{Recipes} My New Challenge

I am not a patient person. With anything. I tend to take on projects that can be started and finished in one day, even original paintings. If I decide I want a new purse or pair of boots, I generally buy them right away. It is my {one} personality flaw :) I say that it's because I don't have "time" to be patient, because I have too many things going on at once.

You might wonder why I am telling you all of this--it all has to do with a recipe. I am absolutely obsessed with macarons. The french ones, people, not those icky coconut macaroon things (side note: I have an aversion to anything made with sweetened, shredded coconut. I just haven't found a recipe yet that changes my mind). Anytime I see them at a bakery, I order them. My absolute favorite place I've gotten them: Bouchon Bakery in Columbus Circle. I'm dying to try some from Laduree.

So, a couple of months ago I was working on a bridal shower and the bride asked if I would make pink macarons. I offered to drive across Pittsburgh to get them, but the bakery didn't make pink ones. I was like "yeah, i got this" and set aside about 3 hours in an afternoon to work on them. (That was my first mistake: setting a time limit.) I went to the store and got the almond flour (which is pricey) and eggs, and went home to knock them out. I think you can imagine how that turned out. Argh. I have NEVER met a recipe that didn't turn out the first time around. Okay, maybe not never, but you get the idea. I learned very quickly that macarons require patience, which as you can tell from above, comes in short supply around here.

Flash forward: my daughter's birthday is coming up. I need more pink macarons. I'm not finding a place online that I'm confident enough to order from. Therefore, the challenge has been set. I have about a month to find the recipe I want to use and go after them--again. I have been looking around, and haven't settled on one recipe to try, but have found some amazing looking macarons. Have you guys tried to make them? Do you have any recipes you love? Please send them along!!! I'm definitely going to be taking pictures of my macaron journey through the next month. Depending on how it goes, I might be hitting up one of you that live in NYC to send me some :)

So, on to the recipes:

French Chocolate Macarons by David Lebovitz

Vanilla Macarons by Daniel Boulud for Elle Decor

Lemon and Poppyseed Macarons by Honey and Soy

Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Ganache by Honey and Soy

Snickers Macarons by Tartelette