Tuesday, April 20, 2010

[MacTweets/ma7] Rum & Raisin, Pina Colada & Earl Grey Tea Macarons

I made these macarons 2 days before Jamie & Deeba posted Mac Attack 7. I got the dates all mixed up..i thought i was making for Mac Attack 6 but in fact i missed the deadline! :p Since i have yet to blog about them, i figured i might as well incorporate them into this month's MacTell Me-A-Story.  My favorite story book while growing up was Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Mad Hatter's tea party scene comes right to my mind...and those little cakes that shout "Eat Me"....even more so after I recently watched Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland. I had a couple of ideas for my macarons but couldn't decide which would taste better so ended making all the 3 flavors. I did this after work and it was not a good idea because i baked till after midnight and almost 2-am before i could go to bed. I'm as crazy as the Mad Hatter i think, at times that is..;p... and i had to remind myself AGAIN never to bake all 3 flavors at one go esp. after work!  


Rum & Raisin Macarons
Vanilla Macaron Shells, White Chocolate Rum Buttercream with Rum Raisin Jam centre



Pina Colada Macarons
Coconut Macaron Shells, White Chocolate Rum Buttercream with Pineapple Jam centre


Earl Grey Tea Macarons
Earl Grey Macaron Shells with Honey Buttercream


Rum & Raisin Macarons, Pina Colada Macarons & Earl Grey Tea Macarons


Rum & Raisin Macarons, Pina Colada Macarons & Earl Grey Tea Macarons


Macarons shells all matched up..i still suck at piping even size macarons..
so have take time to match them in their respective sizes..lol!

This time, basic macaron recipe (italian method) is taken from David Lebovitz post on Pierre Herme's Ketchup Macarons.  After doing 3 batches of macarons in italian meringue..i find that the folding of meringue is extremely tough compared to the french way...towards the 3rd batch, my arm and wrist felt like it was going to fall off my shoulder..but then does make chewier macaron shells though.. Also italian way is more forgiving too imo....my 1st batch of Vanilla shells, the sugar didn't really dissolve and had lots of sugar crystals stuck on the pan but my shells turned out ok. The 2nd batch, the Earl Grey Tea shells, the sugar syrup was a bit caramelized..but my shells were still ok. The 3rd batch, the sugar syrup was finally correct and of course the shells turned out great. :)  My conclusion: Pierre Herme's recipe is definitely a keeper! :D

Among the 3 flavors, thumbs-up to my Rum & Raisin flavor!! :D Everyone loved it (me included!..i like the rum in it..lol!).  Pina Colada voted as 2nd favorite. :D  Earl Grey was ok but i guess i didn't add enough of the earl grey tea powder so the flavor wasn't as distinct as i had wanted.

Please do check out other bloggers' macarons & flavors listed on http://mactweets.blogspot.com!

26 comments:

Unknown on April 19, 2010 at 6:47 PM said...

These sound delicious.Great flavors. Thanks for sharing your tips.
I want to try cooked meringue version too.
I think you piped them quite nicely,pretty uniformed shells. I always need a template when piping these.
Have a nice day.

A Canadian Foodie on April 19, 2010 at 8:37 PM said...

I will have to read later - I am bookmarking this - getting ready for work - I just want to say after the photos alone - you should be VErY proud of yourself. These look amazing... how long did it take you to do all of these? I will read. I made them for the 5th time last week - and didn't even begin to succeed - when every other time I had succeeded to a degree. I am stumped.
:)
Valerie
I will be back to read later today!
XO

Vicki on April 19, 2010 at 8:45 PM said...

Faithy, my gosh! This is amazing! They are beautiful. Your macaron skills are spectacular.

ann low on April 19, 2010 at 11:00 PM said...

Thanks for sharing your tips. Cute and pretty!

Lois B on April 19, 2010 at 11:28 PM said...

Faithy, you are a macaron artist! They're beautiful.

Jenn on April 20, 2010 at 3:31 AM said...

Faithy, they look very even to me! Trust me, my macaron piping skill is wayyy worse. They look so cute and yummy.

