Pink Macarons
And the eggy smell left over in my kitchen
There are a few new friends here, so I would like to take the opportunity to say, HI! and welcome. I’m Leona & this is where we try fun recipes, plan meals for our families and share without judgement all things food.
So, my 7 year-old daughter has expensive taste. She LOVES macarons!! More than any grocery store sweet I can buy. The problem is macarons are about R20 each in the city where I live.. After making them myself, I fully understand why these French treats are priced at premium; 1. almond flour doesnt come cheap 2. It takes a bit of TIME and Technique to make. But that said, I hope this post inspires you to try it too! (Please share with me if you do!)
With the help of this recipe from Preppy Kitchen, it was, dare I say… easy!!
Below are the 5 secrets to doing it right the first time..
I put my almond flour through the food processor only once (twice is what the recipe calls for) and it worked. The key, I believe, is SIFT (sieve?) the almond flour and icing sugar. Put in the time (and arm strength) for this step.
2. The meringue part consists of whisking egg whites and cream of tar tar with some (slowly added granulated sugar). I didnt have time to age my egg white like the recipe suggests, but I did add my sugar slowly so it was a beautiful stiff peak meringue.
3. Once you’ve coloured your meringue mixture, you fold the sifted mixture into the whipped meringue. Next time I would like to INFUSE my macarons, not just use food colouring.
Tip nr 3 would be to use a scale for measuring your ingredients at the start, precision works here. Watch this video for John’s in depth step-by-step.
4. I ordered this silicone sheet from Takealot but the recipe originator says its a little sticky for macarons. Mine came off fine but next time I will try with parchment paper just to compare. (I liked the circles that show you where to pipe.)
5. Remember to pipe straight/perpendicularly for nice round cookies. Those last ones went a bit wonky on me as you can see.
I used my leftover egg yolks to make his French buttercream filling, which is like a lovely custard. Highly recommend.
To end this off, here’s an unsolicited eggy-update for you:
If you read my previous email, you’d know my plant-based husband has been contemplating trying fried eggs for breakfast for a while now..and a few days ago he did, for the first time in 8 years! And loved it. Even so, my kitchen had that eggy/dishwasher smell for the next two days that lingered and might have put him off slightly. Not even the baking-soda-vinegar-TikTok hack did anything.
Well, that’s us for the week, wishing you a good one ahead- if your kids are going back to school, wishing you all the best.
Leona x