My childhood whizzed by in careless abandon. All her time went in telling me to read more books, read something, and not while my time away. I offered her my deaf ear! I was far too busy climbing trees, jumping off 7 feet walls, {landing on my feet}, catching tadpoles, noisily eating mangoes and tamarind from the trees in our yard, painting for hours together. That was when I was younger. As I grew and the years continued to whiz by, she said the same thing, but my hours were spent with my friends, endless telephone conversations, lying upside down on the cool cement floor listening to music … still didn’t hear her!
What did it matter? Read books? Why on Earth should I? I was happy with the few I read, beginning with the Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, but I was far happier doing art! While my sisters read books from cover to cover in a matter of hours, I painted elephants and clowns, trying to win competitions … I didn’t win many! We had classics lining the shelves, but my glad eye caught Asterix, Tintin, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, and Charlie Brown. By the time I reached university, I faced fat volumes of macro and micro jargon in an attempt to do my honours in economics.
What’s books and reading got to do with macarons? Seemingly quite a bit in my little corner of the world. Well it was time for Mac Attack #7 and now my twin sistah Jamie decided to teach me a lesson. MACTELL ME A STORY! STORYBOOK MACARONS.. Excitedly she thought of a theme for our beloved other blog MacTweets which we passionately began a while ago. Who was I to say no Jamie, but I didn’t read enough when I was young. Of course I didn’t dare tell her!!
Is this what Mum meant when she said you’ll suffer when you grow up? Eeeeks people, listen to your MUM! She knows what she is sayin’, and even if it doesn’t make sense now, it will make a 100% sense in the years to come. looking back, all I can now remember is Mid Summers Night Dream, which read as part of the curriculum in school, and what a way to recall it! It’s the height of summer and I found feet which gladly led me to my Mac Summers Night Dream!
My two favourite flavours in a macaron, sandwiched with a dark chocolate ganache! Truly sensational and just where I would head on a mid summers night! I would sleepwalk to find these delicious feet. deep vanilla flavours coming from vanilla sugar used in the macs, a quarter bean thrown in too while grinding. Coffee, my first love, coming from a wonderful coffee blend that the FSK girl Asha mailed to me from a cafe in NYC! Using the coffee was my best decision. It paired beautifully with the vanilla bean and dark chocolate, and just 1/ a tsp is enough to draw earthy good flavours!
The one thing I remember reading somewhat extensively was Shakespeare, that being part of the school curriculum. With some quirk of fate, it fits in with my mac affairs! William Shakespeare began with writing about comedies, then tragedies and then tragic comedies! Strangely enough my mac adventures seem to follow a similar trend. The titles have an eerie reflection too, or is it my overactive imagination? Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, As You Like It …
Well this batch is dedicated to A Midsummers Night Dream, truly reflective of us frying here in the middle of summer, and this would be my dream snack! With flavours that can’t win me over better than this, they would make the perfect snack… Sneak into the fridge after dinner, sink your teeth into a luscious full of deep flavour chilled mac … nirvana!
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL MOTHER’S OUT THERE! These are macarons for you with wishes from the bottom of my heart to the bottom of my FEET!
These were delectable macarons. Make them for Mom and gift her some mac love! {Sorry I got late in posting these, as I’ve had HUGE issues with my PC, and it hungrily ate up my macaron pics, among many others. Just been able to retrieve a few!}
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?? If you do, you are most welcome to join us for the next challenge. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round up by the 15th of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
Vanilla Bean and Coffee Macarons with Dark Chocolate Ganache
110gm vanilla sugar (or granulated sugar or icing sugar}
60gm whole almonds
60gm egg whites {of 2 eggs}
40gm Castor sugar
1/2 tsp ground coffee
Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling
100gm dark chocolate
2-3 tbsps low fat cream
Whiz the almonds and vanilla sugar with 1/2 a vanilla bean and icing sugar in the coffee grinder till well ground, and sift 2-3 times
Whisk the egg whites and Castor sugar till it forms a thick aerated meringue, firm but not too dry.
Turn the nut mixture into the bowl, and fold gently to get a lava type batter.
In half the batter, fold in the 1/2 tsp of ground coffee beans. Pipe out the macarons, leaving an inch in between each.
Hold the tray firmly and tap the underside firmly. This should help to spread and smooth out the macarons.
Preheat the oven to 140C.
Bake in preheated oven for about 12-13 minutes. They are ready when they readily leave the paper when lifted with a palette knife. Remove from oven as soon as this happens, and leave to cool completely.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
Melt half the chocolate and the cream on simmer in a pan, stirring constantly. Once melted and bubbling, take off heat. Add the rest of the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate has melted. Cool.
To assemble
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Use a small spoon or piping bag, deposit a tiny amount of ganache on the flat side of the macaron, and sandwich with another of the same size. sandwich them, squeezing gently. Leave to set in fridge.
