The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
Oh, macarons. I hate you. I hate you so much. Almond meal expensive ($10.49 for a 16oz bag) and the likelihood that I will screw you up is high. I've never made macarons before, nor have I even tasted one, so the entire process was new to me. I had actually forgotten about the challenge, knowing that I would be disappointed with the results. Macarons are notoriously difficult to master, so I wasn't expecting them to turn out on my first try. However, I was kind of hoping I would. Just because I hate wasting food.
After beating the egg whites I felt like I was on the right track. Until I had to add the confectioner's sugar and the almond flour/meal. The folding was making the egg whites quite gooey and gloopy, and I was afraid that I had already over-folded the egg mixture to the point of failure. I then realized that these were not going to taste like anything as I had not chosen a flavor. After quickly reading the information about flavoring and coloring, I panicked, and put two tablespoons of instant hazelnut espresso powder into the mix.
The almond flour was labeled "almond/meal." I believe this is the "meal" part as it would not fit thorugh the strainer holes! Damn you Bob and your shiny Red Mill!
Oh.... the kitchen is a mess. A hot, sticky, eggy mess.
Did my macarons have the much coveted feet? Nope.
I've decided to call them "Natalie's Crazy Cakes" because they are of my own invention and they are making me crazy. I had some leftover dark chocolate ganache from a cake I made in September (hey... it refridgerates well) so I picked up my crazy cake crumbs and sandwiched that shit in between and enjoyed my sticky gooey chocolate egg pancake cookies. And they tasted darn good.
Oh well, right? :)
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