Day 3 - Macarons

Here we have Day 3's effort.

Earlier this year I had the EXTREME pleasure of visiting Paris with some of my favourite people in the whole world. Our plans beforehand mainly focused on cheese and wine, but quickly diverged into cakes, some more cakes, and "ooh, we should get a cake!" every ten minutes. There were some amazing creations out there, one of which will always hold a special place in my heart. I would seriously consider hopping on the Eurostar just to go and get another one of these things. The fact that Nich is currently residing in the city would just sweeten the deal.

Sadly for me, we didn't get back to the patisserie where I found that beautiful confection, but we did visit a lot more. This was when the Macaron wormed its way into my affections. It became the cake I got every day, and we brought back a massive box full for my parents as a "thank you for letting us stay in the house on the way to the Channel Tunnel" present.

I decided I would have to give them a go. Now I enjoy baking, but I knew they were going to be a challenge and have been a little afraid of taking them on. Earlier this week, however, the flatmates and I were in Accessorize and Samantha found a Macaron kit for £3. I couldn't resist. It's not quite as useful as it might have been, it contains a piping bag and nozzle, parchment paper with stencils, and cellophane bags and ribbons for presenting your creations as gifts.

So today I bought my supplies, whacked on some Eddie Izzard in the background, and got baking. It all went surprisingly well for a long time which is generally worrying. As forecast, I got something wrong. I misread (read:didn't read) the recipe and put them in the oven too early. In the bin the first batch went. Second batch I apparently did everything right but they're still not great. To use up the leftover batter I made a few slightly bigger ones, and gave them a lot less time in the oven than the others. As I said to Samantha earlier "Our oven is hot". Confucius Murphy they call me. I also brushed on some bronze lustre. Bought this awhile ago and I am completely magpie mad on the stuff. Nearly bought some silver and gold today as well, just because it's so pretty and shiny and beautiful. The last lot are yummy. MMM.

I had LOADS of ganache left over, and LOADS of cream as I'd bought the wrong size. I whipped up the cream, folded into the ganache, and that's the mousse you see under the smiley face. It's yummy too. TASTY.

The second photo shows you one of the good ones, and some Physalis. I totally love and adore physalis, and it has helped get through some of the ganache. FRUITY.

Until tomorrow (unless I have overindulged and am in a chocolate coma),

Stephie

xxx