With all my
pastry affairs, it’s surprising I’d never hooked up with a French macaron. I mean, I’ve gone hot and heavy with
everything from homemade Twinkies to Lady Baltimore Cake. It was high time I experienced the lusty
passion of the French Macaron.
The
encounter takes place at the Institute of Culinary Education during their
“Macaron Mondays” program. Chef
Instructor Kathyrn Gordon is the co-author of “Les Petits Macarons” and knows
the allure of the perfectly French sandwich cookie. She’s spent years researching and baking
macarons.
Chef Kathryn
walks us through the basics of macaron amour. It’s actually a simple set of four
ingredients – almond flour, confectioners sugar and granulated sugar, combined
with egg whites whipped into a meringue.
Yet the conditions have to be right.
Too much whipping, too much baking, or too much humidity can destroy the
relationship. Subtlety is key to any
relationship
She quickly
pipes out some quarter-sized macarons decorated with Jackson Pollack-style
splashes of color, and explains that during the French Revolution, nuns baked
macarons as a nutritious alternative to meat. Sounds like my kind of religious
order.
You’re
looking for a classic figure in a macaron – a shiny, thin shell, with a “foot”
around the shell – that slightly rough edge that meets the filling.
I team up
with a woman named Laura who I’ve just met and we get to work. We have our choice of colors and fillings,
and she makes a passionate plea to color our macarons hot pink and fill them
with strawberry guava filling. It’s
just a little frou-frou and a very Pop Art choice, but when it comes to
macarons, you might as well go all the way.
Perhaps I’m
besotted, but I think our macarons are some of the prettiest and shapeliest in
the class.
So here’s
the thing about baking macarons. You
have to be ready for a long courtship.
A freshly baked macaron tastes hard and crunchy. You must “age” macarons in the freezer. The cookie and the filling need time to meld
and develop that characteristic soft, chewy texture. It’s only a temporary delay. The deep freeze does nothing to chill the desire.
This is not
a one-night stand. I’ll be back for
more. Love.
©2014 T.W.
Barritt All Rights Reserved
