Macarons!!

So proud! I have successfully made a batch of macarons with matcha green tea filling :). Well they look decent anyways....but I had some minor setbacks which I will discuss later...photos first! Sometimes I think I bake just so I can take some pretty pictures...

These look presentable don't they? Well sometimes I think looks are quite deceiving and in this case it is :P. Unlike most people who seem to have problems with getting the glossy shell or the little pie feet or having cracks on the outer shell...I experienced none of that. In fact on the outside, they look great! Inside...well that's up for discussion.


several issues I may still have to work out:

1. getting the temperature for baking them just right: baking in a toaster oven is tricky business...luckily they baked ok but I had some that were slightly brown on top...but was not baked enough on the inside (too gooey) which means the temp was too high. I was already playing with the baking temp. One good thing about a toaster oven, even if its a recipe for ONE batch, I have to break it into separate batches to bake because it doesn't fit. As expected the last mini batch I had was the best one...though still a little gooey, but at least the came off the parchment paper ok.
2. toooo sweet!! I'm pretty sure its not suppose to be so sweet... Not sure if this is because they weren't fully baked or I just had to much sugar (I followed the recipe, although there are so many different ones, I followed the particular one I was using...)
3. getting the meringue to the perfect consistency: worried that I'd over beat my egg whites, I became too cautious...so naturally the opposite happens...I under beat...first rounds of egg whites never made it to the oven because it was so runny. Second round (pictured above) came out pretty decent but I think I can still beat it a little more. It might've play a role in the issues I've mentioned above.
   

In conclusion, this will be a continued experience. More updates later as I try to conquer the macarons! I also ran across a rather useful blog about making macarons (BraveTart), its a useful reference tool to go to.

Until next time...Macarons!