Note: They taste much better after maturing for 24 hours.
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
i read comics too and loved them. trust jamie to teach you a lesson! a mid summers night dream is a favorite of mine too and these macarns fit perfectly. Shakespeare gave you feet! you are great with or without those books
You lack of reading hasn't affected your passion of macaron making. LOL
We're a family of bookworms, but that hasn't helped my macaron making much. Though maybe I should go back to Shakespeare. I could give him some competition with my Macaron Tragedies! 😀
Oh yeas Nancy drew and hardy boys were my fave too 🙂 And i only got to know Astris when i was a teen and fell in love with seconds.. Love the macs, pity i had to bow out this time.
Oh yeas Nancy drew and hardy boys were my fave too 🙂 And i only got to know Astris when i was a teen and fell in love with seconds.. Love the macs, pity i had to bow out this time.
LOL, I LOVE to read! Before I met Grumpy when the kids would be at their dads, I would spend the morning lying on my couch reading! The only thing that would have made that more perfect would to have had some of these gorgeous and yummy macaroons sitting beside me!
Oh my what did I get you into, dear sistah? Oooh I think I may be getting one back very soon! But look how beautiful these Shakespeare Macs turned out! Comedy of Errors! LOL you are too hysterical. But I surely would sneak in on a lovely Midsummer's Night for a glass of these!
And I am trying to picture that kid and that teen that you were -or claim to have been – and it is tough going indeed! And what beautiful, gorgeous kids you have, Deeba!
Deeba, I love your breezy sense of humour, and great job on these absolutely beautiful footed macarons. Who says comics aren't books? I loved Garfield and Superman and X-men. Any (well, almost any) book is a good book, in my book 🙂
wow lovely macarons, and the first photo on the right is absolutely gorgeous. Great job on this challenge Deeba. Chapeau bas! Your children are adorables.
Loved the first para…the description about urself…i guess most kids grown in india would have done the same thing…And did u forget the fishing? – splashing the shallow water away with 'FEET' to catch the tiny fishes..?I used to do stuffs that u did, catching tadpoles and stuffs……Just can't think of it now….eeeks…!
Loved ur writing, themacs turned out beautiful and loved the flavours. Never gave a hand in these beauties, but you are such an inspiration!
These look fantastic! You sound like a proper little adventurer back then. I liked comics too, I used to get the Beano every week but it's not the same these days as the Dad isn't allowed to spank Dennis with his slipper at the end of the story!
:))) I loved Nancy Drew until I discovered Hardy boys and fell in love (no, seriously!!) with Joe!!! 😀 Oh I loved the comics tooo – favorite was Asterix!!!
Nothing but Shakespeare would be fitting for your elegant blog. Your A Midsummer's Night Dream macs sound scrumptious. Sorry you've been having computer problems. grrrrr
Really nice flavors for your macarons, Deeba! They look divine. I'm going to make my first batch this week. Was going to make vanilla, but yours are calling to me!
I was a great reader, then and now. But what's fun is rereading all the classics. You will get so much more out of them as you get older!
I was a fan of Nancy Drew too! As for the coffee flavoured macs – they are my favourite..favourite kind. I looove them. Here we get the mocha macaron with a dark chocolate ganache! WOW!! Heavenly it is!!
Beautiful macs. I think I read the whole series of Famous Five, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys etc when I was young. I love reading besides climb trees (can't really climb) and busy catching fish (that was my favourite past time), spiders and getting into trouble. LOL!
Climbing trees…a great mystery book in hand…Ahh…Nancy Drew…I think I didn't miss one! The grass was my bed…while sketching my doodles. Who knew, it would one day lead me to becoming an Interior designer!?! After all chores got done…Mommy always had some amazing baked goodies waiting for us. Those were the days. And I guess those great memories is what finally lead me to also start journaling about great memorable food moments. This weekend, it was my turn to bake a great big beautiful cake for my Mommy's Birthday. Ahh…the circle of life ;o) Thank you for sharing…and flavourful wishes, Claudia
I grew up reading comics and novels too and we loved and fantasized them. Ur macaroons surely have a lovely feet. I never tried them with the phobia of not getting them right!
I am glad to see a lot of macaroons. You also mention Enid Blyton. In fact, I wrote a sub-titled segment, "Food in Blytonian Literature" in my book on Enid Blyton, titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.bbotw.com). Stephen Isabirye
Adopt me Deeba! I wanna benefit from your mac-making skills too! You got a couple of good-lookin' kids there, girl … watch out for future boyfriends and girlfriends! ;))))
What beautiful macs. I have tried many recipes for macarons so far but my favorite one is the Ottolenghi one you posted a link to from you blog. Thank you, Thank you. It is a great recipe and I have given up all others. Your photos are beautiful.
