You win some, and you lose some. I lost this one.
The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
I was really hoping I'd be able to master this challenge. I'm absolutely fascincated by macarons (which are made with almond flour and are not to be confused with macaroons, which are those coconut cookies). They come in so many different colors and flavors. I figured the possibilites were endless, and I'd be able to make something really spectacular for this challenge.
Then I learned that the color and flavor has to be added in powder form because the macarons cannot contain too much moisture. I did a little research and kept up with the Daring Bakers' forum discussion to try to figure out how I could add color and flavor to my macarons.
It seems that I shouldn't even have bothered, considering that I couldn't get the plain almond-flavored macarons to come out right. In addition to trying to make the plain macarons, the other flavors I attempted were pistachio with a pistachio white chocolate ganache, pumpkin spice latte (which should have had a cinnamon whipped cream filling), and cinnamon mocha (meant to have a chocolate ganache filling). I didn't even make the fillings for the last two flavors because the cookies came out looking like flat wafers.
The plain macarons tasted great, and I filled them with chocolate ganache, but they never grew feet. And macarons are supposed to have feet. Compare my pictures to those of the Daring Bakers who had success with this challenge, and you'll immediately see what I'm talking about. (Oh, and in case you're wondering, I did make mini macarons, just like I make mini everything else. These were a little smaller than a penny.)
The pistachio ones, which I flavored with pistachio pudding powder were pretty tasty as well but a bit on the soft side.
While this challenge didn't go so well, I plan to try out some other macaron recipes in the future to see if I can find a recipe and system that works for me.
I made Francois Payard's chocolate macarons a while ago and loved them, but this was before I knew that macarons were supposed to have feet. Now I realize those didn't come out right either.
So how about you... have you made macarons? Were you successful?
If you want to see my most successful Daring Bakers' Challenge, check out last month's!
25 comments:
Yes I made macarons and they were unbelievably unsuccessful. I so understand your frustration! At least yours were presentable. Mine looked like large flying saucers as my batter was so runny. It was interesting in reading on blog posts that some people had great results and awful results all with the same batch. Do you plan to try again?
I couldn't get this recipe to work for me either, no matter how hard I tried!!
I love macarons, they are tricky though! Nice job!
looks pretty darn delicious to me! Mine didnt turn out perfect but they still tasted good!
mmmmm! I've made them... and I say I'm successful since they tasted delicious... but any chef would say they were unsuccessful due to the lack of feet and all other issues LOL. I say you did great as long as they tasted delicious!
You know, they might not have been perfect....but they still are making my stomach growl. Chocolate ganache with anything is delicious!
Feet or no feet, the look delicious! I have never made these...I am too afraid!
Smaller than a penny? Too cute! They look absolutely delicious =D. Wonderful job on this challenge!
Ah, I didn't get feet either!! Yours look so pretty. I wouldn't say you lost this one...
I lost this one too. A valiant effort, though! And I adore the minis... makes me so happy when I see you've made something mini :) I've gotta build up the guts to start trying that asap.
This was certainly a tough challenge, I also felt a little restricted by the idea that they can only be flavoured with dry ingredients, but when you keep at it you realise how much you can actually do with these so keep at it :)
I love that you made them so tiny! Little bites to pop in the mouth :D
Yours are a lovely success compared to mine! I think they are adorable. Love the filling it looks so tasty! :D
It was this recipe (not a very good one, in my opinion). I love that you made such cute petite macarons. And all the fillings you described sound delicious! :)
nicely done, they look very nice,i must start thinking aboutmaking them, well done! cheers from london,
I have never tried making my own, but I LOVE them. They're so light and delicious.
I think you did a wonderful job and I don't think you did a bad job. Maybe try Tartelette's recipe it much better. Great effort. Cheers from Audax in Australia.
pistachio, yum!!!!!
Your just one batch closer to feet at least that's what I keep telling myself. Love the mini macs!
Use Tartelette's recipe next time, it works like a charm.
Kudos to you for trying, and they don't look too bad.
Tartelette's recipe was definitely the saving grace for my macarons :) Yours look tasty, and how cute that they're sooo tiny!! Love it!
someday i'll work up the nerve to try them :)
Your macarons look absolutely yummie, never had a chance to try to make it a home.
Megan, you didn't lose at all. The fact that they tasted good is all that matters, and they look like darling little yummy puffs. I'll take several dozen, please! :)
Macaroons look devine.
~Southern Cookin
Amazed by your flavour combinations. I'm quite conserative and don't experiment until I get the basics right! I couldn't get any feet either :-(
Anyway, as long as they taste good, that's mission completed. Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
My attempt
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