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I’m so inspired by good food… and pretty pictures. Especially pretty pictures of good food. I stumbled upon this gorgeous foodie blog today. The author made strawberry and vanilla bean macarons.
The little meringue pastries were filled with a home-made strawberry pate de fruit and white chocolate & vanilla bean cream. Um…really? She just “whipped” these together for her camping trip. What? I love (read: am jealous of) amazing/talented people such as Aran!!
Anyway, I previously mentioned my dreams of having Laduree macaron favors (they come in such cool, novel flavors!) at our wedding… if only they delivered to the U.S. But now I’m thinking, Who needs you Laduree, I have this neat recipe
It would be really great to have some homemade food to gift… given that I’m all like, “Hey I’m a foodie, y’all. Love me.” Problem is, I can’t bake. So, we’ll see if I’ll be able to pull it off. I will try this recipe and test my skills and this cookie’s shelf-life/freezablility.
(I think I need to go drink some hot cocoa and read a book to ease my giddiness now.)
Are you baking/cooking any homemade favors for your guests? If so, what? (And of course, we love recipes!)
Have you tried the french macaroons at Patisserie Poupon in Bethesda?? The baker there learned from Laduree!!! They are pretty affordable and can do custom orders. I knew that I had to have me some macaroons for my wedding so I searched high and low in the DC area!
A girl after my own heart… I am obsessed with macaroons. I should try and make my own. Thanks for the recipe! My favorites are from Paulette’s from California. One of my BMs got me some before the wedding. AMAZING!
Aran (the pastry chef) is always bringing mouthwatering desserts and delightful pictures to her audience. I stalk her blog daily and she amazes me every time!
I think you like macarons. A lot. 
Let me be the infinity+1 person to say this: Macarons are really hard to make. Even harder to perfect. There’s a reason the French (and everyone else who’s cool ;)) love them - they’re the epitome of difficulté aux patisseries! That said, I really encourage you to try. At worst, you’ll be left with several lonely egg yolks - in which case you might as well try to make crème brulée! Believe it or not, crème brulée is a lot easier to make than macarons. You should really give it a go, though!
I’ve found these sites helpful (thanks to some Ladurée inspiration from a certain Miss Perfume the other day ;)) :
http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2006/12/10/macarons-or-victim-of-a-food-fashion-les-macarons-ou-victime-dune-mode-culinaire/
http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2008/02/13/laduree-macarons-and-finding-the-perfect-macaron-recipe/
Here’s a hint - apparently leaving the eggs whites at room temperature (on the counter, mabes?) for 48 hours yields greater macaron success!
Good luck!
Yes! I love food blogs — been trying to get my own (combined with my wedding) off the ground — and baking’s my favorite form of culinary expression. So, I’ll be entering into a new area (candy-making) for our guests’ wedding favors.
Oh my gosh, that is a girl I want to be friends with….her food is GORGEOUS.
I’m so excited for summer to come along so I can have wonderful strawberries to make these.
One note for storage: the macaroons will probably last longer if don’t put the cream in the center until the last possible moment. The meringue will soak up moisture from the cream and become soggy. Store them in a dry cool place and they should last awhile.
As a side note, I made Scottish Shortbread cookies (3 ingredients - so easy) and cut out 1-inch heart shaped cookies. I boxed them with a custom blend tea that my husband made. They were a huge hit.
Yep, they’re very difficult to make, and the quality of your oven can also affect the results. If you aren’t an experienced baker with a quality oven, maybe your wedding isn’t the best time to try to make these 
Since one of our signature colors is “chocolate brown”, I wanted to make truffles to be given out as favors and/or as dessert options. However, as our guest list grew considerably (thanks, Mom) I realized I would probably have way too much on my plate to worry about staying up til 2am making truffles, which I would likely end up eating half of ANYWAY.
*sigh* It’s nice to dream though….
wow….will be baking these as soon as strawberries are a reasonable price….
@Miss D’orsay: That’s what I’m saying! I’m dealing with cravings for all kinds of spring and summer food/produce right now, and NOWHERE near me has what I’m looking for — subpar basil, tomatoes, etc.
I will more than likely be making macarons and chocolate-dipped madeline cookies.
FI and I are dumping far too much money into our new kitchen for me to NOT make delicious treats for our guests!
whoops — me again. I mean Madeleine cookies — I can barely spell it and I expect to make it for 160 guests?! LOL
They look divine, Miss Perfume. I know everyone is saying how difficult they are to make, and I understand that, but I still think you should give it a go and try to make them! Start now & if you experiment enough, you’ll probably have them down pat by the time your wedding comes around.
Good luck!! Oh, and thanks for that blog link - I added it to my reader & sent it to a bunch of Baking Queen friends. 
I would say try it, but macaroons are one recipe, along with meringue cookies that I’m afraid of. Things need to be precise to the recipe, but hey, you might be a macaroon diva and not even know it!
Dear Miss Perfume,
As a Frenchwoman who loves baking, I can tell: macarons are the most difficult thing to bake. BUT! We have a wonderful food blogger who whipped up a fantastic step by step recipe, which absolutely works. I went to look for it after reading your post, and realized that she has translated it into English now. She’s amazing - even had a book deal only on macarons after her recipes proved so popular. In stronlgy suggest you follow her advice!!
The link: http://www.mercotte.fr/2008/03/20/desperatly-seeking-macarons/
Good luck!
@Emily: Thanks for the recommendation! Will have to try!
@Miss Rye Bread: Thank you for the encouragement and advice!
@MagPie518: Food bloggery is so satisfying…but difficult when you also have a wedding blog and are planning a wedding, no?
@Brienne: Aran, the blog author, suggested I freeze the meringues ahead of time and make the cream two days ahead and then pipe them in the cookies. Your shortbread cookies & tea sound lovely!
@Miss Quiche: THANK YOU for the encouragement!!!
@skh: OMG, thank you, thank you!!
Miss Perfume, I recently started making macaroons and I have had great success with the recipe from the Holiday Baking Edition of Cook’s Illustrated. I just made them for the second time yesterday and they were even better than the first time (and people raved the first time). I think you need to get the print edition but the website is here: http://www.cooksillustrated.com. They do require a lot of time and patience but the results are spectacular.
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Mrs. Perfume, DC Age and Occupation: 36, Consultant (and Part-Time Professor) Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Consultant Engagement Date: May 13, 2008 Wedding Date: May, 2009 Venue: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia About Me: I'd like to think that I'm a modern day Little Edie Beale. Only not as..."talented". More realistically, I'm a foodie who can't bake; a dancer and dilettente; an art collector with a penchant for the whimsical and subversive. I live in the city and adore the country, but not much in between. I like smart design, great craftmanship and good value. Most of all, I love the new vintage aesthetic: classic, sweet, delicate, bespoke. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go for a culinary arts degree rather than a PhD; but wouldn't trade Mr. P for the world.
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