Summerville Macaroons
So the bakery has suddenly become EXTREMELY important–actually, looking back on it now, this was inevitable given our love for food in general and baked goods in particular–so of course I googled for bakeries. Krissie gets to have final say on what image we choose because it’s Abby’s bakery, but one thing I found is definitely going in: French Macaroons. Not coconut macaroons–that’s evidently the American Macaroon, and damn delicious, I must say–but the French version made with ground almonds and meringue. What grabbed me about these is the color, and of course we’re all about amber, carnelian, and lapis, which is hard to get in baked goods (well, amber is easier), but since these little suckers are made with food coloring, not a problem:
So tomorrow, in our separate states, Lani and I are going out looking for almond powder. They look like a PITA to make, but they’re so gorgeous, it might be worth it.
We may have to add a bakery category here. I foresee much research in the future.
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We used to get maccarroonns like this at Marshall Fields, along with giant blueberry muffins with crunchy sugar on top and and cinnamon apple muffins which no one liked as well but we had to be even. If it were me buying them now, I’d just get one apple for completeness, and a half dozen blueberry, and sate the family on stuff they loved.
Our local italian joint has little almond cookies that taste like i remember the Fields cookies tasting - little bombs of sugary almond in my mouth.
Mmmm - a bakery. I’ll appreciate it better once I’ve passed the turkey coma phase.
Gosh - they look so purrrrdy.
I have eaten these with Chandra in Harrods. They are heaven in the mouth, and look divine lined up in colourful rows in the counter.
An especial mention for the ecstasy of the little butterscotch macaroon with salted butter filling.
By almond powder, do you mean ground almonds?
Here in Niagara, I can find almond powder at the health food store. More often than not, I just throw a pound of almonds in the food processor and grind away. It takes less than a minute. I have no idea if they are the same thing because I’ve never asked
I’ve seen almond flour in the baking section of my supermarket, with the other specialty flours. Are these like amaretti? They shouldn’t be that hard to make, she wrote optimistically. So long as you have a stand mixer for the meringue. And maybe an Easy Accent Decorator (or similar product, whose generic name I don’t know, or maybe even a cookie press? I’ve never tried with any of them.) to pump out uniformly sized discs (although you could probably do it with a pastry bag, but I do not do uniform without help!).
Most of the recipes I’ve found called for a pastry bag. It appears to be meringue made with almond powder, then cooled and made into sandwich cookies with filling in between, as Strop said.
What’s the filling? You’d lose the color palette, but can’t go wrong flavorwise with ganache.
I hate pastry bags. I end up coated in goo. And they are hard to wash, too.
Sounds easy peasy to me. I’m good at meringues (she said, modestly). Must give it a go.
Mmmmm. I love French macarons. I had them for the first time at Laduree in Paris, but also found them at a French restaurant/patisserie on the upper east side of NYC and at a fabulous French sandwich and pastry shop under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side.
I did try making them once, but it was an absolute disaster. Maybe it was me, maybe it was the recipe. If anyone has a tried and true recipe, I’d love to give them another go.
Rose (yep, like the flower) is a wonderfully delicate flavor. Chocolate is, of course, amazing. Pistachio, raspberry, caramel, anise, so many options. Yum.
Right, also meant to add that when I tried making these, I found almond powder/meal from Bob’s Red Mill. I found it at Whole Foods, but I think Kroger carries at least some of their products too. And you can order online. Here’s the product:
http://www.bobsredmill.com/catalog/index.php?action=showdetails&product_ID=29
Disposable pastry bags.
The recipes I’ve seen on the food blogs lately say that ground almonds or almond meal is either the same or similar, usable anyway. And, if there’s a Trader Joe’s near you, they carry that, have for years. If it’s too coarse, you could always give it a whirl in the blender or food processor.
I usually put a smidge into my shortbread so it’s not quite a total butter and sugar bomb. Not that I have anything against butter and sugar, mind you.
How did the baking go? I’ve been flicking through Nigella’s Feast today, as I have to make a chocolate guinness cake for firstborn son’s birthday, and I came across a recipe for chewy macaroons which are also known as Iraqi Passover cookies, or hagdi badam, and she got the recipe from Daisy Iny’s Best of Baghdad Cooking.
Ingredients: 200g ground almonds, 200g castor sugar, quarter tsp finely ground cardamom (optional), 2 egg whites (from large eggs), 1-2 tblspns rosewater, approx 25g blanched almonds.
Method: Preheat oven to 200C and line a baking sheet. Mix together ground almonds, sugar, cardamom and egg whites and knead with your hands until you have a coherent pate. You may find it easier to do this with a freestanding mixer.
Sprinkle some rosewater on your hands and form little balls - about the size of smallish walnuts - out of the paste. As you put them on the baking sheet squish them down slightly so they are no longer balls but fat patties. Stud each with a blanched almond and bake for 10-12 minutes. They will still be pretty pale when cooked but if they are beginning to turn golden at the edges, take them out of the oven and, lifting each one carefully with a spatula or fish slice, let them cool on a baking sheet. When cooled, store in an airtight tin.
These are the macaroons I am used to seeing in England.
I’m starting with something easier: Shar’s Anise Star Cookies. It’s just an anise-flavored roll-out sugar cookie, but there are a lot of sugar cookie recipes out there.