not-so-French Macarons

I was at a friend's party Saturday night when Dani, who I haven't seen in ages, asked me if I was still doing my blog. I told her that no, I had not done a blog in about fifteen months.

(my fifteen month-old)

Since I'm done having children now,

(my two month-old)

I thought I should get back to it.

For the past couple of days, I have been obsessing about macarons. Not the coconut kind, but the french kind. Lovely little airy bites of deliciousness that come in every flavor known to man. Maybe it's because I am co-planning a baby shower for a friend that is happening in a couple of weeks, and I am reluctant to re-do the all day event that was the onesie-cookie-decorating-party-favor-extrvaganza for the last baby shower I co-hosted. (I love you Julie!) Wouldn't a little baggie filled with macarons be just the perfect party favor? I think so. And anyway, it gives me an excuse to get this book I've been wanting!

For these macarons, I turned to a David Lebovitz recipe that I have used before with success. (When you bake for therapy, success is very important!) The recipe is for chocolate macarons with prune or chocolate filling. I used the cookie recipe, but not the filling, mainly because I did not feel like getting myself and my little son out in this torrential downpour that has lasted for about two months just to go to the grocery store and indulge my silly cravings. So, and here's the not-so-french part: I decided on a Halloween candy theme. My daughter has already been to several candy-collecting Halloween events, and we bought candy for the house as well, even though we never get trick-or-treaters (except the ones who come far too late, and are far too old, and are not wearing costumes. is this trick-or-treating or robbery?). I decided to go with Hershey bars and leftover pulverized almonds. Much sweeter than any french person would ever approve, but who doesn't love a Hershey bar?

A note about this recipe: make sure your oven racks are in the middle/upper section of your oven. I used the middle and bottom, and the poor cookies that baked on the bottom burned. And I don't have enough cocoa powder left to make more, and as I already said, I am not going to the grocery.

Chocolate Macarons
Makes about fifteen cookies

Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway) by David Lebovitz

Macaron Batter
1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)*
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn't quite fine enough.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.

Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

For the filling, melt six miniature Hershey bars in the microwave for one minute, and mix with the leftover almond powder.

Spread one cookie with filling and top with another.

*I used slightly more than 1/2 cup of raw whole almonds, pulsed in the food processor until powdery, and then I saved all but 1/2 cup for the filling.



The last entry on my old blog, Edible Therapy, was an unimpressive-looking peach crumble. It will, sadly, live in cyberspace for all eternity.