December 8th
2005
Food Blogs not only helped to improve my culinary education over the last year, they also have shown me, that I might be missing one important gene: The one that makes you love macarons. While some food bloggers have investigated the holy scene of Pierre Hermé and Ladurée in the past, others were courageous enough to face the challenge and create their own - as far as I can tell from their appearance - very successfully!
Perhaps I should think about revisiting Paris (yes, quite a burden...;) and see if there is some hope for me - or if I am doomed to a macaron-less life. But then I also have my own sort of remedy: A cookie called "wasp's nests". Probably the first cookie I prepared together with my mum, balancing on a chair next to her - I was a real shorty back then... This is one of the few memories I have about baking cookies with her, because she was anything but into baking cookies - she hated it and still does.
So it was down to my grandma, or even better, aunt Lene. If I had to name one cookie baking crazy relative, yes, it would be aunt Lene. Anyone in the family (and family to her meant neighbors as well as friends from her sewing class) could give her an empty container or box - which within days was miraculously filled with an amazing variety of cookies, each in perfect shape and lovingly decorated. Her husband, my uncle, was also breeding rabbits back then, needles to say I was pretty keen on joining her for one of her countless christmas cookie baking sessions in the first days of every December. Not sure if I was of big help to her - carrying around young bunnies and nibbling away from all the cookie trays coming straight from the oven...
With the egg whites as a basis for the cookie dough (would batter be more adequate?), I suppose they qualify as macarons. An important difference: They are prepared in no time and their outward appearance is not crucial, no uniform shapes are required! Taste-wise often underrated, because eaten still warm, they simply melt in your mouth and are a delicious treat. A little aged (one to two weeks) their "biting experience" changes, they'll burst into lots of crumbly, dry chunks when you bite into them. Of course they are still fine (kept in a tin can), it's just that these are typically the first cookies I make each year, so they usually never pass the 3rd or 4th day.
It's killing me that work currently is consuming a lot of the precious pre-Christmas time, time I would rather spend baking countless cookies. But on the other hand, the immense repertoire of recipes documented by the last joint IMBB/SHF event would make it almost impossible for me to pick and choose a few new recipes - they all look and sound so wonderful...
Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F). Evenly cover a lined (parchment paper) baking tray with almonds, sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar over them and toast until golden brown. Turn them once, then remove and let cool down. Now reduce the oven temperature to 160°C (320°F).
Beat the egg whites, add the sugar together with the vanilla sugar and continue to beat until the mass forms stiff peaks. Stir in the lemon juice, then set aside.
Finely grate the chocolate and carefully fold in with the egg whites and the toasted almonds.
Use two teaspoons to help portion the cookies on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden.
Once cooled down, decorate with melted chocolate, if desired.
Wasp's nests/Wespennester (my kind of macarons...)
Recipe source: my mum
Required time: prep. 15 min., baking time 20-25 min.
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Ingredients (yield: ~30 pieces):
100g almonds, coarsely chopped or better: gestiftelt (is there an English expression?)
75g sugar
2 egg white
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
100g dark chocolate, grated
for decoration: melted chocolate
Your cookies sound some much easier to bake than macarons. I'll try your recipe this week end and maybe I'll add a little colour to make them look fancy. I became obsessed with macarons too when I move away from France and I've been deprived of their suble taste and texture since then. Not sure if I can find gestiftelt in New Zealand, though. Have a good week end.
Hi ! another recepe for macarons ! I'll try it !
there are such a lot of different one, I give 3 differents ways to make them and my recepies are from the famous " Ecole du grand chocolat Valrhona"
You can see them here !
http://mercotte.canalblog.com/archives/2005/11/19/1014509.html
http://mercotte.canalblog.com/archives/2005/11/02/956474.html
As always, these look good. I love macarons but I have issues with any recipe that starts with "let the eggwhites rest for two days"... Do you know the "luxemburgerli" of the Cafe Sprüngli in Zürich? They have a strict rule that they don't sell them anywhere that takes longer than an hour to transport from the production location. I once persuaded my husband to drive over and spend the weekend in Zurich just because of luxemburgerli. Well, also because of "hiltl", but that's another story.
