My husband and I have a little inside joke about being internet famous with blogs and such and how that compares to being really famous. Well, this weekend, the two worlds collided because I got to hang out with a blogger who is actually really famous thanks to her amazing new book.
Yep, Mindy was in town for a visit with her family and a stop on her book tour. Of course, since I’ve missed her like crazy since Snap!, there was no way I was missing this book signing.
See, in addition to being pretty much one of the nicest people you will ever meet, Mindy makes this crazy fabulous macarons and wrote an awesome book all about it. She makes easy so that anyone {ahem, maybe even me the non-baker} can do it!
About the book
A unique and creative spin on a classic French cookie
It includes recipes, techniques, styling ideas, templates, and decorating tips that give the popular classic French macaron sandwich cookie a modern and whimsical makeover
Over 75 unique and creative designs to make your French macarons delicious AND adorable for any holiday, season, or life celebration.
Over 75 flavorful filling recipes
CD included with the book that has printable templates to make piping circles or unique shapes so much easier
Using this book you are no longer confined to the conventional circular shape! You can make apples, pumpkins, ghosts, trees, flowers, animals, cupcakes, and many other shapes to fit each season, holiday, or life celebration. See, I told you Mindy was crazy fabulous.
In fact, she is so fabulous that she has two things for you guys today. First, a sample recipe from the book including a free shape template you can download from here. Then, she is sponsoring a giveaway of a free SIGNED book. 🙂
Obviously, if you want to just buy the book you can do so by clicking this link to Amazon.
- 100g of egg whites aged at room temperature
- Pinch of Cream of tartar
- 35g of superfine sugar
- 110g of Almond flour
- 200g of Powdered Sugar
- 10g cocoa powder
- Chocolate Ganache Filling
- 100 g (3.5 oz) chocolate*
- 1½ Tbsp. heavy cream
- Measure out all ingredients using a gram scale
- Prepare the baking sheets by lining them with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Slide a printed 1 ½ inch template sheet underneath and set aside. Prepare piping bag to be filled and set aside.
- Sift powdered sugar, almond mixture, and cocoa powder together two or three times through a sieve and set aside.
- Place the egg whites in a large bowl or in stand mixer with wire whisk attachment. Whisk on low until egg whites become foamy. Add the pinch of cream of tartar. Continue to whisk until soft peaks form. Slowly add in the superfine sugar. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, scrape down the sides with a spatula.
- Turn your mixer on medium-high and continue to whisk until you reach a stiff meringue. If adding liquid or gel food dye, do so toward the end of whisking.
- Sift ⅓ of the almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder mixture through the sieve and into the meringue. Fold the dry mixture into the meringue. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Once all of the dry ingredients are incorporated, the batter will be thick and have a dull shine. Continue to fold. As you do so, the batter will loosen. Stop folding when the batter has a glossy sheen, a “lava-like” consistency, and falls in a ribbon like manner off the spatula.
- Transfer the batter into a large pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe 1½ inch rounds on the parchment paper following the template.
- When all of the rounds are piped on the parchment, rap the sheet pans evenly on work surface a few times. Remove templates from below your parchment paper carefully. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 20-40 minutes.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Reduce temperature to 300 degrees and bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes rotating the pan half way through.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Match up similar size shells into pairs and sandwich with filling.
- To make the filling, place chocolate in a heat proof bowl.
- Boil cream and pour over chocolate.
- Stir until all the chocolate has melted and texture is smooth**
- When warm, pipe onto macaron shells.
I might have to try these chocolate, since I like anything chocolate!
Is there a magical conversion tool for the grams to cups?
To make these, I would advise that you weight the flour {in grams} vs. converting it to cups. I am sure google offers a conversion but the measurements for macarons need to be really precise for them to turn out right.
I love coconut flavor!
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Oooh, I have never had a coconut flavored one.
I don’t know if I’ve ever had one.
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Oh you must find one or make one then. They are so delicious.