fashion's night out, audrey's night in

the last couple of weeks have been a whirl of whisking, folding, piping, and baking. this probably doesn't seem too out of the order, given i'm a baker by trade, but i spent the week before (and some during) fashion week fanatically sifting almond flour and whipping up ganaches for french macarons. through a series of extremely fortunate events, i landed a couple gigs making my favorite dessert for fashion week parties - including making a whopping 600 for the juicy and chictopia conference after party a couple sundays ago. it was the most i've made at a time, and i was really, really nervous for them to all turn out perfectly - the macaron is such a temperamental cookie and i was determined to get it just right. it was a lot of work, and i spent fashion's night out in sweats stained with lavender white chocolate ganache. (literally.) after all the effort, though, i was really, really pleased with the desserts, and from what i hear, the macarons were a hit.


lemon raspberry


strawberry basil

vanilla bean milk chocolate

coconut lavender white chocolate

orange honey mascarpone




i've been asked by a few readers to share tips and recipes for these beauties; here's what i do:

the recipe i use is:

100 g aged egg whites
30 g granulated sugar
3-4 drops food coloring
1 t flavor
120 g almond flour
200 g powdered sugar

use a food processor to pulse the almond flour and powdered sugar together, then sift and set aside. whip the egg whites until they are totally white and then add the sugar bit by bit; add the flavor and color and whip until stiff peaks form. fold the almond flour/powdered sugar in 5 additions, folding to completely incorporate every time. pipe them out, then let them sit until a skin forms and they are smooth to touch; put them in a preheated 350 degree oven but turn it down to 300 as soon as you put them in. rotate them every 5 minutes or so; take them out after 12-15 minutes, when they are just about to brown.

at this point i'll pop them in the freezer for a few minutes so they easily peel off the sheet. i now use parchment to line my sheet pans instead of a silpat; i find that the bottoms come out a lot better that way. if you are going to fill them right away, pair them up with similar sizes, then fill them with whatever you fancy - flavored buttercream, a ganache, a curd, jam, etc. put them in a tupperware and pop 'em in the fridge and let them relax there for about a day, so they have time to mature. voila! delicious macarons.

happy thursday, everyone! my friday! tgit.

xo audrey