Wow. I can honestly say that this month’s Daring Bakers challenge was a challenge indeed, the most difficult one I’ve ever done – yes, even more than last December’s Yule Log! I always knew it would come up at some point, but I was hoping it would be later rather than sooner. This month’s challenge was Macarons. The delightful French sandwich cookies that are notoriously difficult to make, and something that I had never attempted before. I can’t say that the journey was easy, but it was definitely a learning curve, and I’m really glad I persevered and finally managed to make macarons.
From the beginning, I had serious problems with the challenge’s given recipe, and from the sounds of things on the forum I wasn’t the only one. After three complete failures following the recipe to the letter (and a lot of wasted eggwhites!) I decided to try Syrup & Tang’s recipe that used the Italian meringue method. This worked for me first time, and it was the best feeling to finally see that my macarons had feet!
Thinking up flavour combinations was the most fun part of this challenge, after seeing so many interesting ones posted on other blogs over the last few years. I decided to try my luck with the classic combination of Peanut Butter and Jelly flavour. I swapped out half the almond meal for ground peanuts when making the shell with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts on top, because I like my peanut butter crunchy. In between, I made a strawberry jelly disc. I really liked the combination of flavours and textures.
I still need a lot of practice with folding, piping and judging the baking times on my crazy oven, but this is a great first step to help me overcome my irrational fear of making macarons. I really look forward to experimenting further with flavour combinations and working on the technique in the future! 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 won’t publish the recipe I used, but it’s here on Duncan’s blog Syrup and Tang along with many other helpful tips about making macarons.
22 comments:
Oh yay you did the jelly filling! It looks so good :) Hurray for feet! And totally with you on the wasted egg whites, I'm still mourning all the ones that I used up this month :(
Great job! I can't post yet (in the US) but yours look beeeeaaaauuuutiful! Mine were a pain in the a**! >:P
yumm.. the translucent jelly looks so beautiful like a ruby inside a seashell!
Yep, you definitely weren't the only one - I know I can make macs, so I abandoned it after one failure :) Love the jelly filling!
I love love love the jely filling! It looks so beautiful! I think we all need a macaron break :)
Peanut butter and jelly! How classic!! Love the jelly disc in the middle. Lovely picture as always.
Those are so cute! I like the jelly filling and the sprinkled peanuts on tops.
Three times! I tried two and gave up with that recipe. Love your filling!
PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME ^^! *dances like banana* Yuuummmmmm love it!
Yes, the recipe came with flaw .... But we survived, didn't we? :-)
Regards
Kris
Just love the look of the jelly filling. And the idea of peanut butter and jelly sounds so strange (we don't do PB&J) in Australia. Lovely looking macarons and Syrup&Tang's recipe is great good that you could get it work for you. Cheers from Audax in Australia.
The jelly filing sounds absolutely delicious and the macs look gorgeous too!
I was so relieved that others had problems with the original recipe. I ended up using a different one for my second attempt too. I can't wait to try PB&J macaroons too.
wow, well done, your macaroons look fab!
I think that if you have 'feet', you can count your recipe as a success! Well done!
love the filling and your macs look awasooomm! great work!
You macarons look FANTASTIC!! I love the jelly filling--yum, peanut butter. Great job! :)
Lovely macarons! Delicious jelly filling too!
Your filling looks great! I love the idea of PB and J.
I LOVE that you made peanut butter and jelly macarons...like REALLY love it, as in I'd love to get some from you! They look SO beautiful and delicious!! I think we all reverted to other recipes in this challenge..lol
So pretty! I'm glad you found a recipe that worked!
Your macaron looks awesome.. I absolutely adore the flavour combination that you chose. you can't go wrong with peanut butter and strawberry jelly. Like yourself, I think flavour combos was the most enjoyable componment of the experience.
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