Okie a lot of back dating.. ..haha photoz to update...but have not been faithfully doing it..
so will post whichever events I can remember .. .hee hee

Okie first up.. .... celebrated Monica Birthday!!! This amazing lady has a really good figure..hee hee considering her age.. ..I just wished that when I reach her age..I will be able to be that good too.. ..Gary bought her a Canele Le Royale Birthday Cake!!! Full of chocolately goodness..or should I say..sinfulness!!! hahaha...It really rich and good. ... we celebrated for her after the Saturday Aquaz claz....and well resulting photoz of course are not of tt much eye candy..since we are wet and hair are plastered all over our face..haha

Then yesterdae was Cat's Bdae!!! we had a mini celebration after Attackz oso..this time is also Canele..but it Macha (green tea) cake instead... hmm...it might be a bit too delicate in taste for most of us plebians..haha used to the rich gooey chocolately taste of cakes.. ..this cake tastes more like a tea cake perfect with a cup of hot steaming tea in a Victorian era ambience surrounding...

But luckily or unluckily..hee hee depending on the viewpoint of your tastebuds or your waist...I make Macarons!! Chocolate macarons with Bailey Chocolate Ganache.. ..so it a double dose of chocolate...with a hint of Bailey or rather a lot..haha.. ..was a bit heavy handed with the Bailey..according to some friends and family members who kindly provide me with feedbacks.

Now Macarons are delicate, delightful, delicious (now I alliterating!! haha) little morsel which is crips on the outside but moist in the interior..with just melts in your mouth...
Macarons by itself might be a little too sweet at least for mine case...so I paired it up with bitter chocolate ganache (addition of Bailey to intensify the bitterness)...Paired together, they balanced each other out and tastes great...If I do say so myself! hahaha

Macarons are known to be notoriously hard to make as they can be quite temperamental. Different batches from the same batter can result in some macarons having cracked dome, peaked dome or no feet!!! Once they are into the oven...it a must to watch them like a hawk to ensure that temperature n positiong of the tray result in perfect macarons..I had to throw away 3 batches before getting the knack of the placement and the oven temperature and timing...but even that...some of the macarons were cracked whereas some were close to perfection!!! The batter would have yield me about 70+ small little macarons (gerbets) but I managed to salvage only a little bit less than 40. well.. ..not bad considering this is the first attempt.....
I had shied away from macarons for a long time considering the reviews that this is a tough cookie (pardon the pun! haha) to crack.. ...and are tedious and time consuming..
No doubt it is time consuming, requiring a bit of technique and lots and lots of patience..but let me tell you ...the efforts are worth it when you see your first batch of perfect macarons out of the oven! hee hee. ....no other cookies keep you so much on the ball of your feet as macarons..the guesswork and anticipation and waiting are enough to make you feel that you survive a claz of Attackz successfully and live to tell it!

So as to end off this rather lengthy post, let me share a few bits of information that I feel might be useful in the quest for a perfect macaron

1. Patience, and lots n lots of it...have it in abundance and of course, pls don't do it in the middle of the night or evening when it a work day! You ended up sleeping at 4-5 am the next day and within a few hours, need to wake up and leave for work! hee hee
2. After piping the macarons, leave it out in the open for it to dry out a bit, perferably at least half an hour
3. Use Italian Meringue...feels that it is more stable than Swiss or French even though it is more time consuming
4. Certain recipes called for egg whites to be aged for a day or even two! fastidous me will not do that, so best method will be to seperate the egg as the first step and leave it out in the open while preparing for other ingredients. Eggs should be at room temperature too.
5. Shift the ingredients! this help to remove lumps and make the ingredients more fine too....
6. Use parchment ... it beats greaseproof paper hands down...

PS: can't load the photoz..not sure why it that so..will upload the photoz soon