was dreamy but in the looks department they had failed miserably, see what you think.


They made lovely gifts for friends at our recent dining club, despite their imperfections. No feedback yet on taste but they seemed pleased to receive them!

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