I bet you thought my
posts about macarons were over now that we've landed in America. Think again! Yesterday I took a
2 hour class all about making macarons. It was so fun.
I learned all about the characteristics of a French macaron - the
pied (foot), the small frills that form along the bottom of the cookie and the skin; the shiny top of a macaron. Macs are supposed to be crunchy with a slightly chewy middle.
I also learned some new fancy words:
Macaronnage - The technique of mixing flour and meringue to make macarons.
Macaronner - The technique of mixing the batter until it is firm and drips slowly when scooped.
The class was divided into 4 groups. Each group made a different flavor macaron. The instructor made one too. So we had 5 different combinations - mint with rum cream, coffee with vanilla custard, sesame with white chocolate ganache, cassis with blueberry butter cream and coconut with coconut filling. The best? Sesame with white chocolate ganache. A surprising combination that gave a lot of flavor.
I was part of the group that made cassis macs. As you can see we had some trouble with the piping! Much harder than it looks. Due to some old, thick purple dye we ended up over mixing our batter. That made it too runny and also lead to baked macarons that wouldn't come up off of the parchment paper. Don't over mix!
Above all though, I had a really great time. Now I'm about to dash upstairs and try to make some on my own - back tomorrow with results!
8 comments:
That's awesome! Where did you take the class?
Oh goodness...these little macaroons remind me of swollen blistered trotters! I just remember searching all over paris for a macaroon shop...and then having you being disappointed, as it wasn't nearly as good as the OTHER shop we visited. HA HA...oh Paris, how I miss thee.
They look delicious. What a fun way to spend a couple of hours. I love the new vocabulary too. So are you now a macaronniste? A macaronnière? :)
Susan - I took it at Sur la Table in Kirkland. They have GREAT classes just a pity I have to cross the water.
jules - one of my fav memories of all time. what a trooper you were for your friend.
Jennifer - I think macaronniste - it sounds more feminine.
Wow! Your brave! I have alwayS thought these might be difficult to make. Hopefully, there wasn't too much traffic coming over the bridge. Seattle traffic along with weather is what has prevented us from moving back tom Seattle. I miss my friends though along eighths water and mountains.
Ooooh! What delicious fun! And thanks for the new vocabulary words, too. Eager to hear how your results in the home kitchen go. We loved sampling Macaroons while in sweet Paris, but I never imagined attempting them at home.
mmmmmm! those sound amaaaaaazing!
Looks deliciously awesome! Do you still continue to bake these days? Bet you have already come up with a lot of recipes now. :)
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