March 20th is Le Jour Du Macaron or The Day of the Macaron. This is my first month as part of the MacTweets Group and the theme is “Spring”.
The awakening of my deciduous trees, flowers, hummingbirds, yellow and lemons scream Springtime, so my first attempt at macarons (since the Daring Baker’s Challenge back in October 2009) is lemon macarons with lemon curd. I could not find powdered food coloring or powdered flavored extracts. I’m mystified of how to add flavors and create beautiful colors. I added some yellow paste food coloring to the macaronnage, but was worried about adding too much and causing a bad reaction to the macaron. As evidenced in the photo above…it doesn’t look like I added any food color at all.
I aged three egg whites and it was a disaster. The texture was all wrong. I ended up throwing it out and starting over with fresh egg whites. Additionally, I added 3/4 teaspoon of dried lemon peel to the almond flour/confectioner’s sugar mixture in hopes of added lemon flavor. Not enough lemon flavor.
Because I was both excited and nervous about the macaron’s outcome, I totally forgot to give the pan a couple of good taps. I’m not sure what was the cause, but my macarons were not smooth. They actually held the shape on the top of where my tip left off when piping (not good). I was elated that there was a pied (feet). I look forward to trying it again next week…I’m determined to get a yellow, lemon macaron as I had envisioned. I wouldn’t say it was a failure – they tasted delicious and the texture was there when biting into it. However, my results were not as successful as my initial attempt with the Daring Baker’s challenge and they certainly don’t look like “lemon” macarons I’d find at Bouchon’s or all the other beautiful macs fellow bloggers are creating.
For my notes and recipe used (from Martha Stewart’s Site) please refer to this post: Daring Bakers – October 2009: Parisian Macarons.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
You can add color and flavor with freeze dried fruits (blended into a powder), and/or by using powdered food coloring.
as soon as I clicked on your blog I knew I had been here :)
I’m so glad we met today!
- @redkathy & @Diane: Thank you! I think all the hype makes folks nervous about trying to make macarons. It’s a fun challenge and even more fun eating ‘em!
I haven’t attempted them yet, but soon :) Lemon sounds delicious!
Oh my gosh, I wouldn’t even attempt these. I think they look fantastic and your shots are always over the top, so crisp!! I’ve read numerous posts claiming big issues with the feet, never mind the color. I’m sure you will conquer this color thing PDQ. Have a great evening.
- @sweetlife: Thank you! (really 2nd/3rd attempt) It’s a lot of fun, the challenge =)
your first attempt???really girl wow!! I would never attempt haha
sweetlife
- denise @ quickies on the dinner table: Thanks Denise!
- @citronetvanille: Thanks Silvia! I’m working on figuring out what makes those macarons tick! =)
- Jamie @Lifesafeast: Jamie thanks for including me in the MacTweets post and apologies for my tardiness. I look forward to next month’s challenge and am going to start by changing the almond flour I use. I think this will help with the texture and appearance! Happy Macaron Day! =)
- Biren @ Roti n Rice: I’ve sent you an email…we’re gonna find that spice so you can try it out! Thx for your kind words on the attempted lemon macarons.
To me, your first attempt looks pretty good. Yes, I have seen those with fantastic colors and matching fillings. They must use a lot of food colorings. Yours look delicious.
BTW, I did leave another comment on your Chai Cookies. I don’t know how to get your e-mail address. Whenever I click on you from my page, I come here directly :)
Thanks for getting this under the wire for Mactweets and allowing us to push you to once again try your hand at macs. They actually look pretty yummy and I love anything lemon so the flavor is perfect.
To try and answer your question – not sure! Ha! Were your dry ingredients well sifted? It doesn’t look to me like they ran so your batter wasn’t too dry. Maybe sift better and fold a bit more (try the spot test – a drop of batter on a clean plate) then leave to dry a bit longer.
Either way I still think they look pretty good and darn yummy! And super happy you are part of the Mactweets Team! And don’t worry, we all have ups and downs and there is always next month!
I am not a macaron expert, but I know what a good macaron looks like and yours look really good. I like the fact that you can see a bit of the texture in it.
Beautiful Cristina! Lemon is always right by me :)
- @Daydreamer Desserts: Thank you! I need so much practice. I’m gonna be contacting you for macaron advice (so hide!). =)
Tres bien Tina!