Macaron anyone?

The first time I successfully made my first french macaron, I was hooked. Those crazy, cool, sweet & crunchy morsels of joy are are addictive. In more ways than one.

The folks at She Knows just posted a gallery of my many macaron adventures. Take a tour. I hope they inspire you to try them yourself someday. If not, I hope they at least make you smile.

P.S.

As I went through all of my photos last month, gathering images, it suddenly occurred to me how many FREAKIN' macarons I've made in two years. Geez. No wonder my house is such a mess. ;)

Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. 

So, I had to eat him.

I've been baking some nursery rhyme and storybook sweets this week for a baby shower on Saturday. (More photos to come. Lots. More. Photos.)

It seemed a shame to crack this little egg-shaped Humpty Dumpty macaron for a photo. But, as the story goes..... all the kings horses, and all the kings men, couldn't put Humpty together again.

Baby Chick Macarons

Cheep! Chirp! Chomp! Who wouldn't want a bite of these Easter chicks?

I cut yellow jellybeans in half for the little wings, used an orange triangle decorator candy for the nose, and added some googley eyes (that I found at my local cake supply store.)

Carrot Macarons

I'm lovin' these cute colanders of clever crunchy carrots. (I got the mini colanders at World Market. Only $1.99! So, of course, I had to buy three of them.)

When I made these carrots the first time, I just piped the macaron batter into the shape of a carrot. But the next time I made them, I left the batter a little stiffer and piped them with this zig-zag pattern. Much better, dontcha think?

Cut up some lime green licorice for the leafy tops, and voilà! ... the cutest carrots you'll ever wanna crunch!

Funny Bunny Macarons

Hey Mr. Easter Bunny.... fill my basket with these sweet little guys this year! 

The trick to keeping white macarons WHITE when you're baking them, is to put a layer of tin foil on the top baking rack above your cookie sheet. It keeps them from browning.

To make the bunny's ears, just cut a mini marshmallow in half, and then dip the sticky edge in pink sanding sugar.

Little Lamb Macarons

I posted on these a few weeks ago, but I thought I'd highlight of few things that I experimented with when I attempted to make them again.

First of all, if you leave the macaron batter a little stiffer, they pipe into nice fluffy, puffy wooly circles. Also, the 1-1/2 inch circle template works better. They're smaller and easier to eat. I still used black licorice for the legs, but after I was done, I realized that pretzel sticks might have been better. (More people prefer to eat pretzel sticks instead of black licorice.) And instead of attaching tiny pieces of licorice for the ears, the next time I piped them on with black frosting - much easier.

March Macaron Madness

The kids and I are taking the week off for some Spring Break fun. In between trips to the Sedgwick County Zoo, Botanica and maybe a movie or two, I plan to test out more marvelous macaron recipes for my class on Saturday, March 24th.

These clever carrots turned out great, once I found the perfect ingredient for their leafy green tops - lime licorice!


And in case you didn't know, March 20th is World Macaron Day! I will be celebrating, for sure.