sweet insanity

macarons are a mystery to me. when ben and i lived in paris for a year i was reluctant to try them at first. to me, it was like walking into a baskin robbins and ordering 2 scoops of the blue bubble gum. why would i want to get a purple, green, or yellow “cookie” when i could get a decadent èclair or a pear and chocolate tart? eventually, my curiosity got the better of me and from that moment on they were all i could think about. instead of making traditional christmas cookies this year, like my mom’s amazing russian tea cakes or thumb prints, i could only think of one thing—salted, caramel, macarons. i am not a baker. when i cook, i have a tendency to just throw things together. i don’t own a mixer, or a kitchen scale, or a piping bag, which are tools that most recipes required. my egg whites were less like glossy peaks and more like dull hills, and it was difficult to create a perfect circle with a clipped freezer bag, but regardless, i was determined, and very pleased with the results (aren’t they beauties?). the recipe i followed was for pierre herme’s salted caramel macarons with a caramel cream filling found here. i would do my own step-by-step, but i think that would be best left to the professionals.

(photo by: erin)