Even though I don't have a sweet tooth, I love a good macaron. That delicately light and soft but chewy cookie shell with that cool creamy filling, is just heaven in a single bite.
THE UGLY
I've made shells once before, years ago, and they turned out perfectly, but it must've been beginner's luck because when I made them this past weekend, they looked like little pink poops and tasted like sugary sand.
I thought that maybe I could pass them off as meringue cookies but the texture was too grainy and off-putting. So into the garbage, a Jiggly Puff massacre, they became.
And then my boyfriend, the ever doting partner that he is, told me he would make shells for me.
He has never made, nor has he ever tasted, a macaron in his life before. But he wants me to be happy and the closest Ladurée is a two hour drive, so he took it upon himself to make the shells because he loves a good challenge. And me, I suppose!
And since he's never had a macaron due to a lifelong dairy allergy, I decided that I would try to make a dairy-free buttercream so that he could finally try a macaron.
THE BAD
His (first!) shells were actually REALLY good. They turned out perfectly, albeit a little misshapen, due to my undeveloped piping skills (it was only my second time ever piping). But they had all the essential components of a good macaron shell: good feet, nice shine, no hollow bodies, and that nice light chewy texture. It was just up to me to fill these shells up with something complimentary.
Well. I'm not a skilled enough baker to be experimenting with dairy-free buttercream. I had never even made a regular buttercream before.
I first attempted a French buttercream, which is made with egg yolks (and we had plenty leftover from the macaron recipe) and a simple syrup. I used shortening as the fat and the resulting texture was disgusting, so it was tossed. I will not share a photo of it because it is incredibly unappetizing.
I next tried a vegan American buttercream. I found a simple recipe that used margarine, but I could not believe how much icing sugar was required to make a batch of buttercream. TWO POUNDS.
I could not in good conscience put that much sugar in something for consumption. As I mentioned, I don't have a sweet tooth. And the problem with that, is that for vegan buttercream to have any structure and to work as a buttercream, it needs the sugar as a thickener.
The centers were too soft. You can see it trying to ooze out between the shells.
And they were still WAY too sweet. I added some of my tart homemade raspberry jam but it only made the filling wetter.
Even after hanging out in the fridge overnight, they still wouldn't hold.
They sure look pretty though!
I was so disappointed in these that my wonderful boyfriend said that he would not let the weekend of macarons end in failure.
So he made some more!
THE GOOD
We distributed the ultra-saccharine macarons to friends and family, and they were a huge hit!
The third batch turned out AMAZINGLY.
But to see how that went, go here!
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