Macarons

Hadn't really done much baking this past few days, been too immersed in looking for a job and also playing WARFRAME,  a free MMO which I have spent $50 on just getting in-game cash item.



I kept thinking....

"$10 isn't a lot of money, I have spend more on McDonalds before so why not"

... and I kept having that mentality when I was buying in game cash that it snowballed and became $50. Needless to say, I have stopped after realizing I have less than $1000 in my bank savings.






So today, I decided to try and bake some macarons, using the stand mixer I bought recently and the new oven. The last time I tried making a batch of macarons with my stand mixer, it failed horribly because the batch I was making had so little egg whites the whisk attachment couldn't reach them to actually whip them up... along with a list of other problems. So I decided to just double the portion today and make twice as many shells as I normally do.




The meringues formed perfectly it was so amazingly firm... that's why so many bakers love their stand mixer... it helps me by preventing me from suffering a possible carpel tunnel syndrome.




Decided since I had so much shells, I would do two flavor, a dark chocolate ganache version and a salted caramel version, the sauce I had prepared yesterday because it's always nice to have a bottle of salted caramel on standby in the fridge.

Used 70% Chocolate because that was all I had left in the fridge and after making and tasting the ganache, I got reminded why it was left in the fridge in the first place. Why would anyone eat dark chocolate with a anything higher than 70%, it's not sweet at all.... in fact, it was so bitter I had to stick a slice of fresh strawberry into every piece of chocolate ganache filled macaron for extra taste.  

I know I am not a sophisticated individual who has the taste buds of a chocolate connoisseur. I like Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate.... the former having the least cocoa content and the latter having no cocoa content at all. If I told a french chocolatier I love chocolate and my favorite ones are Milk and White, he will probably scoff at my face.

The salted caramel batch with a healthy sprinkle of Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. I like how the flakes look on the caramel, makes it look so professional, pity the shells were an ugly mess. 

I was feeling generous today, so I decided to let most of the shell become actual macarons, I mean look at the top macaron's bottom shell, that's some shitty feet that I would have normally just thrown away or send to the starving kids in Africa or something.