Thursday, May 20, 2010

Macarons and my crazy world

macarons

My ex-colleague T used to tease me that I looked pissed when I was busy working.
"No, it is just my face! I am definitely not unhappy even though I am not smiling. I am just FOCUS!"
"oh, ok." to which he sheepishly replied and walked away. Not before stealing a cookie from my cookie truck.

When there's a long list of things to get done by the end of the service, or when I was far behind the tickets that never stopped coming in, the last ounce of energy was saved to propel myself to work faster.

Smiling was not anywhere near the bottom of my priorities. However, when the task involved making macarons, no one could do anything to remove the silly grin on my face.

macarons4

Making macarons never fails to cheer me up. Well, when they turn out well, that is. My heart was broken so many times when the shells had no feet or crack. And my head almost exploded troubleshooting what went wrong.

Since I moved back to Atlanta, a few batches of macarons have been made. In the beginning, the recipe worked for me. And then 2 weeks ago, when I started using almond flour from a different source, things started to go downhill. The macaron shells wont dry even after resting for an hour, there was no distinct feet after baking at the same conditions as previous batches. 3 failed batches later, I was still in the rut.

Looking at these successful batches now made my heart a little sad. Will I ever get it right again?

macarons3

Welcome to my pastry world. I spend a lot of time pondering about things like how protein coagulates in the oven using different meringue making methods and the effect of almond particle size on macaron shells. Good thing that OCT is a scientist, so he doesn't think his wife is crazy.

And speaking of crazy, I landed a job on the spot yesterday. The pastry chef told the HR manager that he liked me. Apparently because I was crazy, so I would fit perfectly in his team. I thought I usually conceal my craziness pretty well during interviews. Anyway.

What are you crazy about?

21 comments:

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

lovely write up....and cute colorful macarons

Eliana said...

Don't ever conceal your craziness!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful macarons! they are perfect!

ann low said...

WOW! These colorful macarons look so perfect ;D

Anonymous said...

Congats on your new job! Sounds like the pastry chef is someone with good judgement!
ST

Kitchen Corner said...

Super pretty macarons! I don't know what to say.. it's absolute perfectly done macarons and so professional.

thecoffeesnob said...

These are just gorgeous! I'm sure you'll get them right really soon!

Congrats on the new job, by the way!

Rosa said...

Unique creations....

Anne said...

congrats! love the colors of the macaroon :)

MaryMoh said...

Very beautiful macarons! They look perfect and tempting.

Finla said...

They are just beautiful and i love the colours.

Window On The Prairie said...

Lovely springtime pastels! And the recipe looks delish too!Lovely pics too.
Suzanne

Unknown said...

I'm crazy about macaroons too!
Participate in my giveaway :) http://atasteofkoko.blogspot.com/2010/05/men-can-cook-feat-classic-spaghetti.html

Girl Foodie said...

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who struggles with the perfect macaron.
These are amazing though, I'm totally jealous!

Manggy said...

Can I just say, "crazy about (someone)?" Ha ha ha. :) Also check if the humidity is much higher than when you began, I think they can also affect the appearance of feet. I hope you get the perfection back!

veron said...

I had the same problem with almond flour, it took forever to dry but mine had feet. You'll get it right again, you changed an ingredient, you'll probably have to adjust your recipe. What am I crazy about...can you guess? :)

Two fit and fun gals said...

lovely macarons, and congrats on the job :O)

Patricia said...

Beautiful Macarons! I was lucky enough to taste some wonderful ones at a reception following the dedication of the Crump Amphitheater at Culinary Institute LeNotre. I have never seen such as spread.
Culinary Institute LeNotre

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Hey congrats on the new job! Being crazy is the new black!!! What am I crazy about? Gotta say ice cream!

Anonymous said...

haha my hubby says the exact same thing to me when I am focused in baking!!
I will be busy mixing up some batter and he will say to me... are you mad about something LOL

So good to know that I am not the only one who puts her game face on when baking :)

Pam

zmm said...

Hi.. first time here.

Like the way you write, and the photos you took.

Your macarons looked lovely. Something I'd been planning to try, but never got the guts to actually start.

Will you be posting your macaron recipes?

I would love to try yours, they look perfect to me.

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