Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Weekend Baking - French Macarons (1st & 2nd Attempt)

Last Saturday, I attempted to bake one of my most craved food that is not available in our town -  French Macarons!  I can only buy this delicate confection in Manila which is 2 - 3 hours away from our home.  Since it is pretty much hard to get, I decided to try to make my own at home.


I followed the instructions of Bakerella for the macaron shells.  Then I made my own recipe for a yema filling instead of ganache or buttercream.

Unfortunately, my 1st attempt failed.  Cause of failure = short baking time.  I followed the 18 minutes instruction from Bakerella because I was afraid I might overcook the shells.  But I was sooo wrong.  I should have baked the batch for 25 minutes.  Some shells from the 1st batch had feet and smooth top shells but they break when i try to peel away the baking sheets.  Sad.


But my Quality Control Team (my cousins and my aunt and my mom and my sister and my DH) enjoyed the yema filling.  They paired it with my sister's pan de sal. Happy.  

While taste testing my yema filling, I prepared my 2nd batch, this time I colored it pastel green. 


Can you see the feet of some shells? However, the top shells were cracked and most didn't have feet.  I think I underfold the mixture and I raised the oven temperature a bit higher to cook the batch faster.  But again, I was soooo wrong.  My QCT enjoyed them nonetheless.  And they encouraged me to practice some more and to remember to invite them over again for quality control. Hahaha That's why I love them s much!  

Ohhh this is a start of something beautiful. I know.

On the other news,  I find it hard to do paper and needle crafts these days.  Our kind university nurse advised me to visit an ophthalmologist to have my eyes tested.  I'm starting to have an impaired vision so I might be needing a pair of eyeglasses. Sad.  But I'm looking forward to finding the cutest pair of glasses for mah eyes!


2 comments:

  1. Aw, sige lang try lang ng try untl you get it right. It's the same thing happened to me when I was making my own Bailey's years ago but on the 3rd try it was perfect - exactly the same taste of original Bailey's. As for your eyes, ang layo mo kse eh, di sana my hubby will do the checking of your eyes plus free eyeglasses. Btw, if you are much into computer I suggest you also get a terminal eyeglass aside from the required eyeglasses you'll be needing.

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    1. Thanks Jerosha!

      Sayang, wala kayo dito ng DH mo! hehehe Sige po kuha din ako nung sinuggest mo na terminal eyeglass. I was thinking that too much time in front of the computer caused this poor eyesight. I had a terrible headache last night probably because of my eyes. hayyy

      As for the macarons, I am hoping to do it right the 3rd time. this weekend ulit. hehe :D

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