Macaroons and Some Pictures.......

Okay so, just a warning....

***This is an about-anything-and-everything kind of post. Please do not be alarmed by the lack of organization***

So, some time ago I made chocolate-nutella macarons. I LOVE macarons. They are so pretty and petite and colorful.

What macarons supposedly will look like.

I learned that macarons are very hard to make. As in, I made one plate of macarons in about 4 hours.

I also learned that when trying out a recipe for the first time, only make one batch.

And I also learned that eggs should be kept in a bowl so that they don't roll off the counter and break.

Yeah. Not my most successful dessert yet...

The biggest challenge was to make the almond powder.
The almonds had to be LITERALLY powdered, so that took us almost an hour and a half.

This is a recipe to make macarons, but not the one that I used.

Macaron Batter
1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling
½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces (120 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (15 gr) butter, cut into small pieces

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn’t quite fine enough.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.

Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten themacarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

To make the chocolate filling:

Heat the cream in a small saucepan with the corn syrup. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before using.

Assembly

Spread a bit of batter on the inside of the macarons then sandwich them together. (You can pipe the filling it, but I prefer to spread it by hand; it’s more fun, I think.)

I also tend to overfill them so you may or may not use all the filling.

Let them stand at least one day before serving, to meld the flavors.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze. If you freeze them, defrost them in the unopened container, to avoid condensation which will make the macarons soggy.

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I ended up using nutella as my filling to make my macarons.
The finished product.

Not as pretty as I would have wished, but they tasted AMAZING!!

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So, my new hobby is photography, and I wanted to share some of my pictures

Passion Iced Tea, my favorite Starbucks drink. I bought the tea bags at Walmart and then added ice to it to turn it into iced tea. (Kudos to Sophie for the recipe and idea!)

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On a completely different note, check out my new theme and background!!!

I liked the liveliness of the original theme, but it was too cluttered for me. I like this theme because it just shows snippets of each post.

Please let me know if the font I am using is too small.

And if the theme comes up looking blank, refresh your page until you see the red poppies.

Love,
Yuna