Mendy on April 20, 2010 at 9:25 AM said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mendy on April 20, 2010 at 9:26 AM said...

ב''ה

Just awesome! Love the flavors you chose.

Jill @ Jillicious Discoveries on April 20, 2010 at 9:54 AM said...

Your macarons look beautiful! Wonderful job on all the flavors! :)

SweetThingsTO on April 20, 2010 at 9:30 PM said...

Wow - what wonderful photos. The macaron colors are so perfect!

Patricia @ ButterYum on April 21, 2010 at 12:03 AM said...

Wow, would you look at all those yummy macarons! Great job!!! You are too hard on yourself. They look fabulous!

:)
ButterYum

Cathie on April 21, 2010 at 11:07 AM said...

they look amazing and how great are you to do all 3 flavours!
i'll come back to your tips next time I make macaroons.

Pei-Lin on April 21, 2010 at 8:59 PM said...

Faithy, this is REALLY impressive! Three types of macs at one go AFTER WORK!!?? Man ... I can't do that! You're one not just THE baker, you're one MAD BAKER! Hahaha ...! Just kidding ...

I really wanna sample all your macs! Hope we get to meet up when I travel down south to Singapore this year to meet up with another long-time Singaporean baking-cum-blogging friend of mine (You Fei of lovingbaking.blogspot.com ... She loves your work, too!)

Hey, don't overwork yourself, yea? Take care till then!

Barbara Bakes on April 22, 2010 at 6:43 AM said...

Gorgeous macs. Love how you've photographed them on the black background.

faithy on April 22, 2010 at 9:42 AM said...

Thank you all for dropping by and leaving such lovely comments! You all made my day! :)

@CanadianFoodie: Valerie, i started at about 8pm and didn't end till 1pm. I made the buttercream and all but i didn't fill in till the next morning. But the shells alone took me at least 3 hours i think..starting from scratch..measuring etc..etc..

@Pei-Lin: Sure PeiLin! Wld love to meet up with you and YouFei. Let me know when you are in town and we'll see if we can arrange something. :) Take Care!

maameemoomoo on April 22, 2010 at 12:43 PM said...

wah faithy.. your macs are shouting for me!!! Send me some!! :P

seriously, 3 types of macs after work? *pei fu!*

Sarah, Maison Cupcake on April 22, 2010 at 10:14 PM said...

Wow you've been working so hard on these this month! These colours and flavour combinations are brilliant, I like pina colada the best, I would definitely buy one of those.

Anonymous said...

Wow. All those macaroons, and every single one looks amazing. One of these days, I'll take some inspiration from you and make some. :)

Tracy on April 23, 2010 at 10:00 PM said...

Beautiful macs!!

Chocoparis on April 25, 2010 at 8:45 AM said...

Beautiful photos! The flavours sound delicious. I love the soft colours too. I've never tried the Italian method, but think perhaps I should.

Jamie on April 25, 2010 at 10:43 PM said...

Faithy, I am stunned! 3 batches all with Italian meringue? Oof that's hard work but what gorgeous results! Stunning! And wouldn't I love to try each flavor. These would be perfect for a little old tea party! Glad you made these for mactweets!

Coco Cake Land on April 28, 2010 at 11:32 PM said...

EARLY GREY! i love all earl grey tea flavoured things... these macarons sound divine..!

and the photos are lovely too.. !:)

pigpigscorner on May 6, 2010 at 11:23 PM said...

Wow, they are so pretty! They all look so perfect!

Y on May 8, 2010 at 7:03 AM said...

Those macarons look absolutely perfect. Rum 'n' Raisin is one of my all time favourite flavours - usually in ice-cream, but I'd happily eat them in macaron form too.

tspegar on May 11, 2010 at 10:26 PM said...

your macarons look so beautiful and you did so many! i love the shot of them all together!

Deeba PAB on May 14, 2010 at 9:16 PM said...

You are a Mac Princess... wow! Please adopt me! LOVE what you did with them Faithy ... they are a treat to look at! Should I be trying Italian the next time? I think YES!!
Thanks for joining us at MacTweets with these gorgeous feet!

 

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