Macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Since I don't know very much about macarons, I wasn't initially as wary of making the as other DB participants. When I read the recipe, it seemed easy enough. The most trying thing that I saw was purchasing almond flour, which is quite pricey. Ah, well, it does make lovely treats.

While making the macarons, I was also making oatmeal ice cream at the same time. I think this may have been my saving grace, because I whipped the egg whites until quite stiff. After folding in the flour and sugar, I started to worry because the whole process just seem way too easy despite the other participants' concerns. But I baked on. I forgot to time the first batch, so I went by color. As you will see below, this was a mistake. Although they were slightly changed in color, they weren't baked long enough, as I discovered when I compared them to the ones I baked a proper amount of time.

Below are the photos and recipe.

First, the failed batch. As you can see, they're very flat. They're also slightly undercooked. Still tasty, though. :)

The next batch, though, were snug in the oven for long enough and turned out much better.


After cooling, I spread chocolate ganache between two pieces, pressed them together, and tra la!-- macarons!