They deserve an exclamation mark! So did that last sentence! And that one…ok, enough with that.

I made macarons yesterday! Do not know what this is? Well, it is not a misspelled version of macaroons. Macarons are a French treat and I made them! Yes I did! I am very proud of making them and the fact they they turned out absolutely wonderful because in my research of them I didn’t stop hearing that they were extremely hard to make and that only the French can make them, etc.

Macarons are made with ground almonds and icing sugar carefully folded into some stiff egg whites. And the technique is very, very specific. When the recipe called for folding the mixture until a thick ribbon forms, I didn’t fold one less stroke or one more stroke. I have heard that even one extra fold in the batter can cause the tops to crack…still yummy, but not serve-able.

The taste of them was delectable, they simply melt in your mouth! And the look on other people’s faces when they try them is priceless! It is definitely worth a try.This was my first time making them and they turned out perfect so I am sure if you use a careful I and your intuition the whole recipe, they will be perfect for you as well…

I will put the chocolate ganache in a separate post and only show the macaron recipe here…

You will need:

• 3-3 day old (yes, three day old, sitting on the counter!) egg whites. This is a must! Anyways, egg whites have antibacterial properties so don’t fret, just keep them covered!
• 25 grams granulated sugar
• 200 grams icing sugar
• 100 grams whole almonds

This is a food scale:

Measure out your sugar, icing sugar and almonds…

Grind the almonds and the icing sugar together. I use a coffee grinder because I do not own a food processor. It works for me! The icing sugar and the almonds need to be ground together so that the icing sugar absorbs the moisture and you don’t get almond butter…

Use a sieve and shake the mixture through it to get out any chunks. Those chucks can be thrown away…

Now whisk the mixture to lighten it up…

Now begin to whisk your 3 egg whites. When they look like bubble bath begin slowly adding the sugar…

Beat them until they are at stiff peaks. They should look like shaving cream and when you turn the bowl over, they won’t fall out…

Add the almond mixture to the bowl…

Begin by stirring it vigorously for the first 20-30 seconds or so them begin to really gently fold. Put your spatula in the middle of the mixture and scrape everything along the bottom and bring it to the top. Do one fold at a time. Stop every few folds to evaluate. The mixture should form thick ribbons meaning that when it falls off the spoon it should be thick and you should be able to see it in the bowl. It won’t meld into the rest of the batter right away…

Now put the mixture into a piping bag. I don’t have piping bags so I used a ziplock bag instead. It worked perfectly!

Pipe them onto a parchment paper covered tray. You want 1 1/2 inch circles…

Bang the pan a frew times on the counter and let these sit out for 45 minutes before you bake them. Then bake them for 15 minutes at 280 degrees (F)…

Let them sit for 10 minutes to cool. Now take some chocolate ganache and spoon it onto one…

Very carefully place another one on top and press ever so gently…

Opps! Don’t press too hard…

Et, Voila! They are ready to serve!