Vanilla bean macarons
Anyway, I've come to trust the Italian way of making macarons cos no matter what sort of unintended errors I make, the macaron shells still turn out fine. I doubt I'll be turning back to the French method anymore cos I'm just so used to the Italian meringue method and it's just a little more foolproof (in my opinion).
I was quite concerned cos the batter was liquid-ier than usual, I was afraid that it was the liquid white colouring I added to the shells that caused it, and so was really relived when I camped in front of the oven, and seeing the macaron feets forming around the 4-5 minutes mark. Yeps, that's the crucial time for me for making macarons. If I don't see feet forming by this time, I can then be sure that it's gonna be a fail batch for me. And when I do see those feet forming, I'll be secretly breathing sighs of relief that the macarons were a success. For me, that's the joy of making macarons - the will it or will it not rise?
Vanilla bean has always had a special place in my heart and I've always wanted to make a dessert that evolved around the taste of vanilla and nothing else. I made these for a family gathering at my place last week, and I'm glad to say that my little nieces and nephews polished off most of them. So glad that it was well received! :)
Can't wait to try making popcorn salted caramel flavoured macarons, or a strawberries and cream flavoured variation. I love making macarons!
