French macarons, not to be confused with macaroons, are basically two almond meringue cookies, light as air, yet chewy, with buttercream sandwiched in between. These aren’t your run of the mill cookies, they play coy, too hard to get, but you have to woo them, with tender loving care, you have to give them time, let them rest and the result is no less than a reward! These little delights are so elegant and chic, so for pictures, I paired them with my favorite fashion guide by Tim Gunn – ‘A guide to quality, taste and style’.
If you’re set on making macarons, there are some hard rules you have to follow. I found this video by Stephanie Jaworski of Joy of Baking very helpful. It’s 20 mins long but do watch it, she has some great tips.
After days of going through recipes, here’s the one I finally went with. Bake at 350‘s recipe. She has made it really simple but precise at the same time. Her recipe makes only about 10 sandwiched cookies so it’s perfect for making a small first batch.
Here they are, fresh out of the oven. See the little frill at the bottom of each cookie? It’s called le pied or the foot. You want that in your macarons. I’m so proud 🙂
But wait, there’s a twist! I had to give it an Indian touch. So I made rose buttercream with Rooh Afza! Here’s my recipe for buttercream –
Ingredients
1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup of confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons of rooh afza or rose syrup
Beat the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add the rose syrup or rooh afza one tablespoon at a time and check for flavor. Pipe it on your macarons and enjoy!
Not too shabby for my first try, isn’t it? If you’re thinking about making them, don’t be intimidated! Do your research well, follow the rules and then go for it. Don’t forget to put on some pretty French music!
Au Revoir!