they worked!

My second attempt at making French Macarons was a success! I was very excited. Please ignore the terrible pictures, no natural light = weird colors.

Chocolate Macaron Recipe

(adapted from Vanilla & Lace blog with some changes by me)

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup ground almonds

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa

-Grind the icing sugar, almonds, and cocoa in a food processor first.

2 room temp. egg whites (they say to age them 3 days on the counter, but I just microwaved them for 10 seconds as per advice from a blog reader)

5 tbsp granulated sugar

-whip egg whites with mixer until soft peaks start to form. Then slowly add the 5 tbsp sugar, one at a time, while mixing on medium speed, until stiff peaks form. Approx. 2 minutes.

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites (they will slightly deflate), with a scraper/spatula until just mixed, and has a smooth texture.

Spoon into piping bag (or ziploc bag)...

Ryan helped. :)

..and pipe onto parchment covered baking sheet in 1 inch drops (so they look like hershey kisses).

Let sit for 20 minutes so they can smooth out, and then bake at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Let cool completely before peeling them off the parchment.

I melted Lindt chocolate for the middle, but you can use buttercream, or any other ganache/icing that you fancy.

I'm so glad they worked! It was exciting to watch them bake, and see the 'feet'. Now I want to experiment with different flavors, fillings, colors, etc.... I'm gonna be hooked!

back to my knitting....