seriously yum

Before the cookie porn, two quick SF/F links from the weekend:

* John Scalzi on the Amazon/Macmillan debacle. He nails pretty much all of the salient details here and does so with exceptional panache.

* Writer Kage Baker died on Sunday, far too young. To quote Jeff VanderMeer, from this excellent remembrance, "I would like to think that this is not the end, that [Kage has] merely been assigned by The Company to some new mission." She will be missed.

In happier news, the Diva and I made macarons this weekend. I was inspired by Bakerella's recent post about a visit from Tartelette and couldn't help myself. 

My results weren't nearly as pretty --

 

 

but were pretty dang tasty. And gluten free, so the Diva can eat as many as we'll allow.

Some notes:

-- I did the basic cookie, without any food coloring or flavors, a choice I made because I didn't have anything appropriate in the house. The filling is a simple ganache, from Ruhlman's Ratio. Rather than equal parts chocolate and cream, however, I went lighter on the cream because I wanted the filling to set up a bit more. 

-- I don't own the right size pastry bag tip so just cut a disposable pastry bag to a size that looked right. It worked well enough.

-- For next time -- and there will be a next time* -- I need to grind the almonds even finer and cook the cookies a smidge longer. This will help with the texture. It's not bad, just not right yet.

-- These couldn't be easier, really, as long as you know just a little bit about what egg whites can do. Really. give it a try.

* insert maniacal laughter here.

  

Comments

[anj]

**likes your maniacal laughter and asks that you let her be a quality control taste tester.