I love the word "gestiftelt", I guess the best word in english would be "slivered", although I also have seen "shredded" and "splitter". But none conveys the same intern meaning to it, don't you think?
I'm not very patient when it comes to baking cookies, so your recipe sounds like exactly what I'm looking for during Christms season. As I like my cookies really sweet, I'm probably going to substitute the dark chocolate with milk or even white chocolate. Thanks!
Die sehen ja hübsch aus! Und sind wohl wirklich schnell gemacht - ich glaube, daran versuche ich mich auch mal. Meine Dosen leeren sich nämlich schon wieder auf geheimnisvolle Weise... ;-)
Oh, yes! I had a chance to try proper macaroons from Paris and they were so nice! I love the colours, different tastes. I am inspired to make these now.
I made macarons/macaroons for the first time this week as well (pistachio ones a la Nigella Lawson) and was very pleased with the result, even if they didn't look so perfect:) The taste was wondeful!
I wonder what's in the air that foodbloggers are on macaron mood these days:)
I must say that I think I want to spend time at your Aunt Lene's house. I may not be a kid anymore, but I still have a soft spot for warm cookies and baby bunnies.
leo.org suggests "julienne" for "gestiftelt". Or "almond slivers" for "gestiftelte Mandeln". There you go.
The macaroons look yummie! Cookie-baking time has always been my favorite time in December ;-)
I love those cookies, my Oma makes them every year, so nice to have the recipe.
Slivered is the best translation, i beleive, that is how thy are labled in the stores here in the U.S.
Hi hag, You're right the slivered almonds are what I was referring to, I just couldn't find a translation that would match the German expression, which literally says "cut like tiny pencils"... :)
Giant Squid, About adding color: Once I discovered food coloring while being a teenager, my parents had to bear with all kinds of strange colored dishes. I even colored table water...
mercotte, Thanks for sharing the links to your recipes, how yummy!
Hi Hande, I hear you, I tend to also go for the option entailing less work ;) Can't beat gestiftelt, can you? Have you had a chance to visit any Christkindl markets yet? Which one in MUC is your favorite? Maybe we should meet for some Glühwein or similar...? About the Swiss delicacies, of course I have heard about them - but I haven't had a chance to try them yet! But O. always has to bring some chocolate, when he's in Switzerland, I'll make sure to remind him next time...
Cheryl, The bitter sweet chocolate makes a nice contrast to the overall sweetness - but can it ever be too sweet? Milk or white chocolate should make some fine cookies just as well...
Petra, Das haben auch meine Keks-Dosen so an sich, leider komme ich diese Jahr kaum zum Backen...irgendwie hatte ich mir das anders vorgestellt ;)
Dreska, If you make them, shoot me a quick note, I'd love to hear how they turned out!
Pille, It's got to be the macaron bug, pretty catchy and hard to get rid of. :) Pistachio macarons sound fabulous, just checked out your post - great minds think alike, don't they? With the little difference, that you made real macarons!
Nic, Then I think we could be partners in crime :) One would distract aunt Lene, while cuddling with the bunnies, and the other would steal her nicest cookies...
Dorothee, Devin, I have looked up different sources and wasn't sure, which one was right. To me slivered is something different, like very thin slices. "Julienne" works, because it's technically the same as vegetable julienne. But hey, I guess you could use any of those almond types.
[...] ge and create their own - as far as I can tell from their appearance - very successfully! delicious:days “The Macaron Factor” [...]
I tested it, it was very delicious!!!
I love your blog! I've suprised my friends yesterday with these lovely wasp's nests.Put them in a pretty box and it was a perfect christmas present.
THANK YOU!!
Ildiko - The Netherlands
I'm discovering your blog, and I'm amazed!! Such beautiful photos and recipes :)
I've discovered macarons with Mercotte's recipe, who left you a comment above! I'm now an addict!!
Ive just discovered macarons and love them, i also think the recipe you have here is what we call a macaroon in australia, nonetheless its sounds yummy
I love macaroons. Like you, I have noticed a lot of Macaroon entries lately in the food blogs that i read. I only wish that the lat time I was in Paris, I made the effort to try some. They seem to be all over Paris. I can't wait to try your recipe...I think the term you are looking for is slivered, as in slivered almonds. Keep up the great work.