The french Macaron craze has hit America pretty hard the last couple of years. I loved eating them in France over 20 years ago.  But they just looked to delicate and hard to make.  I have to say the  best I've had are at the famous chocolate shop in paris called " La Masion du Chocolat".  A couple of months ago I even took a class on the art of making these delicious little treats.  The teacher was obsessed on how they looked, rather than the taste, I thought they were bland.    Then I meet this wonderful cook at the Salt lake farmers mkt.  We immediately connected.  Her family had imagrated from Croatia 15 years ago, and my mothers side of the family is from Croatia.  She shared some of her Macarons and they were delicious.  She said "they aren't perfect, but they taste good". I didn't make macarons for long time because I was afraid they wouldn't be perfect. Now I don't care if they are perfect, I just want them to taste great. They are a little delicate and take some thought and pre-planning. Just go for it, even if they flop, they'll still taste good!   
                       Bon Appetite,  Peggy

The only way to really ramp up the taste of macarons is through the fillings.  The Macarons it's self is pretty standard, you can add a bit of color and flavorings,but not much. So that being said, make your filling first.  In my Macaron I used a lemon curd that has been infused with lavender.  My favorite lemon curd recipe you'll find on my daughters blog www.rozlynnshomemadegoodness.blogspot.com her blog is also connected to mine.  I add 1 tsp. lavender then strain it at the end before the butter is added. All curds should be strained to eliminate any stray egg whites.       

Basic Macaron recipe

pre- heat oven 300

68 gram egg whites, covered and aged at room temp for 12-24 hours

34 grams sugar

75 grams blanched almonds

136 grams confectioners sugar

Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix until frothy. Add sugar a little at a time, scraping down sides of bowl.  When sugar is incorporated turn mixer to med high and beat until stiff peaks form.  

Combine almonds and confectioners sugar in a food processor until you can not distinguish the almonds from the sugar.  

With a spatula incorporate half of the almond mixture into the egg whites.  This first half you mix slightly vigorously just until almonds are incorporated.  The second half of the almonds mixture should be incorporated gently using a folding technique.  Fold in just until all is combine, not too much.

Fit a large pastry bag with a #6 or #7 tip.  Pipe a 1 inch rounds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Now, if you want to try to be perfect you can down load a pattern you put under your parchment. Let Macarons sit on the counter for about an hour so a shell can form.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden.

cool and fill.    

GOODBYE LOYAL FRIEND

   

Our Beautiful Brownie died yesterday on a beautiful sunny day.  Doing what he loved to do best, chase the car down the road. Brownie lived in "Doggie Disneyland" his short 4 years.  He loved roaming around the farm, hanging out with the chickens, trekking up the hills, and into the canyon looking for a nice deer carcass to drag down and munch on. He will be missed by his family, especially his best buddy Zeus.  See you in heaven Brownie, love you.

 IDLE ISLES

CANDY

     This little chocolate covered cream ball carries a big punch.  in the words of one recent convert "that candy is powerful". It's been the signature candy of a little candy shop ( Idle Isles) in Brigham City Utah for the past 93 years.  Simple to make, but yet sooo good.  I love this recipe becasue once the balls are frozen they can sit in the freezer for a couple of months.  Just melt your chocolate and toast your almonds.  Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family does.  Bon Appetite, Peggy

  Mix:

1 cup butter, softened

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups sifted powder sugar

1 lb. high quality dipping chocolate

1 lb toasted sliced almond, salted and finely chopped

     Combine butter, milk, vanilla and powder sugar.  mix well and refrigerate until firm enough to handle.  Roll into balls using about 1/2 tsp. per ball.  Freeze cream balls overnight.  Toast Almond and melt chocolate (in microwave).  Roll frozen balls in chocolate, then in almonds.  Refrigerate until ready to use.   Again once you have frozen the cream balls, they can stay in the freezer in a container for some time.