I love your posts. What cute pictures you have up this time, your children are beautiful. Thanks for the great choice of theme this round–I've so enjoyed reading all the blog posts. And your macs look wonderful, if only I could reach in and grab one!
Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
54 Comments
faithy, the baker
Such beautiful & gorgeous mac! I love both of the flavors! And you have such beautiful children. 🙂 They are so sweet to post for you for photos!
MeetaK
i read comics too and loved them. trust jamie to teach you a lesson! a mid summers night dream is a favorite of mine too and these macarns fit perfectly. Shakespeare gave you feet! you are great with or without those books
Aparna
You lack of reading hasn't affected your passion of macaron making. LOL
We're a family of bookworms, but that hasn't helped my macaron making much. Though maybe I should go back to Shakespeare. I could give him some competition with my Macaron Tragedies! 😀
Can see your new camera and lenses at work.
muneza
these photographs r so awesome!!!no way less than any professional food photographer!!i am dying to make these macs.sometime soon!
Rosa's Yummy Yums
I love that quote! Your macarons are superb, as always! Perfect shots.
Cheers,
Rosa
suma
I am sold for the coffee flavor!! Hope u had a wonderful Mothers day too!!
Sonia (Nasi Lemak Lover)
I like all these awesome shots, and the macarons too.
zurin
you never do things by halves do you Deeba! Extremely gorgeous photos and macaroons! Glad that you saved the best from ur comp. this was a treat. TQ
penny aka jeroxie
So beautiful. I think I really need to add macaron to the list of things to bake this year.
The Purple Foodie
happy mothers day to you dee! (belated) your macs look lovely.
Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite
They are absolutely splendiferous Deeba!!! And Enid Blyton – stuff of my childhood too!
Happy Cook
Oh yeas Nancy drew and hardy boys were my fave too 🙂
And i only got to know Astris when i was a teen and fell in love with seconds..
Love the macs, pity i had to bow out this time.
Happy Cook
Oh yeas Nancy drew and hardy boys were my fave too 🙂
And i only got to know Astris when i was a teen and fell in love with seconds..
Love the macs, pity i had to bow out this time.
Grumpy and HoneyB
LOL, I LOVE to read! Before I met Grumpy when the kids would be at their dads, I would spend the morning lying on my couch reading! The only thing that would have made that more perfect would to have had some of these gorgeous and yummy macaroons sitting beside me!
Mark @ Cafe Campana
Great looking macs. I love anything with coffee in it and these macs are no exception.
Lora
These look scrumptious. No wonder you were drawing so much as a child. The color palette for your pictures is just beautiful. Just lovely!
lauresophie
Gorgeous!
Jessica @ How Sweet
Absolutely beautiful! They sound delicious too.
Jamie
Oh my what did I get you into, dear sistah? Oooh I think I may be getting one back very soon! But look how beautiful these Shakespeare Macs turned out! Comedy of Errors! LOL you are too hysterical. But I surely would sneak in on a lovely Midsummer's Night for a glass of these!
And I am trying to picture that kid and that teen that you were -or claim to have been – and it is tough going indeed! And what beautiful, gorgeous kids you have, Deeba!
shaz
Deeba, I love your breezy sense of humour, and great job on these absolutely beautiful footed macarons. Who says comics aren't books? I loved Garfield and Superman and X-men. Any (well, almost any) book is a good book, in my book 🙂
Mamatkamal
wow lovely macarons, and the first photo on the right is absolutely gorgeous. Great job on this challenge Deeba. Chapeau bas!
Your children are adorables.
Dragon
Gimme gimme gimme! Please. 😉
Shabs..
Loved the first para…the description about urself…i guess most kids grown in india would have done the same thing…And did u forget the fishing? – splashing the shallow water away with 'FEET' to catch the tiny fishes..?I used to do stuffs that u did, catching tadpoles and stuffs……Just can't think of it now….eeeks…!
Loved ur writing, themacs turned out beautiful and loved the flavours. Never gave a hand in these beauties, but you are such an inspiration!
Your kids are so adorable…loved teh pics..
Love,
SHabs.
Pavithra
Wonderful reading ur post and the mac are just perfect with yummy flavors.. Ur kids are so adorable and lucky to taste ur baking stuffs….
Sarah, Maison Cupcake
These look fantastic!
You sound like a proper little adventurer back then. I liked comics too, I used to get the Beano every week but it's not the same these days as the Dad isn't allowed to spank Dennis with his slipper at the end of the story!
Asha @ FSK
:))) I loved Nancy Drew until I discovered Hardy boys and fell in love (no, seriously!!) with Joe!!! 😀 Oh I loved the comics tooo – favorite was Asterix!!!
