Mad About Macarons

Basically, I love to eat. I couldn't even tell you if I was more a savory or a sweet kind of gal, because let's face it, I could never choose... I am more an "ooh savory and ooh sweet, let's have a lot little of both" kind of gal!

I love to hate when people ask me my favorite food, restaurant, or where I want to eat etc. It is such a hard decision for me always. I like everything too much to pick. One thing I can always settle on however, are macarons! I absolutely die over them!

Two weekends ago the Englishman and I were lucky enough to have spots in the famed Bonbini macaron making class! Thip previously worked as an accountant before deciding to open a bed and breakfast with her husband. During this career transition she found a love for baking, attended culinary school and then worked at Michelin starred restaurants. She now teaches baking classes from her gorgeous home kitchen and I was thrilled to get to learn at the hands of a true macaron master!

Hot chocolate and hot pink lips were made for each other.

The Englishman and I have taken another cooking class together, and in comparison Thip's class was precision and perfection. When we arrived everything was spotless, ready and streamlined. Each student found a spot around her large island and was set with all the tools, ingredients we would need to master macarons. Thip started by explaining her background, her love for baking, and the difference between Italian and French meringue. She then allowed us to watch her make macarons while explaining the intricacies of baking the perfect macarons. Making them has to be a precise and careful process but she made everything look so effortless and fluid. I was impressed with her ability to teach, bake, and clean all at once! Thip is truly a master of perfection. As she finished with each tool, bowl etc she placed it in her dishwasher and continued to work. Throughout the whole process I never saw her so much as spill a drop or a fluff of flour!

About two seconds before I spilled hot chocolate all over myself. Note to class: Bronwyn is here and a klutz - who wants to work beside me??

Blue cheese macarons? Champagne? Homemade nutella? I love you Thip.

Soft peaks people. It is an art. And I know all the wrist flicking, upside holding prong action to detect it.

The careful skill of adding the exact right temperature liquid to the soft peaks. An art to pull of both at once and then combine the JUST SO.

Just perfect. Like little macaron solidiers!

The careful drop

After watching Thip make her cookies, we were all told to pick a bowl and begin the process for ourselves. We had watched the master, we had the recipe in front of us, as well as a carefully measured bowl of ingredients and she walked around helping and giving tips and technique aids.

Ready to try myself!

When mixing my mixture the secret flavor of my bowl was revealed! Sour cherry!

Making the cookies was nowhere near as pristine or as beautiful to watch when I did it! Adding the meringue to the flour mixture got MESSY! The scraper we used (the same on Thip had used SO EFFORTLESSLY in place of a spatula) was difficult to get the hang of and quite a bit of "dough" ended up on my hands and the side of my bowl! I couldn't even transfer the ready made material into my piping bag without making a mess! Thip! I am so jealous of your ease in the kitchen!

The Englishman's mixture ready to be piped... he got double chocolate. And to be fair to him Thip said this was the hardest flavor to make. Ya, ya suuuuuure. His cookies ended up more crumbly than mine. I win!

Handsome man, double chocolate macaron mix. I'll take both please!

We then piped our cookies on to the cookie sheets. Thip's inside tip was to make the small mounds and then once done (obviously you need to make an even amount of cookies so you can sandwich them later... this obviously did not occur to me until Thip corrected me! Duh!) you lift up the cookie sheet about a foot from the counter and drop it on to the counter. This evens out your cookies for the perfect shape! Tricky!

Baking duo!

So nervous to drop them on the counter! I had accidentally made them so close together... what if they made a giant macaron and not little tiny ones... oh wait, that might actually be delish. Knowing my klutzy luck we are lucky I didn't drop it right off the edge of the counter and ruin the whole thing!

My babies going to air dry and bake!

The cookies then needed to air "dry" for an hour so we learned how to make the filling. Again, Thip showed us how first and then we got to use her premade fillings to work with our own cookies. The filling must set for a few hours - so we were lucky enough to get to use her professionally made filling... including her HOMEMADE NUTELLA! And yes, she told us how to make the homemade nutella, and yes it is easy, and yes, I may share the info with you if you are nice to me. It is so DELICIOUS!

I now know why they are so yummy. The filling is literally, heavy cream, insert flavoring of your choice here (pistachio paste for pistachio flavor, vanilla extract for vanilla flavor etc) and then white chocolate. Yum!

Thip's premade delicious fillings. Pistachio, homemade nutella, espresso, sour cherry, vanilla.

By this time Thip's cookies had come out of the overn and we were able to watch her fill them and then get to try them! She had made chocolate bacon flavor and I am not lying in the least when I say I almost elbowed someone to get to the sample. Heaven people. Heaven.

Stop being so perfect Thip.

Our cookies came out of the oven and only two steps left, sliding the cookies off the cookie sheets and then filling them! I was so nervous but thanks to Thip's tips (OMG you should write a column called Thip's Tips!) I was able to get them all off the sheet with minimal breakage and fill each one to make my perfect (opinion not fact and let's be real I am pretty biased!) little sour cherry macarons!

My baked babies! Totally perfect little cookie halves!

Oops... so two got stuck together. But only someone really rude would notice that.

Nerve racking. Don't break the cookies.

More nervousness. Don't pipe too little, don't pipe too much, don't press hard and smush the cookie, don't let it go everywhere, don't let it ooze off the side... aaaaah!

Probably my fav picture from the whole day.

Again, to be fair the chocolate apparently is the hardest to get to "set" and not crumble. 

The whole classes beautiful work!

Thip then boxed up the whole classes treats for everyone to take home - such a great plan to have us all make different flavors and then share! I doubt I could have felt any more proud of my little box of imperfect, but delicious macarons (or that I could have been any more excited to eat them)!

Thip's class is around three hours long, so it is a commitment on a Saturday morning, but she def showed me that I could (not that I will... they took a bit too much work to just scarf down myself I may stick to buying macarons) make them at home! I also had so much fun with my Englishman! We love learning and trying new things together (especially if they end in a delicious treat) and even better... he is always quite the chef, but baking doesn't come as naturally to him and it was fun for ME to be the one who was gooooooooood at something for once!

Oh ya, not bad!

Go to Thip's website here to see her impressive work, sign up for macaron or her other baking classes, or to get her to cater for you, I know I will be soon... can you say Gwen's birthday party?!?