Cinderella Macarons - Run #18

Today is the day before Thanksgiving.  Usually for me, it's the day I am freaking out because of all the cooking I am about to do the next day, but since I'm not cooking anything this year (thank you Fort McKinley and Nations) I'm just chillin.' It's also giving me time to review my year and truly give thanks for all the blessings I have been given.

There are 5 things this year that I am so grateful for:

1)  All the traveling I did
2)  All the good/bad macaron experiences I had
3)  My family and friends
4)  My job/my home
5)  My life - to elaborate: all the memories that make me the person I am at present.  The holidays make me look back on years past and I ALWAYS always think of my grandparents who have given me so much as a child growing up in their household.

I was truly a Disney kid...and come to think of it, I'm also a Disney adult.

My mom would buy me the VHS tapes of the movies that came out. Cinderella, Pinocchio, and The Little Mermaid were always on rotation at home.  Collecting Disney movies was a hobby, and it filled me with so much happiness when I added a new VHS to my bookcase where I kept them.  Pretty soon however, DVDs took over and soon after that digital. I hate to admit, but I no longer own a VHS or DVD player.  It's kind of sad to not being able to have a concrete possession of those movies anymore...but that's another story.

Anywho, after making several types of macarons I thought it would be a great idea to create some that are inspired by my favorite Disney characters. Cinderella was my favorite to watch as a child. You know that opening scene when Cinderella wakes up and proceeds to sing "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes?" I can recite it along with her.

So for my inaugural Disney mac, I created Cinderella with the help of my friend Jennifer A. of LoveLeis.  Her flavor idea and my baking.  Great team!  Jennifer suggested the pumpkin because of the pumpkin carriage Cinderalla rode to the ball in.  Also, it being the Autumn season, this is perfect to have because of the spice in the pumpkin pie filling.

10/21/12 - Cinderella - Light Blue Shells with Homemade Pumpkin Pie Filling

I also chose to keep them in one of those butter cookie tins because they remind me so much of my grandparents.  They used to take me on trips with them to Powell in Downtown SF.  Never fail, we'd head to the old Woolworth Store (now the Gap store) and they'd get me these tins of butter cookies.  Though they all taste the same, my favorite always seemed to be the sugar-crystal'ed pretzel shaped one.  Plus when Inang would cook, I kept myself occupied by watching Disney movies. All in all, this whole process of making hear particular macaron brought back so many memories I had with Inang and Tatay.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend!  Eat lots and love lots!

xoxo,
Jo

Hot Chocolate Macarons - Run #11

During the colder months of the year, nothing is better than a mug of warm creamy hot chocolate. A marshmallow or two...or three...and some whipped cream is perfection.

I took the sweet flavor of hot chocolate and literally put it in a macaron. Really. I took powdered hot chocolate mix and pulsed it in my food processor with my almond flour and confectioners sugar before proceeding with the macaronage. After whipping up a gooey masharmallow buttercream, I was in heaven.

Honestly, the cookies were great warm out of the oven. I ate four even before they got to cool thoroughly.  Chocolatey cookies tend to do that to me. 

9/30/12 -  Hot Chocolate-Flavored Macaron Shells
Filled With Marshmallow Fluff Buttercream

Pierre Herme-Inspired Pistachio Macarons - Run #10

My dear friend Lara truly believes in me...so much so that she lent me her Kitchenaid stand mixer while she tours SPAIN! Miss Jelly over here! Just teasing!

Before she left with her husband Kuya Chip for their anniversary vacay, she and I attempted to make pistachio macarons filled with Pierre Herme's recipe pistachio butter & white chocolate filling. I've had Pierre Herme's macarons smuggled to me from Paris by my Twinsy Cristina (God bless you), so I knew how good they are!

Tell me why this was a fail upon fail macaron experience! From over beating the egg whites in the stand mixer since it was our first time using it for this process, over-greening the batter til it became leprechaun-worthy, theb watching the macs bake, rise, and develop feet only to see them collapse. Don't even get me started on the filling! That was drama too!

It was so frustrating, but we got a few that were decent after making a second (less green) batch using my hand mixer and less coloring. Like I keep saying: learning experience! This is one recipe I'd like to revisit for sure!

I am not settling for "decent." They have to be "great."

9/28/12 - Pistachio Macaron Shells with
Pierre Herme-Inspired Pistacio White Chocolate Filling