Road to Macaroons: Making the Macarons!!

Time to get down to business!! I found a YouTube Video that had sort of the recipe on it, I followed the videos instead but I added coffee to my ganache (again, two kids 1 year and 2.75 years old). 

So I sifted the flour again, weighed it at 125g. Then I sifted the powdered (confectioner) sugar. Then I combined them, by sifting them again. I added the coco powder and instant coffee at this point.

I started on the egg whites. Let me say, I thought I over whisked them in BOTH batches because I got a hollow bit at the top, turns out my oven was a smidge too high when baking. After 2 days of "maturing" the air space went away and they were PERFECT!! So if you didn't know you're supposed to age your Macrons for 24 hours at least in the fridge. That way the filing and the cookie doe their "thing" and become perfect. Anyways back to egg whites. I used my KitchenAid mixer but you can use a hand mixer. It took about 5-7min from start to finish (the second time my eggs were cold and still only took 7min). I put in cream of tartar for the help, heck I want them to look good so why not?!

Mix until stiff peaks form. THIS is stiff peaks below. STOP as soon as they do this.

My recipe says to add it in all at once, both of them did say this, well second time round I added them in thirds. Geesh, that was A LOT easier actually. 

Let me say something here. This is the piping step. USE A BIG HOLED TIP aka a STAR TIP. Do it. I didn't and it was a mess the first time. The second time, omg you'll see below how much better they were the second time round. Now it says wait 30 minutes for a skin to form. No idea why but mine formed within piping time (about 10 minutes both times). This didn't allow me to get the air bubbles out creating some uneven raising but meh they worked. So in the oven they went. Feet, oh glorious almost impossible to get feet... I got them with EVERY one both times!! 

 Out of the oven after 15 minutes!! First batch, look at that piping job... Yup I cringe too.

Here is my ganache (which was enough for two batches of macarons. This is the star tip I used to pipe the second batch of macarons.

Filing and pairing. They are delicious!!

NOW the second batch. Look at THAT piping!! Yay, so much better, and I didn't use templates for either batch. Seriously these were for me and my husband, not to sell!

Want to make your own? DO it, but get the almond flour from the store. It was a bit too much, however quality was kept the whole time and they are so delicious!