Midweek Macaron Mania

In honor of National Macaron Day (which was apparently last Friday, March 20th!) I thought it would be fun to share my experience with these delicious, beautiful, but incredibly temperamental desserts! I have made macarons various times, and while luckily they have turned out looking great more often than not, Mary and I have still had some not-so-beautiful looking batches! 

A few years back when Mary and I first endeavored to make a batch of macarons, luck was in our favor and they seemed to turn out pretty well for our first try! At the time we were both working at Marcel's Culinary Experience, a lovely cooking store in our hometown that sells the cutest things and offers the best cooking classes, and when we saw a Macaron class on the class calendar we both signed up right away! 

The cooking class was SO much fun and Mary and I were some of the only ones in the class who had previous experience making these finicky desserts! We made a few varieties, including mint with chocolate filling, chocolate hazelnut with espresso filling, lemon with lemon curd filling and vanilla with raspberry filling! They all turned out pretty well (a tad bit flat) and I was sure to snap an artsy pic of our gorgeous creations! Since then we have made macarons a few times, though it seems we haven't made them in a while!

Macarons from the cooking class!

Macarons made after cooking class! (You can see we got a little better!)  

When making macarons, being precise about measurements and mixing the ingredients properly really is key for achieving the perfect texture and taste! While in many dessert recipes it won't hurt to accidentally add in some extra ingredient or stir the batter a little too long, these guys are quite tricky and have to be made just right! There are lots of cookbooks and tutorials on making the perfect macarons, and I love the easy-to-follow recipe from Annie's Eats linked here! You can get pretty creative with flavors, fillings, and even designs!  Lately I've been in the mood to bake another batch and have found some lovely looking recipes! Here are just a few! 

1. Fruit Macarons from Sugar and Cloth- 

While this is not a recipe, as they are decorated bakery bought macarons, the designs are still too cute and made using food markers and royal icing leaves! I'd love to take a shot at these with homemade macarons! 

2. Lemon Raspberry Macarons with Lemon Curd and Raspberry French Buttercream 

via Hint of Vanilla-

The flavor combination sounds delectable and these look gorgeous! 

The "ultimate" macarons seem to be from Ladurée, a French bakery with locations in France and in New York City! It's definitely on my bucket list to visit Ladurée and eat one of their world-famous, beautiful desserts. Last year Bailey gave Mary and I a Ladurée dessert recipe book, and there are so many recipes I have been wanting to try! 

image via Barnes and Noble 

Aren't these the cutest desserts? They are so fun to make and also so tasty! Délicieux!

Have a great Wednesday! 

xo, 

Hannah