This was a long way in the planning!! I have been at home in Helsinki, Finland, and my brother and I had planned for AGES to make macaroons together. I think it started when we used to, Harri still does, watch every single episode of Masterchef Australia, loving watching the stress of all the contestants having difficulty piping the macaroons and then all of them eventually crashing down from a perfect Croque En Bouche. Oh the joys of Masterchef Australia ;)
Before I had left Edinburgh I had taken a photo of the macaroon recipe and the Peach Bellini recipe, since the cookbook was way too heavy for me to take with me on the plane. I had warned Harri that this would be the time when we would make them, finally. I was so excited!!
The day came, more like the next morning, after we had had difficulty finding almond meal ;)
Separating the egg whites from the yolk
Mixing the almond meal (that we finally found) with the icing sugar
We made the templates for the size of the macaroons the night before
Our lovely kitchen in Helsinki <3
Harri measuring the castor sugar for the Italian meringue
Mixing half the egg whites into the almond meal. There was not a misunderstanding with the measurements and we did not do anything without measuring ;) No ...
Making the Italian Meringue
Mixing the other half of the egg whites
We then stirred in the yellow food colouring. I wanted to put in a lot this time since the colour did not work out that well last time ;)
Piping the macaroons
Our piping bag. We had a slight problem with the tip being too small
Oh dear, the difficulties of baking :o
So ... we decided to make our own piping bags from baking paper. It is really quite simple actually!!
Finished piping the final batch!! Now to let it develop a skin :D
The used baking paper piping bags
While the macaroons went in the oven, one tray at a time, I started making the peach puree
The cooked macaroons. Do they look yellow, or is just the golden colour from baking? ;)
We then also made buttercream, with butter, icing sugar and Prosecco, and piped it in a circle around the inside of the macaroon. We then put in the centre the peach puree
The final product!!
I am now heading back to Edinburgh to meet the Baking Students again :D
I had told myself that the first time I made macaroons I would make it with my brother. Well, the opportunity just wasn't there, so I did the next best thing. Making macaroons for the first time with my friends :D The photos in this post are taken by Sophie.
Measuring out the sugar
Whisking the egg whites
Measuring the almond meal
Checking the recipe!! The most important part!!!! ;) (directed to Pamela)
Blending the almond meal. I am hoping that it will make it finer, but I don't think it did anything ;) I am just kidding myself :D
At least I tried ;)
Stirring sugar and water to make a sugar syrup
It was so hard to know when to stop stirring and start checking the temperature!! I think this was the most complicated part of the recipe ;) My tip: By calm (unlike my hysterics;))
Jennifer and I showing our anxiety at the sugar syrup (as you can see, I was more anxious than Jennifer ;))
Whisking the egg whites
Adding the sugar syrup to the egg whites, making the Italian meringue
Adding the food colouring ;) A drop at a time
As you can see, the colouring didn't really work. We must have put 20 drops of red food colouring, and it was still pale pink. What do they put in those things? ;)
Mixing up the Italian meringue (syrup mixed with egg) and French meringue (sugar mixed with egg) mixtures to make the macaroon batter.
Folding it all together
Holding my breath hoping that it will all stay together!
Now the piping begins!!! We had printed off some templates, and placed those under the baking paper on baking trays, so we knew where to pipe. Yay!!
Starting to pipe
Jennifer doing an amazing job piping the batter. We realised later that we piped these too big, and so they stick together :(
The first few macaroons looking awesome and perfectly rounded :D
The technique we had come up with was to swirl the piping bag around in circles. I think it worked quite well :)
Sophie even gave the piping a go!!
And the batter kept coming, so we ended up with four trays of macaroons.
Here is Pamela's beautiful piping :)
In the oven. As you can see, the first piping we did we piped too large, and so they were sticking together.
The first batch of macaroons out of the oven!!
This is how Sophie waits for the macaroons :D
The first macaroon I sandwiched together!
We decided to sandwich them together with this awesome bramble and apple jam that a friend made. The jam was kind of bitter, so the sugariness of the macaroon worked well to balance out the sweet/sour ratio.
The delightful macaroons that were our first batch that we made!! I can't believe I am saying that: We ACTUALLY MADE these lovely macaroons!!! :D
I had a request from my brother to make some more when I go to see him in April, so we will be making them again soon :D
As a testimonial of the awesomeness of these cookies, my friend (who works at PatisserieValeri (a cafe with amazing cakes)) said that our macaroons were better than they were at her cafe!! I was almost in tears ;)
Guys, we are challenging ourselves to make these recipes, not because we want to bake ourselves to death, but because we want to raise awareness of the need to give and pray for those children who go without food. Right now there is a food shortage in East Africa, and so it would be so encouraging for us if you could click on the tab above called East Africa Crisis Appeal and donate towards bringing the much needed support in these areas.
Thank you very much for reading this blog post, and stepping up to help those less fortunate than us!!
