Macarons

There is a famous chef in Australia, Adrian Zumbo who I was introduced to through our favorite TV program MasterChef. Adrian Zumbo is famous for his French pastries particularly Macarons. These little cookies have had a piece of my heart since I studied in Paris. After watching Adrian Zumbo and the contestants on Masterchef attempt to make Macarons and Macaron towers I was intrigued. Once the show ended I quickly forgot about Macarons until I heard that Adrian Zumbo had opened a new shop in Manly of all places. Upon my first bite of his delicious Rose Macarons I was immediately intrigued once again. Really? How hard could these be to make? I had always heard they were difficult but really? I assumed all one needed was some time and patience. I mapped out my weekend according to my big Macaron plan...it was supposed to be storming on Sunday, perfect. If i couldn't go to the beach I might as well make Macarons. I spent the week prior researching on the internet, bought a Macaron cookbook for my kindle and bought all the ingredients and tools I needed. Sunday morning I woke up and of course no rain and high humidity (not the best conditions for Macarons). It was my plan to make Macarons and anyone who knows me knows I don't like to change my plans!! There are no photos of my first attempt and trust me you don't want to see them. It was an absolute disaster. I failed, hard. There were tears and maybe a glass of wine at the end of it. How could I have just spent 5 hours on something that was a disaster! If it wasn't one thing it was another...at one point i was covered in batter!!!! The only part that turned out was the Vanilla Butter-cream and I wasn't about to pat myself on the back for that one. First attempt: FAILURE. I would leave it to Adrian Zumbo and continue to pay his ridiculous prices to eat Rose flavored Macarons. On Monday after work I stopped buy to bury my sorrows in one to find them SOLD OUT!

I thought I was done but I couldn't accept the failure so I went back to the internet. Why were they flat? What the heck had happened? I read enough to see where I had gone wrong, could have been too humid, my almond meal was too wet, my 'Macaronnage' or mixing the 'tant pour tant' method was off, or most likely I wasn't a baker. :) Either way I decided to do it again, my husbands response "Are you sure thats a good idea?"

Once again Sunday morning after going to the Farmers Market I started to pull out all my ingredients only to realize, I hadn't yet separated my egg whites and let them sit for 1-3 days, oops. I hadn't let the Almond Meal dry out. Double oops. Decision made, in order to avoid disaster I would prep today and bake into the week. Last in the afternoon I had a though...would Adrian Zumbo who produces these daily be separating his egg whites days in advance? Maybe..but it wasn't likely. I went online again and found the simplest Macaron recipes (by good ole Martha). There was no technical advice, it was 4 steps. I figured why not and I gave it a go. The results....SUCCESS!!!!! I couldn't believe it, it was almost too good to be true as I looked in the oven and saw that my Macarons had feet!!!!

I was ecstatic! They weren't the prettiest size wise and for some reason the filling was my problem this time but I didn't care! They looked like Macarons and even better...they tasted like them too. I may not be ready to give Adrian Zumbo a run for his money but watch out I am on my way.