macarons!
to be honest i was very sceptical about the hype around this little cookie before i tried them.
i thought "pah, the french and their meringue watcha-ma-call-its, with those crazy fillings. jasmin, olive oil, iced tea. if they were so great they would be popular in germany, wouldn't they?"
and then i got to try them, buy them, make them (hundreds of 'em!) and i loved them!
i don't understand why they aren't so popular here in germany.
only few stores have them, and the ones that do usually import them from france.
it seems the germans like to stick to their accustomed pastry and cream products...
macarons!
you can't eat a lot of them at once.
they sure are sweet.
but their exquisite shell giving away to a burst of flavorful filling.
since france, i want to eat them at least once a month.
check out the first macarons i tried.
macarons
makes about twelve
1 egg white
10g powdered sugar
food coloring (gel)
some vanilla seeds (optinal)
pinch of salt
90g powdered sugar
45g finely ground almonds
mirabelle jam (mine was homemade by my wonderful mother) for filling
let egg white beat with sugar, food coloring, vanilla and salt until stiff.
meanwhile, weigh powdered sugar and almonds into your food processor and grind finely.
this is really important, because you don't want any bigger pieces of almonds in your macaron mix. the will prevent a smooth and pretty shell after baking.
when the meringue is stiff, add dry ingredients and fold in. this will take quite a few strokes, but do not over-mix, or else your macarons will be runny.
now pipe the macarons unto a baking sheet with a pastry bag.
if you want to make sure they all turn out the same size, prepare a baking paper with pre-drawn circles.
let dry for around 30 minutes, meanwhile preheating the oven to 145 degrees celcius.
bake for 13-16 minutes or until the shell is quite hardened.
let the macarons cool down before filling them.
i also used a pastry bag with the jam to fill them.
