Helene (of Tartelette) is teaching food styling/photography at Squam. It is one of the many classes I wanted to get into. Helene is one of the two food bloggers I read who I would call a queen of macaron.
I decided I'd make macaron. Not just any macaron. Her peanut butter and jelly macaron. Unlike my previous experiences with macaron, this time I wasn't using almond flour (I was out and decided not to replace with hazelnut flour) but almonds and peanuts. Suffice to say I didn't grind them fine enough. My mixture was too chunky to pass through my tip (which probably was also the wrong size). Now, once the nuts are mixed into the stiff egg whites, there really is no going back. So, I used my mini cookie scoop (about 1 inch cookies/mini ice cream scoops) to put the batter out.
It's mostly the right size. It's even mostly the right shape. It's developing a foot. But the bite and the crunch will not be quite the same.
I'm telling myself that as long as they are tasty it doesn't quite matter. Unfortunately macaron aren't just a flavor, but they are a visual experience.
My other batch of cookies will be baked tomorrow.
