Dreams of Creating French Macarons

It has become my very latest obsession. I am fascinated and drawn to a delicate and decadent cookie that I have yet to even taste.

My very first visions of the french macaraon can be attributed to Sophia Coppola's film adaptation of the life of Marie Antoinette as presented in a biography written by Antonia Fraser. In it there are various scenes of delish food porn in the form of cakes, tarts and cookies. The indulging in such things along with glass after glass of champagne put the characters into a positively happy tizzy. Now since I live nowhere near Paris (sadly and unfortunately), it is my desire to create French macarons of my very own. With a little research, I have been lucky enough to find a few recipes that have truly sparked my interests. But before I go on and just give you my findings, I thought I’d share with all a brief history on these luscious cookies. What is a French macaron you ask…When most people hear the word macaroon, they think of a chewy mound of shredded coconut, lightly sweetened and held together by egg whites. However, a French macaron is a dainty French cream-filled sandwich cookie which, in its best form, will fill your soul with warm, fuzzy happiness after one bite (or so I’ve been told). The macaron's origin isn't clear, but it may have been brought to France from Italy as early as 1533 by Catherine de Medici and her pastry chefs. Macarons gained fame in 1792 when two Carmelite nuns seeking asylum in Nancy during the French Revolution baked and sold macarons in order to support themselves, thus becoming known as "the macaron sisters". The macarons they made were a simple combination of ground almonds, egg whites, and sugar. No special flavors. No filling. Just 100% cookie. It wasn't until the 1900s that Pierre Desfontaines of Parisian pastry shop and café Laduree decided to take two cookies and fill them with ganache. Today Laduree continues to be one of the first stops for macaron-crazed fans in Paris. No longer a humble almond cookie, the macaron turned into a versatilely flavored treat with a thin, light crust briefly giving way to a layer of moist almond meringue following by a center of silky smooth filling. The basic equation for a macaron reads like so:
1 part cookie [ground almonds + egg white + sugar] +1 part filling [buttercream, ganache, jam] +1 part cookie [ground almonds + egg white + sugar] =1 complete macaron [happiness]

Recipe findings to come soon!