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In terms of cooking I would not say I’m a novice but I’m not professionally trained either.

I learnt in the family kitchen watching at first as a toddler and when old enough helping mum create culinary dishes. Mum was always trying something new and in the 70s and 80s some of those things were…shall we say, not made again. Mum exposed me to all types of cultures Italian, Greek, European, Asian and when my brothers friend from uni boarded at our house there was Malaysian too.

But most of all mum instilled a love of baking. Biscuits, cakes, tarts, cream puffs, custard tarts, pies, brandy snaps, you name it, it was cooked….. And of course eaten!

Now all grown up and a mum of four beautiful children, it is my turn it instill the joy of baking and cooking in my raga muffins. My three girls are all at primary school and I love baking for their school lunches and afternoon treats, often they slip on their aprons pull up a chair for the shortest and get their hands ‘dirty’ or cakey! Sure it can be noisy and there is a bit of ‘ it’s my turn’ but overall it all runs pretty smoothly.

My latest adventure in the baking stakes is macaron.

Yes, I have jumped on that band wagon!

I see them everywhere on Masterchef, Great Aussie Bake Off and other culinary shows, in cafes and even Mac Donalds! I know they are tricky but I though to my self “they can’t be that hard, can they?”.

So last night while the kids were playing, the adventure began. I had all the ingredients, aged the egg whites over a couple of days and followed the recipe to the letter, the mix was glossy, the rounds perfect on the baking trays and they waited patiently on the table for the allotted time. Into the oven they went…

they rose…..they had little feet….. then……Disaster! Cracks and flat. But cooked though if you like biscuits. Arrgh! So second attempt, reduce temperature, in the oven they went and same thing but not as bad and this time under cooked!

Epic Fail!

I’m not good with failure. These little almond sugary treats have not beaten me. I will win. One day!

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Posted by kmwalters, 30th August 2013