french macarons (vanilla & lace + tartelette)

I have been lucky enough to acquire great friends through my husband, some of which share my love of baking and baked goods. Together we decided to venture into the scary world of macarons. It went a little something like this...

Must have a little wine first.

And some cheese.

Ok, maybe not that much wine...

Husbands wait patiently, hoping for delicious macarons.

Cute photo op followed by intense reading.

MUST FOLLOW DIRECTIONS

Circles don't look perfect but we got...

FEET! On the FIRST TRY!

And they tasted delicious.

Hours of hard work in the kitchen = time for a beach break!

We made raspberry ones too. Cuteness.

Needless to say it was so much more fun cooking with friends. Going into it I was very nervous, I had studied up on macarons and knew how tricky they could be. I had aged the egg whites 2 days before and got myself a brand new digital scale, I was ready as I could be.

I picked the recipe for the chocolate macarons from Vanilla & Lace and the raspberry marscapone from Tartelette. Tartlette also had a super helpful article on making macarons. I have no clue how they would turn out but knew once we saw those "feet," we were in the clear.

They are A LOT of work, hours in the kitchen, but very delicious. If I do make these again I need to invest in a food processor. Using our Waring blender to grind the almonds was not cutting it, not even close. Making these as more of a party really relieved stress and pressure, if they didn't turn out then so what, we were having fun trying.

Pictures by my husband and the talented, gorgeous Annie Sifferman.