5 hours! Who knew they would take that long to make?!? But there was a lunch break for fish and chips on the balcony (and a couple of slip ups along the way!).
I have been 'volunteered' to make 40 macaroons for a baby shower in June .. with no idea how to go about it. My friend attended a cooking class a few years ago, and even though she hasn't made macaroons since, I figured she was the best person to show me how :)
My friend decided on Salted Caramel Macaroons (it is a flavour obsession of hers). So first up making the caramel …. lots of sugar, cream and butter. The salt is added later. Easy.
It was all relatively simple (but time consuming) until the sugar and water had to be cooked to precisely 118 degrees before being added to the soft peaked egg whites. I did the first attempt … which ended in a pan full of snow.
Once the sugar syrup reached the correct temp all the liquid appeared to evaporate very rapidly, leaving behind fluffy white sugar. My friend's second attempt wasn't much better … only she added yellow food colouring, so it just looked like someone had peed in the snow!
Third time lucky … we figured out sugar crystals were forming on the bottom of the thermometer therefore giving us an incorrect reading!!
The baking was an epic endeavour … 130 macaroon halves. Lucky my friend has a monster cooker so we could rock two ovens!
Making the macaroon 'sandwich' was the fun part. Actually it was all fun! Great company, learning a new skill (learning - definitely not mastering), laughs and tasty treats at the end. I am glad I only need to make 40 for the baby shower … and I have found a recipe that does not require cooking the sugar - might give that one a try next weekend.
Hope you are all having a fun and Happy Easter too :)
luv neen x
