Paris + Macarons

I have been talking a lot about traveling lately and J and I are in the midst of trying to plan a Europe trip for later in the year and if it all works out we will be in Paris for our 4th anniversary. Ahhh... our 4th anniversary. I can hardly believe it!  We have never taken a trip for an anniversary before and I am so excited for the possibility. And Paris would be the perfect place. I have only been once before and that was with J (and the rest of our London program) the very first summer we met, and we were just figuring out how much we liked each other. It would be fun to celebrate our anniversary while reminiscing about our first trip to Paris.

Lately, all the talk of Paris has got me hankering for a macaron and today I decided to whip some up. Below is a pretty simple macaron recipe. You might be thinking that the words simple and macaron don't belong in the same sentence, and you would be right. Now I do believe this recipe is actually pretty simple but it was my first time attempting it and let's just say there was some struggle involved.

First off, I didn't have the patience to sift the flour as thoroughly as I should have. So, make sure you sift well, mine turned out a little bumpy. Also, I really should buy some pastry bags. Trying to do it with a ziploc bag just wasn't cutting it. The shape ended up a little uneven and next time I would make them a little bigger.

Despite all that, they tasted delicious! I will definitely be trying this recipe again and maybe even experimenting with different flavors and fillings.

Macarons with Chocolate Hazelnut Filling

1 3/4 cups almond meal or flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt 
3 large egg whites
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Food coloring of your choosing
Nutella

• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

• In a bowl sift together almond flour and powdered sugar. Add salt.
• In a separate bowl beat egg whites while adding granulated sugar a little at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form. (Add food coloring at this step.)
• With a spatula gently fold flour mixture into egg whites until fully incorporated.
• Transfer batter into a pastry bag with a regular tip (or a ziploc bag with a corner cut out).
• Pipe even mounds of batter onto lined baking sheets about an 1 1/2" apart.
• Tap sheets on counter to help level mounds and let stand uncovered on counter for 20 minutes.

• Move oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 300 degrees.
• Bake cookies for 20-25 minutes switching positions halfway through.
• Cool completely for 30 minutes on baking sheets. 
• Once cooled, spread small amount of Nutella on half of the cookies, then pair with other half to make sandwiches.

After all of this I could really use a glass of champagne with my macarons but tea will have to do.
 

And here is your daily dose of Gracie (Maybe that should be an actual thing because she really is that cute and who wouldn't want to see her cute mug everyday?!)... J is working from home this afternoon and he and Gracie got some play time in.

 

Champagne Cupcakes

So y'all already know we had an Oscar party on Sunday and where there is a party, there is always dessert (and champagne). When looking for recipes I stumbled upon champagne cupcakes and thought they were appropriate for the glitzy evening. I got the recipe here and followed it exactly. Here is the end product...

And they were a success! Next time I will have to experiment making them gluten free so I can try them. The icing was delicious though. :)

We also had a make shift photo booth at the party and our friend was nice enough to make props!

What I've Been Pinning This Week...

I'm still here! Sorry I have been MIA recently. We were out of town on a ski trip (more of that to come in a later post) and then I got sick. This cold is taking me a while to get over but that doesn't mean I haven't been pinning. So here is a look at what caught my eye this week...

Style Inspiration

Bows!

Chanel

Clare Vivier Monogrammed Clutch - Need!

Recipes To Try

Single Serving Chocolate Chip Cookies

Snicker Doodle Brownies

Date Ideas

40 Free Date Ideas

 

Manic Baking

You know those days where nothing seems to go right? Well, I'm having one.

Today I had a long list of to-dos and among them was to bake a cake. I had been wanting to make this cake since before the holidays, so I was really excited to give it a go. I ran to the store to get ingredients first thing in the morning. However, not until half way through mixing up the recipe I realize, it's only for one layer... seriously?! (I have to admit, I did get a prepacked cake mix. I've recently started eating dairy free in addition to my gluten free diet and didn't feel like experimenting with cake mix. But shhh... don't tell).

I decide to go to the store after my first cake layer is done baking and promptly start to clean up Christmas decorations. Although, I don't get this finished until after I have spilled water all over the floor.

On my second trip to the store I get more cake mix and dairy free margarine for the icing, which I also forgot the first time. Seems easy enough, but then I proceed to face plant in front of the store and its many patrons.

Once again I am whipping up cake batter when I realize I don't have enough powdered sugar for icing. Trying to avoid a third trip to the store I try to 'make do' with what I do have. Not a good idea! I end up with runny icing and nothing to thicken it with.

This results in me pouring the icing over the cake like a glaze. It might not be pretty but it is finally finished. Sorry there will be no picture of the whole cake. I tried to take a picture of a slice...

but not so great. Although, the cake tasted pretty amazing! It almost made up for all of the craziness that was today.

My inspiration for the cake came from here. Her cake definitely looks much better than mine. I didn't get to add any pretty chocolate decorations. I was just too tired. However, I did use the raspberry filling and chocolate ganache recipes - with some adjustments. They were a great addition to a regular chocolate cake. I will definitely be trying this again with some chocolate decorations after I have double and triple checked my grocery list.

My new kitchen aid mixer was supposed to be the star of this post but it got over shadowed by my hectic day. But I absolutely love it! I can't wait to try many more recipes!