holy moly macaron-oly!

first off... i just wanna give myself a big round of kudos! right now, being overly pregnant (the baby is due any day now!) it takes a lot to get me in a good mood (just ask my hubby!)... anyways i decided to tackle the popular but somewhat tricky macaron... and for a first timer to this little Parisian sweet i have to say i am mighty proud of the results!

i have been researching these little confections for quite some time, and i finally got up the nerve to make 'em... i've been reading several other bloggers posts, though mainly from a awesome lady who goes by the name "tartelette"... and dude, if you haven't checked out her site do so... its incredibly yummy and very inspiring! and i think the hubs was happy i finally decided to make 'em, cause i've been talking about them for months... and he really had no idea what to expect so he was just as excited to eat them as i was to make them!

anyways... after much deliberation, i decided to go with a simple macaron sprinkled with a little dark cocoa powder and filled with a marscapone Kahlua cream (you know, tiramisu!)... so i got my egg whites out and "aged" them, ground my almonds and i was ready to go!

so here we go...

macarons adapted from "tartelette"

for the shells:

3 egg whites (about 90 grams)

40 grams granulated sugar

200 grams confectioners sugar

55 grams ground almonds

directions:

1. For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not over beat your meringue or it will be too dry.

3. Combine the almonds and confectioners sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground.

4. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down.

5. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.

6. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.

7. Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on their size.

for the filling:

4 ozs. softened marscapone cheese

2 tbsp Kahlua

1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar

directions:

1. let the marscapone soften, and mix in the Kahlua and confectioners sugar until smooth and creamy (you can add more Kahlua and confectioners sugar to taste if you like)

2. spoon the filling onto one macaron and sandwich with another, then enjoy the sweet goodness!

don't you just wanna sink your teeth into this!

so as i said before, i'm grinning from ear to ear... hella proud of myself for my first attempt which was a crazy success! i was majorly afraid they were gonna come out like my "whoopie pies" which weren't the loveliest confections on the block... but now with some macaron confidence, there's no stopping me!