many more macarons.

Tired of schoolwork and bored of making chocolate macarons (actually, you can never be bored of macarons), I asked some of my lovely friends from camp if they wanted me to make them some. Their enthusiasm was quite frightening, actually, but I was glad to seek out new recipes. On my quest, I learned that you should age the eggs separated. It makes sense. So I separated them and left the whites out for almost a day. Trust me on this. Every french pastry chef ages them for at least a day. And don't worry about the germs and whatnot. Egg whites have antibacterial properties. Just be sure to cover them with plastic wrap to keep any outside stuff from getting in your macs. Because that would be yucky. So today I am going to make...

Sarah's white chocolate macarons!

I am making a basic batter recipe from the traveler's lunchbox blog. We need preheat he oven to 325 degrees, then sift together 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar and 1 cup almond flour. Now, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and gradually add 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add 1/2 tsp. any flavor extract. I am using a 1/4 tsp. each of vanilla and chocolate extract. Aging the eggs made them whip up a lot faster. Be careful not to overbeat. Fold in the dry ingredients and pipe the batter onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Let them set and form a skin for about an hour, then bake them for about 10 minutes. Once you take them out, let them cool completely and add your filling.

I am making a white chocolate glaze for these and to mix with lemon curd for lemon macarons. My recipe does make a lot of glaze. Basically, heat 1/2 cup soymilk until it simmers, then pour it over 12 ounces of chopped white chocolate. Let the heat start to melt the chocolate, then stir it until they are smooth and combined. Let it cool in the refrigerator until it becomes slightly thicker. You might pour this over a cake or some ice cream or something. Or eat it with a spoon.

This was my first time making macarons without chocolate. I would say that overall, they were a success. The only issue was that they were sort of hollow. I have read that this comes from overbeating the eggs or undercooking the macarons. Also, the feet seem to form in odd shapes, as if the shells float around on an ocean of batter. I am liking the whiteness of these though; they remind me of popcorn.

Glazed, the cookies had the perfect balance of crunchy and gooey (in a really good way). The glaze acted almost like a glue. Together, the macarons are very sweet, but would be nice with a cup of coffee. I will send them tomorrow and post about how they held up soon.

Sarah, you are so lucky.

xoxo,

allie