Welcoming 2012 - Macaron Contest!

E. Dehillerin at rue Coquillière Paris...
If I had welcomed the new year in 2011 by baking a mango cheesecake, I have done something different in welcoming 2012 - I baked some macarons! Since taking up macaron baking lessons in Paris last autumn, I have yet to experiment with it at home due to the lack of time. So, to welcome the new year, I decided to bake some!

While in Paris, there was a day where I paid E. Dehillerin a visit right after the third cooking class. E. Dehillerin is a renowned distributor of high quality kitchenware and pastry utensils for both professional and hobbyist cooks. Wandering around this interesting shop had made me madly in love with it! It was first opened in 1820, and has successfully maintained its old charm and ambiance, making it totally different than most modern cookware shops we have today. In many ways, its natural and limited lighting and store arrangement style made me feel like I was in a kitchen museum!





They have everything that you could be looking for.



The staircase that leads to the underground level where you will find more delightful stuff...



I have a membership card, so I was entitled for store discounts! ;) Anyway, as suggested by my baking teacher, I had gone to this shop to get some cooking stuff, as well as some silicon sheets that they use in most famous macaron kitchens in Paris.






O.k, this is the silicon sheet I was talking about. There are similar types in Malaysia, but of different brands. Either these, or you may choose to use oil or silicon paper...

Before I set out to bake my macarons, I already have some ideas of the kind of ruffles or feet I would want my macarons to have. From all the macarons I have had in Paris, from Pierre Herme to Laduree to Fauchon, Paul, McCafe and other local pastry shops, my personal favourite style has to be that of Pierre Herme. Their macaron feet are non-uniform, and slightly out of shape - which I find rather artistic and interesting! The way I see it, macarons which are too perfectly or uniformly shaped are nice to look at, but lacks the rugged, "homemade" touch... So to be fair, I decided to bake in both styles! Just to get started, I browsed through all of the pictures I took in Paris. Here are some which I find inspiring...

Fauchon



BTW, I love their breads, too! And the casing for their large macarons was simple but nice...

Paul


McCafe


Street Pastry Shop


Laduree



Pierre Herme



Look at those uneven ruffles... Love it!


So, I set off baking my macarons using the two methods I've learned. I began with the French meringue style, to achieve ruffles a la Pierre Herme. Needless to say, I had to rely on some tricks to get the intended ruffles.




Finally! On the left - my macaron shells, fresh from the oven, inspired by a picture of Pierre Herme's macarons- Mogador Flavor(on the right) which I took at Jardin du Luxembourg.



The result! Exactly as I had wanted them!

Yesterday evening, I bake another batch, this time with the Italian meringue style... and I had also tried other tricks to get the uniform ruffles. I think they look just as good, but I was too tired to put in the fillings for some proper photography... Anyway, here they are!



I will post the final pictures once I am done with the filling... and have them photographed in the most flattering way....

Happy New Year to all of you!

Updated!
OK, I managed to take a few proper pictures of my pink macarons just now, I am running a small contest over at my FaceBook fan page. Visit the page to participate. Winner gets a box of my macarons. Happy guessing!