Macarons with a Chocolate filling

Macarons with a Chocolate filling
Originally uploaded by emperessally

This is my REALLY late participation in the October's Daring Baker's Challenge of Parisian Macarons.

As this is extraordinarily late, I chose to only half participate. I used Martha's Recipe and followed some tutorials I found.

My additions were to use day old egg white which I had previously frozen and let thaw at room temperature for a day, I let my macarons dry for almost an hour before attempting bake, and I vented the oven 3-4 times per batch.

I didn't have a plain tip for my pastry bag and am not skilled enough to just wing it with parchment, so I used a star tip, hence the kind of wavy lines on my piped macarons.

BUT LOOK!!! FEET! Happy Feet!!!
It worked!!!! It was a success!!

I feel like I have found my baking mojo again. Woot woot.

These babies were fantastic. I will bake them slightly less next time, I would have preferred a slightly wetter inside. And while I appreciate the rustic nature of Trader Joe's almond meal, I think that the dark almond skin flecks detract from the delicate grace and beauty of a parisian macaron and as such, will try to make my own almond meal next time.