Lottie's Macaroons

Maudie And Olivia Had a Great Time

Hi Caroline,

Thanks very much for your email! Apologies for the late reply, but I wanted to say how much I loved your class, as did my friend Olivia! We would love to know what other courses you might be running.

Olivia made some amazing looking macaroons the other weekend (she may have sent you pictures). I have my wedding in 6 weeks, so am trying to avoid baking, but will be back onto it post May!

Thanks again Caroline.

Best wishes - Maudie

Sean's Macaroons Were in Demand!

Hi Caroline, 

You may remember that I came along to your class with my daughter just before Christmas. We really enjoyed it and have made a few batches since. It’s proved to be an unexpected father/daughter bonding experience. We are gradually getting the hang of it, I've attached a pic from the latest batch – check out the skirts!

In fact I took some of these to work today and had some very favourable comparisons with Ladurée... and demands for more. 

All the best - Sean O.

Richard's Lemon Macaroons Were 'Perfect'

Hello Caroline,

Firstly, thank you very much for the lesson which was very interesting and alot of fun. I have made two batches so far - the first were not very succesful... Nobody to blame but myself for rushing and only glancing at the recipe!

So the next time I was determined to learn from my mistake. I aged the egg whites and weighed them, I set out all the equipment from the start, pre-weighed all the ingredients Etc.

It was a dry, mild morning, I had bought the essential equipment from lakeland and some Kosher ground almonds from Sainsburys (All they had at the time but they turned out to be rather good)

I learned from the first batch that my oven needs to be a little lower than in the recipe so I dried the macarons with the door open and when I turned the heat up I kept the door open a little with a wooden spoon.

There were 50 shells and everyone was perfect - They were lemon and filled with lemon curd. I waited (I did really!) 24 hours before I filled them. It was thrilling!

Best regards - Richard H.

Tracey's Rose And Vanilla Macaroons

Hi Caroline,

I really enjoyed the class and bought the blossom mats you mentioned and a fair bit of kit from Lakeland. My husband thinks it would be cheaper to send me to Paris to buy macarons direct - I'm not against that, but was determined not to be beaten by so few ingredients :-) 

Your email was perfectly timed, as I made some today for Mothers Day - I hope they last that long, but as you mentioned, they need your undivided attention and I could only give them that today! They are by no means perfect, but SO much better than my last 6 attempts! 

 I used a dehydrator to dry them out and that made the process a lot quicker. I bought one two years ago to dry cherries, as I rent two trees in Kent. We had 30 kilos last year and dehydrating them means they last for ages. So, I thought I would experiment with drying the shells. My 'foot' is still not perfect, so maybe I dried too much? 

The pink are rosewater, the others vanilla. I can't wait to try chocolate, but 'till Lent ends I wont, as that will test my resolve too far! For the filling I did the buttercream from the Hisako book. First batch was good, second split a bit and it's not looking as good. I will have another go as I found it easy in the microwave.

I will send another photo when I make the chocolate ones. Thanks so much for a really interesting class and I will look out for a follow up.

Best wishes -Tracey I.

Amy's Cakes Tasted Great!

Dear Caroline,

I have been meaning to email and say how much Leo and I enjoyed the baking masterclass. We have since made a couple of Victoria sponges and an orange drizzle cake very successfully! I was going to send a photo but, although they tasted good, they didn't really look like something that would grace the pages of BBC Good Food!

Thanks again, and all the best - Amy W.

Calvin's Macaroons

Hi Caroline,
  

Thanks for such a wonderful class - here is an image of mine from last night!

They turned out wonderfully with all your tips,

Many thanks again - Calvin

Anne's 'Wonderful' Macaroons

Hi Caroline

Thank you SO much for a fabulous class, I so enjoyed it. And despite any slight imperfections in the chocolate ones, my husband couldn't wait to taste them and pronounced them "wonderful!"

I well appreciate how much effort goes into these kind of classes and you really did do a fab job. I'm only sorry that I didn't insist on doing some of the washing up, as that must have been miserable to tackle once we had all left.

I'm now inspired to practice making beautiful macaroons and have already got some ideas on filling variations, so I'll let you know how that goes!  And I would certainly recommend you and your classes to any one who has a love of fine food.

Once again, thank you for all your effort and for a super class.

Ann M.

Eileen's Eureka Moment

Hi Caroline, 

After several attempts, I finally had a Eureka moment - a batch of decent looking macaroons came out of the oven! I was in Macaroon heaven!! Attached is a picture to share - poor lighting, but I was too excited about this batch!

I thought your instructions were good. I think your class gave a rather sound basic to macaroon making. I had always wanted to make macaroons but piping scares me as I'm rather clumsy. When I had a go at the class, it wasn't as difficult as I thought. I still need to work on my piping skills as my macaroons came out different sizes. I think I'll draw circles on the baking sheets next time.  

I agree that the oven temperature needs to be lower - these babies were baked at 150'C for about 15 minutes.

After 3 failed batches, I think I know how the batter should be - I was previously too worried about over mixing but after watching a number of videos online, I can gage how the texture should be. It's not something that one can learn in an afternoon but through practices.

I have also aged the egg whites overnight in a container as I was worried about contamination. I read that aged egg whites are more stable as the proteins have broken down and the excess moisture have evaporated.

Eileen

Gloria's Lovable Macaroons

Hi Caroline,

I just thought I'd feedback my first bake after your wonderful macaroon class. First of all I bought the Les Petits Macaron which further explained and gave insights to many of your instructions and processes...

The first thing I must add is that I followed my instincts and decided not to add a real egg to the shop-bought egg whites as I thought I'd experiment and see what happens.

Well they turned out better than any I've ever made! I aged the egg whites for 6 or so days used - and I have no doubt it was because of the effortless approach you used. The method of resting them in the oven (didn't even need to use the oven thermometer) worked (to my surprise) and they ALL came out looking and tasting superb. I was so confident that I made two batches and none came out burnt cracked or unlovable in appearance or otherwise. I did use the Italian method which made them shinier, but nevertheless I was so very proud.

All in all it's been a great experiment and I'd definitely use the shop-bought egg whites again. In fact I will as it lowers my guilt factor.

All the best – Gloria