Operation Macaron

My dear friend Peeps and I (among others in Edmonton) could probably go to Duchess every day if our budgets and butts allowed. It's also become Garrett and I's fav place to go for a snack and a coffee pre-dog park with Lando since it's quite close. I like to try something different each time I go there but I always have at least one of their adorable, delicious macaron. I figured that they must be an awful lot of work, considering how much they cost; I also thought it would be a fabulous way to christen Peeps beautiful new kitchen!

This blog post by the Wedding Chicks is so fantastic that I'm not even going to bother trying to write my own description of how things went down, since we followed the instructions step-by-step, by the page. I'll post our pictures and our observations but definitely read their post and oogle at their lovely photos!

The blog stressed the importance of gathering all your ingredients and materials so everything is ready to go. I think working with a second set of hands was also super important. That little bag of almond meal was about $12 at Save-on-Foods so next time I may be grinding my own blanched almonds. It just seemed easier to buy it this time!

CUTEST YOLKS! Fun tip: you can easily freeze egg yolks! They can thicken then you freeze them but to prevent them from becoming too gelatinous, add 1/8 tsp of salt per 4 eggsOR 1/4 cup corn syrup, depending on what you plan to use them for later (savory dish vs. sweet dish). Label them!

It was Easter so we thought pink would be a fun color.

You'll notice that these turned out kind of lumpy and not as smooth as your traditional macaron. We have chalked this up to not having a tip for our piping bag. We need to take a trip to Russell Foods here in Edmonton and get some stuff!

Not super smooth, but great feet!

Peeps called them monster macaron since they are HUGE and couldn't stand on their own.  We went for a simple vanilla buttercream filling with yellow coloring, again for Easter!

Despite their initial unprettiness, they broke down just like Duchess and they tasted DAMN good!

Macaron are best if eaten within a couple days which was really no problem at all. All in all we learnt a lot and I think that next time we make macaron that they'll be even better! I think I might try to whip some of these up for Peeps bridal shower, if I'm feeling especially motivated. I'm looking forward to trying more flavors.