I think life is finally returning to normal after an unusually hectic August. A and I were travelling for weddings and family commitments every weekend, culminating in our annual Labor Day tradition – a visit from our West Coast friends.
What a waste today was. Friday… the end of a four day work week, turned into a three day work week for me due to busted internet, which forced me to stay home and wait for the cable guy. I know… I probably should not complain. But the weather was foul and I have no internet, which means I can’t work… can’t do much of anything and I am stuck inside, waiting. Also, I know I will pay for this unexpected day off when I arrive back at work on Monday to the pile of untouched papers and unread email.
What does one do when stuck at home with nothing to do? For me the answer, of course, is bake. I decided that I might as well make a third attempt at macarons. Veronica over at Kitchen Musings was kind enough to respond to my calls for help. After taking a look at the photos of my past efforts, she suggested that I was probably under-baking them. My third attempt indicates she was right.
I made the standard recipe for almond macarons listed at Kitchen Musings. I decided that until I get these things right, I better not waste ingredients by trying to make fancy flavors. Third time is a charm. Though the macarons were still not perfect, I did not have the same problems with deflating cookies sticking to the sheet and falling apart. They didn’t exactly glide off the sheet like the recipe says they should, but I was able to remove them without completely destroying them. Though they did hold together, I noticed that the top of the cookie did seem to sink into the “foot”, while the skins were still a bit fragile. I suspect that this could have resulted from slight over-mixing – something I will need to focus on for the next time around.
In the meantime, A should be delighted to see that this batch is not going straight from the oven into the garbage. His dollars and cents mindset causes him some anguish each time he sees me throw out ingredients. “Stop wasting money” he says, to which I remind him that trial and error at home is cheaper that tuition for pastry school!
I think that a dark chocolate ganache would be a nice complement for my first almost macaron success!
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