Making Macaroons : Attempt 1

After way too many sofa days watching The Great British Bake Off, I got a real itching to give macaroons a go.

"It'll be easy" I said.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

I decided to make rose macaroons with a white chocolate ganache and as is often the case with last minute bakes, I only had about half of the ingredients. I nipped round to my corner shop in hope of getting some white chocolate, but alas - none in stock. I figured I could shuffled the recipe around a bit and bought some galaxy instead.

I got to work with the macaroons, I used the BBC recipe, which you can find here: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/macaroons_04669

All was going smoothly, macaroons in the oven - now mint instead of rose, so I went to get started on the ganache. Only I had absent mindedly snaffled more than half of the chocolate! Oops! Back to the shop for another bar.

It was then that I realised I'd forgotten to leave the macaroons to sit - no smooth tops for me! The sitting is a vital part of making the perfect macaroon, it allows air bubbles to rise and a skin to form on top, this is what creates the smooth and shiny dome that macaroons are so famous for. 

I got impatient with the ganache and tried to sandwich the macaroons way before it had set. Its still very runny once cooled, so I assumed that this was as thick as it was going to get, but be patient, it thickens up considerably if you give it even give minutes more.

 For a first attempt, I don't think they look all too bad!

My trip to the Angel Food Kitchen!

For my most recent birthday I got to take a cupcake course at the Angel Food Kitchen in Brighton! It was such a fantastic day and I learnt so many skills that I've used plenty of times since.

It was a two hour course, run by such a friendly and helpful lady in the most gorgeous kitchen. As there were only five of us taking the class there were plenty of opportunities to get one on one assistance with some of the trickier skills, like the palette knife swirl (which I am still yet to master)!

We got to play around in a candy dream land, with jars full of sweets and sprinkles, sugarcraft moulds galore, enormous bowls of frosting and twelve cupcakes to get creative with! I have to say, I'm quite proud of the end result!

They were beyond delicious and I would absolutely recommend the course to anyone and everyone. Beginners and experts alike.

Have you had any experiences with similar courses? I'd love to hear about it.

CB x