Mocha Macarons

Temperamental. Unpredictable. Sensitive. Yup, I'm talking about macarons (not macaroons).
A few years back, the word macaron wasn't even in my dictionary. Then, a big bang in the pastry/dessert/sweet world happened and macarons are now, everywhere! Even the grocery store has them. Don't get me wrong because it's a good thing. With the macaron explosion, you won't be needing that plane ticket to France to find a outstanding macaron.

Of course, I got curious. Masterchef's contestants have stumbled and tumbled with Adriano Zumbo's macaron tower and I was initially intimidated by the whole process. I read the recipe like I was studying for a test and finally plucked up the courage to make my very own macarons.

I sat in front of my oven throughout the baking time- waiting for those delicate feet to appear! And when they did, there was shrieking, squealing and lots jumping about. My neighbours must have thought that I won the lottery!!

I won't post a recipe because I know that it's far from perfect but here's a good one from Cake Journal: How to make macarons. It's a basic French macaron recipe so, get creative and add your own colours and flavours! For my mocha macarons, I added coffee powder into the shell mixture and filled them with dark chocolate ganache. Like cupcakes, there are endless flavour combinations but I stuck with the basics for the trial run.

hmm.. if you think of it, they look like mini hamburgers!

Any suggestions for future flavours?? :D