sunday morning macarons

Inspired by  a lovely Whatsapp conversation with the Brettonites this morning, I decided to get out of bed and venture into the kitchen and make some MACARONS. I have never made these before....you might call me a macaron virgin.

 I see them in a wonderful patisserie shop window in Kensington every time I go up to the Marsden, and I always think that they look so enchanting - far too pretty to eat. I've watched the Bakeoff contestants make them too - in the early rounds. They must be a doddle!

So...... found a recipe online 👍

Search through kitchen cupboards for ingredients  👍

hmmmmmmmm. almond flour? Thought I had some lurking in the recesses of the baking cupboard....can't find it.  A quick Google search tells me that if I substitute ground almonds for coconut flour, then I need to quarter the amount..... surely not! ? That will mean that I shall only need 22.5g of coconut flour to 210g powdered sugar (which I am assuming means 'icing sugar'). I decide to ignore the internet advice and use an equal amount of coconut flour. I thought I'd add an extra egg white, just in case the mixture is a trifle heavy.....

Decided to use a green colouring to enhance my bake, very pretty. 

Oh! Can't find my piping bag either. Never mind. I shall improvise! We used to do this when I was a child - made piping bags out of greaseproof paper all the time!

I don't know if baking parchment is different to the greaseproof paper of old.... but I just couldn't get a proficient piping bag shape going, no matter how good I am at Origami! It kept slithering and sliding all over the place. There was no way I was going to be able to fill it with my perfect macaron mixture in order to pipe perfect circles on my baking tray........

I know - use some masking tape....yup...that'll do the trick!

Well........I have no photographic evidence of my make-do piping bag, which is a shame. But I was far too busy clearing up the green mess as it escaped through the seams of my makeshift bag to be picking up my phone and capturing images of the creative process.

The mixture seemed a bit stodgy, and as I piped, I realised that things weren't going too well. I abandoned all hope of making perfectly matching circles, and instead, just got them loosely piped (dolloped) onto the baking paper on the tray. 

I had a quick lick of the bowl. 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm????

Maybe that coconut flour has been in the cupboard for some time????? Slightly gritty..... it'll be better once it's cooked and risen up a bit, I tell myself. I need to look out for 'the foot' to rise apparently.  What is the bloody 'foot'? Ask Ali - she knows!

The recipe said to leave them to air dry for half an hour.  Yup. Did that. 👌👌

Right. Put them in the oven. Doesn't matter that they look like pale mountains. Like the South Downs, I muse.......They'll taste great, I'm sure. I take a picture of the macarons prior to baking and send a picture on my family whatsapp. (Also sent it to the Brettonites - who had instigated this endeavour in the first place). 

I'd already sent a picture of the recipe macaron earlier,  telling my family of the culinary delights that I was intending to make, and Josh had said "Oh! Great! When did you say you were coming down again, Mum?" (Not - Covid prevents that )

When the picture of my macarons had gone, the reply came back instantaneously "Sorry, Mum. We're really busy here. No time at all."

Ned replied with the reminder that when our golden retriever Toosie was a puppy, I had been very concerned that she was haemorrhaging internally one day, because she had blood-stained poo.. ....... until we realised that there was a missing red wellington boot. 

Ned has now named my macarons: green Tootsie poo. 

The Brettonites were also quite amused, and Ali had the chance to brag about the wonderful macarons she had made yesterday, (please see the picture above, I cannot bear to include it twice!) and was about to deliver to a friend- and had sent the aforementioned picture to substantiate her claims (well,  I had asked her too, as well, to be fair) .  I think my very good friend Alison had already realised that my Sunday morning endeavours were not going to be successful, as I quite clearly had no comprehension of macaron anatomy. 

Well. They are out of the oven now. The recipe told me that I should transfer them to a wire rack to cool. 

My green macarons refused to be moved - despite their turgid viscosity when they went in the oven, they were now as fluid as a river of molten lava. I've left them in the oven to cool. They'll be fine after an hour or so, I'm sure. 

One thing I can promise you all, dear readers. Whatever the result. THEY SHALL BE EATEN! (I just might have to sandwich them together with Nutella to ensure that statement comes to fruition.........)

And whether one is impressed by my macarons or not - look at my bloody lovely kitchen tiles!!!!!