My Creative Crafting Disorder (CCD—look it up in the DSM V) took a turn last night and I stayed up until almost one in the a.m. making French-style macarons with my friend Jamie.
Macarons are incredibly sweet, artificially colored cookies made from an egg white crust sandwiching a cream filling. For our experimentation, we chose 2 flavors:
- Earl gray cookies with honey mascarpone
- Rose cookies with chocolate ganache
Seriously. Here’s how it went.
The night before, I made rose water.
Separating the egg yolks out of the whites (we used the whites, but the yolks were saved for something grander)
Chopped bittersweet Recchiuti chocolate that I bought at the SF Ferry Building the other day
Combined with Scharffen Berger cocoa and waiting to be doused in heavy cream for ganache
Ganache. Holy hell.
Whipped egg whites about to be merged with a hell of a lot of sugar
Earl Grey cookie mix
Ultra-pink rose cookies fresh out of oven (the black flakes are bits of rose green tea that my friend Caylie, another expert crafter, brought me from Paris)
Earl gray macaron with mascarpone filling. The mascarpone was my mom, Judith’s, idea. Judith is a brilliant baker. If you ever are in rural Ashfield, Massachusetts (you never will be unless you are reliving Deliverance or learning to snowshoe), check out her restaurant: The Ashfield Lake House. Order the dessert.
Artfully arranged macarons
Wee hour macaron photo shoot
I am starting to refer to my crafting obsession as “Craft Wars” because I have so many friends who are so creative that it borders on a { friendly } competitive crafting culture. Of course, crafting is always more fun when it’s a group thing. Which is why I think I’m going to consider Friday nights group craft night from here on out. What do you guys want to make next? Taking suggestions below…
Love this! (although not a fan of these fancy pants cookies – give me an old school choco chip any day) When I get back let’s make hot chili paste and other special treats from southeast asia!!!
They look beautiful, just like the ones I’ve seen in magazines! Kudos to you both!
And I must thank you for the shameless promoting, very much appreciated.