Santa's Belly Macarons

Santa Belly Macarons filled with dark chocolate ganache

"I wanna jiggle my belly like a bowl full of jelly."

Any die-hard F.R.I.E.N.D.S fans will know this dialogue and I need not say more. This line has been my inspiration for these desserts, along with my favourite brand Lush having a product named Santa's Belly for Christmas. 

Chandler Bing makes for an unusual Santa who didn't get to jiggle his belly like a bowl full of jelly when he was dressed as Santa thanks to Holiday Armadillo. For the uninitiated, this whole paragraph will make no sense and I suggest watching the episode. I know I am going to watch it again, cuz duh, a F.R.I.E.N.D.S marathon is always a good idea.

I have been AWOL for a long time now and I apologise for my absence. In the last couple of years, I have packed my life into 3 suitcases and moved continents. I am writing to you from sunny Australia where Christmas is a bloomin hot deal, literally. It is 38 degrees Celsius here and Santa would probably wear booty shorts rather than his heavy suit here.

But in the traditional sense of Christmas, I picture Santa wearing his big ol red suit and these berry red macarons with a fancy gold buckle, filled with delish dark chocolate ganache are my ode to Santa. This dessert had a lot of firsts for me. Baking in a new country with new ingredients and a new oven was a task in itself and lemme tell you, the oven is the last place you want to be close to when it is so hot outside. I even used lustre dust for the first time and mixing it with alcohol and painting it on was a fun task indeed. The recipe I used for the macarons is my no-fail, foolproof macarons that will give you a great batch of macarons. So do try it out and you won't be disappointed.

Overall, I am really glad that my vision for these macarons translated so well into reality and this is me, wishing you readers a very Merry Christmas and I do hope you try out these treats. So without further ado, here is the recipe. 

Sunshine on my plate

Macarons masquerading as burgers

Yellow gold

I completed a whole year of blogging a month ago and so caught up in life was I that I didn't even realize it :)

The year has flown by so quickly. I remember like it was just yesterday that I took baby steps in creating my blog and I can see how I've grown with each post. Yes, I'm a lazy blogger and have posted say, maybe, one post a month (hides under blanket to avoid blogger daggers for being so lazy).. But hopefully that will change this year.. 

I wanna say a biiig thank you to all my readers for supporting me and making me grow as a baker and as a person. This journey has just begun and I can only hope that my blog has helped you'll get more passionate about baking.. 

As always, I didn't quite plan on a special 'Anniversary' post, but what luck to have this post mark my bloggie's anniversary. The dreaded macarons form a tall summit on my plate and I have finally conquered them (well, almost :p). So here's my anniversary post, where I conquer my arch nemesis, the one dessert that eluded me, for quite a many attempts...

My quest for macarons kick-started off again after seeing numerous posts on them at the home bakers guild on FB and boy am I glad I ventured on that road again. I have these beauties to show for my efforts. I tried a new recipe and tweaked it a bit to suit my needs and I can't be happier with the result. So happy was I with the success the first time that the hubby decided to take me out for dinner to celebrate. The smile on my face said it all and he has witnessed my rants when batch after batch failed. Rest-assured, he knows I'll be making them almost every week now, trying to achieve perfection. 

'Flambe'd

What's better is that now that my macarons are coming out fine, I get to experiment with fillings and experiment I did. I tried making lemon curd for the first time and made it in the microwave if you can beat that... The tang of the lemon curd with lemon zest perfectly complimented the almondy-sweet macaron shells and I'm gonna me making macarons again so I can sandwich them with the tart lemon curd :)

Watch out for a detailed tutorial on macarons soon.. 

Till then, Get Set Bake...

The elusive macaron

Pretty in pink

I made these treats for V day but never got around to posting them, so here it is: better late than never right? 
Yes, these are indeed Macarons. I've had three failed attempts at these beauties, but going by the number of posts online with people 'desperately seeking Macarons', I don't think I have fared so bad in my pursuit of these french delicacies.
 Adrian Zumbo, you are to blame for my fixation for these gorgeous treats. Ever since I saw his Macaron tower on Masterchef Australia, I've been dying to try to make a decent batch. I am yet to perfect these lil mounds of joy. Truth be told, half out of this batch were not privileged to grace my blog, but did fare pretty well in my tummy :) So, once I perfect the recipe, a detailed tutorial will be coming up. Till then, feast your eyes on my Raspberry Macarons filled with chocolate ganache. 
Sinful, yes, resistible, no!