My very near and dear friend from college was in town from California this week, and she suggested I make macarons for her after seeing the macaron tower I had pinned on Pinterest. Seeing as it's been on my list of "to-dos", I figured this was a good reason to give macarons a try! So we put on our aprons (well, at least I did), grabbed our spatulas, and made an evening out of it.
We had a blast, even though the macarons were a bust for the most part.
Now I understand what they mean by "macaron madness". It's not that you're mad about macarons, but rather they'll make you mad trying to get them to be perfect! Where did we go wrong? Well, some of the factors included not reading instructions carefully, skipping a vital step (mixing the ground almond with the powdered sugar in a food processor), and laughing too much when we should've probably been watching the oven (it baked quicker than the recommended 10 minutes in my oven).
Out of 50-some shells, only two turned out somewhat decently. Just enough to make one lovely, first-time effort macaron filled with dark chocolate ganache.
Regardless of pretty or not, I have to say they still taste amazing! The crumbs on my boys' shirts can attest to that.
I will try again (probably using the instructions from this video and helpful tips from this blog). In the meantime, we're enjoying eating the "mistakes".
We hope everyone has a blessed Easter!