Great use of the Coffee Dee!! :)))
Françoise @ chocoparis
What a sublime combination of flavours. Your macarons are exquisite and so are the photos!
s. stockwell
You always capture my fancy! Love the coffee idea and the children are darling! best from California.
Barbara Bakes
Nothing but Shakespeare would be fitting for your elegant blog. Your A Midsummer's Night Dream macs sound scrumptious. Sorry you've been having computer problems. grrrrr
Barbara
Really nice flavors for your macarons, Deeba! They look divine. I'm going to make my first batch this week. Was going to make vanilla, but yours are calling to me!
I was a great reader, then and now. But what's fun is rereading all the classics. You will get so much more out of them as you get older!
SnacksGiving
I was a fan of Nancy Drew too! As for the coffee flavoured macs – they are my favourite..favourite kind. I looove them. Here we get the mocha macaron with a dark chocolate ganache! WOW!! Heavenly it is!!
The Cooking Ninja
Beautiful macs. I think I read the whole series of Famous Five, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys etc when I was young. I love reading besides climb trees (can't really climb) and busy catching fish (that was my favourite past time), spiders and getting into trouble. LOL!
Sophie
Waw, Deeba!!
They look fenomenaly tasty & so special too!!
You are certainly the queen of macs making!! So beautiful too!
Avanika [YumsiliciousBakes]
I was [still am] a big reader, so I read the Enid Blytons as well as the comics, as well as the classics! 😛
Your macarons look delicious, you've finally conquered them 🙂
Happy Mother's Day!
Natalie...
Mmm wow these sound delicious, well done on making them 🙂 great job :D. look lovely!!
Foodessa
Climbing trees…a great mystery book in hand…Ahh…Nancy Drew…I think I didn't miss one!
The grass was my bed…while sketching my doodles. Who knew, it would one day lead me to becoming an Interior designer!?!
After all chores got done…Mommy always had some amazing baked goodies waiting for us.
Those were the days. And I guess those great memories is what finally lead me to also start journaling about great memorable food moments.
This weekend, it was my turn to bake a great big beautiful cake for my Mommy's Birthday.
Ahh…the circle of life ;o)
Thank you for sharing…and flavourful wishes, Claudia
A_and_N
You didn't read? This is like A! 🙂
But you sure can dish up coffee desserts like this. I have to try a macaron one of these days. I'm terrified though!
aquadaze
Hey, I've linked your Cinnamon Chocolate bundt cake to mine here:
http://servedwithlove.blogspot.com/2010/05/chocolate-orange-bundt-cake.html
Thanks!
Manggy
You sure are getting a lot of mileage out of that cookbook! Way to go!
M doesn't look too amused though :/
Valentina
your blog is so beautiful. i absolutely cannot stop browsing through it.Very inspiring.
Rambling Tart
Ohhh, I haven't thought of Asterix in ages, Deeba! 🙂 Thanks for the fun memory and these GORGEOUS macs. 🙂
Priya
Mac Macarons r fabulous..enjoying every click in ur blog..
pepperkverna
They look absolutely irresistible! Hege
M D
I grew up reading comics and novels too and we loved and fantasized them. Ur macaroons surely have a lovely feet. I never tried them with the phobia of not getting them right!
Eni
I am glad to see a lot of macaroons. You also mention Enid Blyton. In fact, I wrote a sub-titled segment, "Food in Blytonian Literature" in my book on Enid Blyton, titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.bbotw.com).
Stephen Isabirye
Cherine
Your macarons are fabulous!
bake in paris
Can't get enough of macarons, especially when they are so beautiful and scrumptious like yours…
Vanilla, coffee macaron with dark chocolate ganache filling… definitely a good combination…
Sawadee from Bangkok,
Kris
Arwen from Hoglet K
mmm yes, it would need to be chilled for a midsummer night. Sounds like a lovely combo of coffee and chocolate!
Muneeba
Adopt me Deeba! I wanna benefit from your mac-making skills too!
You got a couple of good-lookin' kids there, girl … watch out for future boyfriends and girlfriends! ;))))
Bonnie
What beautiful macs. I have tried many recipes for macarons so far but my favorite one is the Ottolenghi one you posted a link to from you blog. Thank you, Thank you. It is a great recipe and I have given up all others. Your photos are beautiful.
Cristie
I love your posts. What cute pictures you have up this time, your children are beautiful. Thanks for the great choice of theme this round–I've so enjoyed reading all the blog posts. And your macs look wonderful, if only I could reach in and grab one!
marye
Wonderful as always! This looks brilliant and I love the combo. Adding it to todays roundup on RestlessChipotle. 🙂
fragolina
First time visiting. I like your blog, all recipes look delicious and easy and make me want to try few.
Sneha
Deeba! You’ve got me hooked! So easy to make & DEE-licious! Wow!