Pink Chocolate Macaron Pops!

I have been so busy, and I have missed MacAttack two months in a row...definitely did not want to miss this month's Pinkarons...a tribute to Cancer.....

To me fighting cancer is like fighting another war...but the enemy is one that sleeps in and slip in! I lost two loved ones after their brave battle with cancer last year, my dear sister in law who was only 31 lost the fight against acute leukemia and a dear blogger friend lost when her cancer relapsed...I can never forget the daunting moments.....

I guess what one can do is just be cautious....live a healthy living, cancer thrives on sugar, so to reduce your sugar intake....easy to speak but how can one shy away from sugar when one enjoys baking and indulging in desserts...yikes...and that one person is moi! ....apart from this sugary goodies i only take a third of a teaspoon of sugar with my coffee, but i cant live without rice...my sins...

...after dodging my check-ups all these years, I have started going for my routines from last year, yup a pap smear is a must for all childbearing women, for this year mine's due this month! What a coincidence! I have been told by my gynae that for a woman who has delivered several times, the risk for ovarian cancer is high...whoaa....but god forbid....I'll do my pap smear...and so must you!

....and for MacTweet...here's Pink Chocolate Macaron Pops...I added vanilla bean seeds and a teaspoon of cocoa powder and added some pink colour powder in the shell to result in this! The filling is Dark Chocolate Ganache using the locally made Beryl's Dark Chocolate Chips...awesome yes...but not so happy for those who are battling this sickness cancer..... 

...here's to mac-attack-24-pink-october-macarons ! Have a fabulous week you alls!

Pierre Herme's Bitter Chocolate Macaron

It's going to be Friday tomorrow, and what a week had been for me....CHAOS is the (and read:comments not replied yet....sabar ye!) word !....anyway, more stories on that when I updates and cakes on bakes! For now, let's talk Pierre Herme's macarons....Choc Macarons and the much talk about book that now is printed in English...woot! I got my copy last week, and what better opportunity to give this recipe a shot when I have to deliver some orders, too!...so here goes......

The ingredients involve melting dark chocolate into the ground almond icing sugar mix...and I used Valrhona's 64% Manjari cocoa buttons......

I decided to halve the recipe, and used the technique that I learnt from Nathalie's class when preparing the sugar syrup so as to avoid the sugar from crystalising. During mixing too, I did exactly what Nathalie taught us! And baked on baking paper instead of my Silpat or silicon sheet....

I made this macarons after I got home from office, settled the kids dinner, tidied my kitchen but voila, I guess      it was very dry that night, that it took only 40 minutes for the shells to dry! I didn't dust the shells with cocoa powder, but used Valrhona Manjari buttons and President whipping cream for the ganache!

...and the verdict....it was delicious, chocolatey...yet I prefer Nathalie's Chocolate Macarons which have cocoa powder in addition to the melted dark chocolate in the batter...but hey, it's definitely nicer to indulge in your own homemade macarons!

....so, grab hold of the book and make this at home!Hmmm...I can't wait to try some other flavors from the book!