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5.26.2008

My First Macarons and a Early Friday Cocktail Hour.



Due to the Holiday and some other goings on week, I will finish this post with Friday Cocktail Hour and I wont post this Friday( stay tuned however because I will be posting mid week!). Certain Someone and I got a lot done this Holiday weekend and are still working on it. Our place is very cluttered and I have an abundance of books. He installed our new Expedit books shelves from Ikea to house my hundreds and books and bring some order and design to our space.I wont show you before because its frighting. And the afters I'll post later. Certain Someone is a repressed interior designer. Anyway we also had some good cocktails, BBQ,and I decided to make Macarons for the first time.
Certain Someone loves Hazelnut and I had some Hazelnut flour from King Arthur's. I followed the recipe and tips from the famous Tartelette. She wrote a informative long awaited article for a online Desserts Magazine. My ganache was bit runny,and some of my macarons cracked. But overall I feel some confidence in hope that they turned out OK for my first try. I hope my future attempts get better. My ganache was just some heavy cream, orange icing gel( a type of paste used for flavoring cakes and icicngs),some more hazelnut flour, white, and Amano Chocolate(from the Blake Makes Give Away). I used the Ocumare. I found a new spray luster from my cake decorating shop and sprayed a soft golden luster on top. I like the gold accents I see on some Pierre Hermes macarons.The taste? Very sweet but nice. I will play around with more variations. But I least I got over the intimidation factor. I'm also entering this in Couture Cupcakes Mad For Macarons In May.

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Friday Cocktail Hour Holiday Edition

I love a nice daiquiri. Just plain with some lime juice. simple syrup and rum. I played with this to use up a lot of apricots I have from the vegetable delivery. Its not to sweet and refreshing on a nice day. Oh and Peter if your reading this...this may be to girly for you. I have a nice cognac called Landy XO from France. A bartender once referred to it as 'Happy Dog'. When I asked why he showed me the bottle. The stopper was of a dog with his long tail curved under. It gave the appearance of your nickname, thus the name. He also said it was a 'Mans' drink. So a pour of Landy for you and some daiquiris for my girls! Cheers!



Apricot Daiquiri serves 1

1 part rum
1 juice of a lime
1/2 part apricot brandy( I cheated and used some brandy I made from Prickly Pear)
3 apricots peeled and stoned
ice

Mix all with ice in a blender.Pour into a chilled glass.

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34 comments:

Jen said...

Macarons scare me - they're so delicate! Yours look lovely, and the cocktail looks fabulous. I don't have apricots, but I have most of the other things and can maybe whip something up. Yum. I need some balcony time with a nice cocktail.

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Those macaroons turned out great! I love how they look so fancy.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

They really look great! Very well done!

Cheers,

Rosa

giz said...

My first visit to your blog - love it - go figure the first thing I see is my life long nemesis - macaroons...
Pass the cocktail - I just spent 1/2 day fighting ugly traffic - I so need a drink

Peter M said...

Cool, hazelnut flour...your macarons look the size of burgers and that's fine by me.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

What a perfect way to use your Amano chocolate Glamah..I haven't aqttemped macarons as yet...but maybe someday:D

Cakespy said...

Dudette!!! I can't believe this is your first attempt--simply amazing!!! Beautiful macarons. And your daiquiri sounds wonderful. I am a fan of sweet (as you all too well know!) but not too sweet, esp. in liquor. This looks nice for the summer!

Megan said...

I love that you made macarons. Someday I'll get brave and attempt these lovely cookies. Yours look perfect!

Proud Italian Cook said...

Courtney, You've been a busy girl! Those macaroons look perfect! and your first try?? I'm also loving those pretty plates you have there! I haven't had a daiquiri in years, and I don't know why!

Anonymous said...

i can't believe this is the first time you made macaroons! they are perfect!

Anonymous said...

Wow! The first time and they look perfect already! Delicious!

Y said...

I love the speckled tops from the hazelnut flour. Very cute :)

Anonymous said...

Your macaroons are stunning! They really are the most beautiful thing to make and you have done the most amazing job!

Love Cherry xoxoxo

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Wow! Amazing macarons, especially for your first attempt. They look perfect.

TeachMom said...

The macarons looks relly good, well done you! The daiquiri is very much needed. We must make some drinks in June!

Suzana said...

Oh macaroons! One day I'll try my hand at those beauties! Well done. :)

Rosie said...

WOW coco your first time of making macarons and just look at how perfect they are - well done!! Love the cocktail too ;)

Rosie x

Mary said...

And there you go tackling the intimidating... and they look beautiful! I've never had one, but I think I'd like to try one.

Meghan said...

your macarons look PERFECT!

what a tasty drink too!

Anonymous said...

Wow..I want to be you when I grow up! You are brave. They look wonderful

Deborah said...

I am so impressed! Those are the most perfect looking "first-time" macarons I have seen! Another thing on my to-make list!

Thistlemoon said...

Your macaroons look fantastic! What an awesome job you did! Sounds like you had a nice weekend! Well deserved!

Núria said...

First time I see macarons :D What a funny name... in catalan macarrons mean macaroni; anyway, they look great Courtney!

Renee said...

Your macarons look delicious!! A good friend of mine made me a batch for my birthday a few weeks ago. I posted the recipe and pictures.
http://cafenaynay.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-birthday-to-me.html

Peter M said...

Courtney, after re-reading your entry and being satisfied that drinks for the men will be offered...I'll gladly come over and imbibe!

Anonymous said...

Your macaroons look great! Now that I've done the opera cake, maybe I'll give the macaroons a shot.

LisaRene said...

I love cocktails! I have a ton on my blog, you should check them out for inspiration.

Apricots have such a wonderfully distinct flavor and I imagine they would add an almost creamy texture to a daiquiri. Very creative!

Can you believe I have never had a macaroon? Apparently I am missing out on something special and must give one a try.

The Caked Crusader said...

macarons look amazing! So professional!

Anonymous said...

Lurvely macarons. Truly. I have NEVER made them so I commend you. One by one, I notice that people are trying them for the first time. Guess I better suck it up, right? AS far as the daiquiri goes, well. I'm there. I'm stuck in a white wine rut.

Anonymous said...

So technically speaking, you're not a macaron virgin anymore. Congrats!! You deserve that drink big time! :-)

Emily said...

The macarons look awesome! I can't believe this was your first time.
The drink looks good too.

Could you make a peach drink sometime??

Núria said...

After reading your post on Macarons and walking through the streets of Barcelona, I've been bumping into bakery shops full of macarons!!!! Can you believe that?

Anonymous said...

Your macarons came out perfect - love their smooth tops! Mine always have bumps! Great job!

maybelles mom said...

great job. (I know that is what everyone else said, but I like to copy.)