Baking addict? New hobby? Stress reliever? Macarons? YES.

I feel like I'm able to relieve a lot of stress through baking. It also gives me something to do. When I was in nursing school, I would bake when I didn't want to study. Now, I bake because I want to try something different and because, macarons just look so fucking pretty. 

I'm so inspired by all these beautiful baked goods that I see when I'm out and about or those that I see on the internet displayed on Instagram, Pinterest, etc. The whole beauty of the items are what inspire me to create them. Sometimes I'm not always up for the challenge especially if the ingredients are not already in my house or if the process takes too long. Then I remembered, you're never gonna get anywhere if you don't try something new. 

French Macarons

Macarons are hard to make. I'll just start with that. Know what you are getting into before you begin. They are time consuming but worth it if you put effort into making them. You want to know how I really learned how to make macarons? YouTube. Oh how I love YouTube! I learned how to play guitar from YouTube. YouTube helped me become open minded. YouTube helped me grow up. Damn this post is not about YouTube. 

Anyways, I watched numerous video tutorials on the process of making macarons and then I was able to compare them all to find a process I thought was best. To be honest, I had to watch the videos MANY times too because watching a video helps you understand the consistency of macarons during macaronage which is super vital in making successful cookies.

FIRST ATTEMPT 

These yellow things are my first attempt to macarons. I did not use a template for these and they came out underbaked, so I put them back in the oven (baked them again, and kind of fell asleep) so they came out a little overbaked and too crispy. FAIL. Do not bake too late at night if you are sleepy, which is actually common sense. Unsafe Natalie! I also messed up on the lemon buttercream as well but they honestly tasted fine. My mom loved them. But if I were judging, I would not approve considering they did not come out very pretty.

SECOND ATTEMPT

 I used a template and placed in under my parchment paper. Google "Yumarama Macaron Template" to find the template I used.

 PERFECTION!

These light blue macarons (yes, I called these ones macarons) were my second attempt to macarons and they came out BEAUTIFUL. Everything about them were pretty right in my perspective. I even used a little bit of coconut flakes to sprinkle over them prior to baking which added a nice touch. Tip: Do not overbake if you put sprinkles of anything on top of they will just burn and become discolored. I made a cream cheese filling for these because I knew it would be firm enough to last as a filling but it was a little too sweet (it is like the cream cheese topping on a red velvet cupcake).

I'll think about posting the recipe/process I use to make the macarons if people start asking me. But for now, just admire the pictures with me.