#9: Macarons (not to be confused with macaroons)

Cakes: Sweet Bloom Cakes

What can I say, these macarons look absolutely delicious..and I know that I'll only have these cravings for a few more days after which I hope to return to my normal, paranoid, calorie counting..not pregnant 'self' who does not have an appreciation for sweets at all. I would love to have these delivered to the hospital for the nurses (and myself of course) as a token of my appreciation assuming all goes well...or as a bribe depending on the situation. We had to practically bribe the nurses at Phelps with tons of coffee grounds and doughnuts when Arie was born because we were so tired that we wanted her to stay in the nursery for the night but they wanted her in the room with us, we could hardly change her diaper, swaddle her, she would not stop crying..it was a tough learning curve but I love every moment when I look at her now..

Excerpt from http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/10/introduction-to-french-macarons.html:

The macaron's origin isn't clear, but it may have been brought to France from Italy as early as 1533 by Catherine di 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 Ladurée decided to take two cookies and fill them with ganache. Today Ladurée 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]