Macarons Not Macaroons

Today my friend Danielle and I made, what I thought were macaroons.

Did you know they are not technically called macaroons, but 'macarons'?! (Try pronouncing that in your finest French accent and it sounds very posh.)

A macaroon can be made with a variety of differing ingredients based on the region of the world it comes from. For instance, in Canada, we traditionally call macaroons those deliciously sweet coconut mounds that when baked are chewy and slightly crispy.

While a macaron is the traditional meringue-based treat made with egg whites, icing sugar and ground almonds which come in a rainbow of Willy Wonka-esque colours. They easily melt in your mouth and originated in Italy, not France as I thought (though I'm sure Martha knew). Now France has totally took ownership of these little delights and made them into the popular treat they are today.

We made chocolate and raspberry macarons. They are totally not sugar free or Dukan friendly, but lots of fun to try and turn out such pretty results.

I didn't create the recipe, so here is a great link to a recipe you can try if you are so inspired (of course it is a Martha recipe!).

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (they are fiddly and you need a couple of solid hours to make them)